Equities started the week on positive footing with the S&P 500 index moving up slightly to set a new all-time high. Monday?s action marks the 12th positive close in three weeks for the index and could easily lead to another string of new highs. The move is driven by corporate earnings that have come in better than expected despite strong headwinds within the economy. This week, traders will on alert for reports from another 167 S&P 500 companies marking the busiest week of the reporting season. By the end of this week, nearly 90% of the index will have reported results for the season.

Also on tap this week, a key meeting of the FOMC and the monthly NFP report. The FOMC is expected to begin tapering or explain why they are waiting while the NFP is expected to be a tepid 450,000. After last months? decline in total unemployment claims, the NFP figure should run well into the millions.