Yes, at last, the preponderance of evidence is apparent.
I am talking about how so many more companies are doing well that their stocks are overwhelming the politics, the bonds, oil, anything standing in the facts' way.
Just think about it. American Express (AXP) says things are good and getting better. CSX (CSX) delivers the first good quarter, I mean clean good quarter, in ages. I really liked not just coal -- which could be distorted by Australian weather -- but minerals and autos and chemicals.
Then Foot Locker (FL) says things are going well in April, with comps up by double digits. This happens at the same time that Matthew Boss, who is the best in retail, tells us February may have been the trough in sales and he upgrades Gap (GPS) stores, saying the turn in Old Navy is sustainable.
Then we get good numbers from both Unilever (UL) and Nestle? Two for two in these gigantic packaged-goods companies, with emerging markets, the bane of our existence for ages, really catching fire.
Or how about Snap-On (SNA) , which had become the shorts' favorite whipping boy, betting that it was advancing way too much credit to small businesses that can't afford it. Not true. It was organic sales, as we will find out tonight when I interview CEO Nick Pinchuk.
Then Key (KEY) delivers the best regional number with excellent net interest margins, which had helped reignite the group.
Of course, the research then kicks in: two positive notes about Apple (AAPL) , a very positive note on Disney (DIS) and ESPN, of all things, a solid piece about Alphabet (GOOGL) saying it should be the numbers, something that seems pretty likely given that outfits like American Express are getting 60% of their new business from digital, which is usually code for Google or Facebook (FB) . Starbucks (SBUX) catches another upgrade, this time from Stifel. They are talking about 5%-6% U.S. comps, which would be a big deal given that business had slowed. (KEY, AAPL, GOOGL, FB and SBUX are part of TheStreet's Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.)
Then a real semiconductor skeptic, Chris Danely at Citi, says it is "time to back up the minivan" for the semis including Texas Instruments (TXN) , Micron (MU) and Microchip (MCHP) , two of which we highlighted in Off the Charts last night.
The only stinkers? EBay (EBAY) , United Rentals (URI) , Travelers (TRV) and Verizon (VZ) . The first had issues for certain -- spent a lot of money and didn't get as good a return. I would tell them to go buy Live Nation (LYV) to build up StubHub. I am not kidding. They would own the entertainment market. United Rentals? I didn't feel nearly as negative after listening to the conference call because rates improved sequentially. Travelers did a great job underwriting but storms will be storms. And then there is Verizon, which suffered a bad loss in post-paid connection. What can I say? That business is incredibly competitive and Verizon had to drop rates. Perhaps they will pick up new subs next quarter from those lowered rates. In the meantime, that big dividend protects you.
In other words, it is all coming together.
The data support a higher market.
And people are paying attention to the data.
