"To heck with rates, earnings are where it is at in this market " by: John Sample

   Thank you Microsoft and Alphabet(Google) for the best week since November for the S&P 500. 
  When it appeared the fear of higher rates for longer would sink the markets, earnings in brought a reality check. 
  You also got a bounce back in the star of the show Nvidia. 
  The chip maker deserves the accolades. 
  Given that its chips and almost every other chip is made in Taiwan is no small problem that would be the Black Swan of all Black Swans. 
  This week could be the direct opposite of last.
  Economic measures announced last week provide little or no hope for the Federal Reserve to cut rates. 
  I am not sure if we will get to 2% inflation. 
  On the positive side, unemployment continues at a rate below 4% and GDP is still strong.
  I found it interesting this week that Baidu was a stock pick. The company is the Google of China. 
  They said the same about Alibaba until the Chinese government decided that the company was too big for its britches and went after its leader who has not been seen much since. 
  This is the problem with big government wanting to have all of the control.    
  After several weeks of down markets, last week was a blessing. The S&P 500 had its biggest weekly gain since November. 
  The reality of earnings returned into focus over the madness of interest rate cuts. 
  We are not out of the woods as the whole real estate situation is far from over especially in the commercial side. 
  Moreover, the thought that there is anything even closely related to affordable housing needs to be tabled. 
  I worked on a city sponsored Home Opportunity Board. We were given the land by the city and they put in the infrastructure of roads, sidewalks, water, sewer and electricity. 
  We had a special loan program from the state and many volunteers. 
  What we had was government-assisted housing and it still wasn't cheap. 
  Residential housing is and will be a problem in the future for those with less than most. 
  It is no coincidence that Section 8 housing has been large apartments.
  I am a conservative and a believer in free enterprise along the lines of Dr. Milton Friedman. 
  I was appalled by the report from some staff members drafting a report that should Trump be elected, they would push for a Fed Chair who would do what the President wanted. 
  That is big government taking over and our dollar will lose whatever faith there is left in it. 
  Truman tried this but when the Fed Chief got in office he did what was right. 
  Whoever replaced Powell in 2026 hopefully will have the country's best interest at heart and ignore politics.
We are closing in on May. 
  One of the oldest sayings is to sell in May. 
  It has not been a good month for equities over the years. 
  That should be why it will be great this year. 
  Nothing much has gone as expected and I don't believe that will change. 
  If you look at this year, any one of a multiple of events could have sent this market down. 
  I'm not saying it should give you faith, but we are near market highs.