I mentioned last Friday that the major market indices were approaching targets that I thought might not be seen until later this year. For instance… 

Some years ago it was Alcoa that officially launched the earnings reporting season, but today it’s the financials and this morning several financials are reporting and beating Wall Street expectations. 

There was encouraging news on the inflation front, but no real tendency to sell into the good news. 

The fact that just a handful of companies are driving the performance of the S&P 500 year to date makes for good academic fodder and is mathematically correct, but otherwise I think…

The market is in a limbo stage as we await the 2nd quarter earnings reporting season. This often happens where we do get some consolidation, rotation and hesitation ahead of the earnings reporting season. 

Surely after the lows that were struck last October I had noted how Growth was breaking its downward momentum. As we finished off the first half of 2023, I’ve seen indications that Growth might be breaking its upward momentum. 

Some bears are doubling down on their dire predictions for the stock market, which is music to the ears of contrarians. Some would say the market is climbing a “Wall of Worry”… 

To the casual, Main Street observer — and even to some seasoned Wall Streeters — the market’s advance year to date might seem confusing, even confounding for the bearish, but the market’s persistent and steady gains indicate… 

As I monitor technical factors, it seems that the market’s state right now is a bit rudderless, in a limbo stage, which means it will probably stay in a trading range over the short run. 

With only three sessions remaining in the 1st half of 2023, it's clear the prediction I made in the 4th quarter of last year is not going to come to fruition — that call was that the Dow could challenge its all-time highs by the end of the 1st half of this year.