…Stocks rally to near record highs. Trade wars on back burner for Wall Street. China threatens Apple. Watch tomorrow’s bond auction. JOLTS – jobs all over Consumer borrowing slows. Disney beats. Tesla going private? Wildfires running wild. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 08-07-2018 DOW + 126 = 25,628 SPX + 8 = 2858 NAS + 23 = 7883 RUT + 3 = 1688 10 Y + .04 = 2.97% OIL + .05 = 69.06 GOLD + 3.30 = 1211.50 The S&P 500 is up for 4 straight sessions and is about 14 points shy of a record high. Obviously, a break out to a new high would be very bullish. Also, don’t be surprised if the old high acts as resistance. The Nasdaq is on a 6-day winning streak. Also, the Nasdaq Composite is about 50 points from its record high. And the Russell 2000 is about 20 points from a record. So, it is safe to say the market is at a make or break level. Second-quarter results so far have been stellar, with S&P 500 companies reporting earnings growth of 24% and sales gains of 9.8%, according to FactSet. Of the 428 companies in the S&P 500 that have released second-quarter earnings so far, 79 percent reported above analyst expectations; that’s the highest beat rate in at least 24 years. Tax cuts have helped corporate profitability but that is not the full story. Earnings per share without the tax change would be 15.5 percent higher, leading to ...