What happens if there is a debt deal and earnings are good? Well, we are pretty much looking at what happens. With General Electric (GE) and Schlumberger (SLB) reporting numbers that pleased the Street and with the possibility that Washington won't go all Defcon, you get that same benign lift off that we have come to expect from this market in 2013.
Look, there are plenty of flaws in the market today. Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) can't get out of their own way, which market players are telling me means the shorts are circling ahead of next week's earnings.
There are plenty of worries in the financials. Capital One (COF) did report a nasty quarter and the big banks actually seem like good shorts at this moment.
But the POIs -- the plain oil industrials -- are trading on a Chinese comeback that will not be hindered by Washington.
And the bounce-back factor, the rally after bad news, continues with Chipotle (CMG) miraculously almost back to where it was when it dropped the bomb on the comps and food inflation the other night.
Plus, there's no negative pin action. CSX (CSX) gets downgraded today off of coal and normally that would send uber-coal player Norfolk Southern (NSC) into the Dumpster. Instead, it is higher. That's classic benign action.
People want in. They fear deals being done over the weekend, in Washington or Wall Street.
Just a very strong, swift, bullish market, a five-year high for the Dow and the S&P 500 on nice earnings, and peace in Washington.
A very different, very positive combination.
Random Musings: Lots of heat about the stocks that go to $90 go to $120 comment. Of course, it was meant as a way to describe animal spirits. But if you want two that fit: Deere (DE) and Monsanto (MON)! ... Got a chuckle out of being mentioned in the Fed minutes from the August 2007 meeting. They were laughing about my "they know nothing" rant which, by the way, no one ever acknowledged I was right about or that I was even paid attention to until Tim Geithner said it at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference a year ago.
