As we discussed, the banks have a war chest of loan loss reserves that they will continue to move to the bottom line at their discretion.  That means they have a large inventory of positive earnings surprises they will present to us for several quarters to come.  Stocks like positive earnings surprises.  That said, the initial moves in a few of these stocks have been down, as bank CEOs are doing their best in the earnings calls to avoid an overexuberance in the outlook.  It just creates a little cheaper levels to buy from.

Remember, we've talked what the confluence of huge government spending, ultra-easy Fed policy, and vaccinations will do to both earnings and economic data this year, as we compare it to the lockdown data of last year.  As I said, the numbers are going to be "mind-blowingly big." 

With that, we had the retail sales report this morning from the month of March.  The April to March growth was 10%.  The March 2021 to March 2020 growth was 28%.  Wait until we get to the year-over-year economic data for the quarter.

The data will continue to be a fire under stocks.  And despite the Fed's best efforts recently to quell inflation fears, the inflation hedges look to be on the move again, after a pause.  Here's another look at the line in gold we've been watching.  Gold is bouncing …