What recession? – Dow jumps 200 points on better than expected earnings

Stocks were up early and never looked back. 

The boost came after traders FINALLY had something to focus on other than trade (earnings).

And with Q3 earnings getting off to a great start, the major indices rallied.

Stocks were higher at the open and continued to rally in the morning.

Stocks saw another push after news that the UK and European Union (EU) are close to drafting a Brexit deal. In fact, an EU negotiator said that a deal is possible this week.

With today’s gain, the S&P is 1.1% from record highs and the DOW closed above 27,000 for the first time since September 19th.

Here’s where the major indices ended the day:

• The S&P finished with a 1.0% gain. Up 30 points, the S&P ended at 2,996.
• The DOW ended higher by 0.9%. Adding 237 points, the DOW closed at 27,025.
• The NASDAQ was up 1.2%. With a 100 point loss, the NASDAQ finished at 8,149.

Crude Oil (CL) finished lower for the 2nd day in a row. With a 1.4% loss, CL ended at $52.83 a barrel.

Although Q3 earnings aren’t expected to be that hot, earnings season kicked off with some better than expected results.

JP Morgan Chase (JPM) was up 3.0% on an earnings beat, United Health (UNH) jumped 8.2% and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) was higher by 1.6%.

34 of the S&P 500 companies have reported earnings (as of Tuesday morning), and 29 have reported better than expected numbers.

NVIDIA (NVDA) was also a winner, up 5.3% after Bank of America/Merill Lynch raised its price target for the stock.

But not all stocks were in the green today.

Beyond Meat (BYND) hit a 4-month low today. Down another 3.4%, BYND extended its losing streak to seven straight days.

Tomorrow Bank of America (BAC) will report earnings before the bell and Netflix (NFLX) will report after the bell. We’ll also get Retail Sales numbers for September at 8:30am ET.