Today shows you what happens when everything goes right. As I said in last week's game plan on Mad Money, if you get a monthly employment report that delivers just enough job growth without inflation, you could have a spectacular thread-the-needle rally, and that's just what we got.
It didn't hurt that we got the now fabled bullish combination of strong earnings from some key technology companies, notably cyber-security ace Cyberark Software (CYBR) and data-mining king Tableau Software (DATA), the latter with a spectacular number that's got the stock breaking out and taking the whole sector with it. Plus, calm oil, a boring dollar and lower interest rates are pure tinder for this monster move.
You've got some huge takeaways from what happened today.
First, this market zooms when you least expect it, when pessimism reigns from stern to bow. I can't tell you how many funds I know came into today's session short or underinvested because either the charts supported a total breakdown or they feared that the dollar would rally once again and that this market could not handle a stronger dollar anymore and still go higher.
Second, interest rates, which had been going up and up and up, may have seen their peak for 2015. Why not? There's no real inflation. Our rates are much higher than Europe's, and that makes no sense if Europe is beginning to grow and we are slowing as all reports seem to indicate.
Third, if Europe is as strong as I think it is, you are going to see some American companies do much better in their European operations. Right on schedule McDonald's (MCD) this morning announced its first positive surprise in Europe. Remember, people spend more money when they go to a restaurant when they feel wealthier. We have heard that time and again. McDonald's new CEO, Steve Easterbrook, may be the luckiest guy on the planet, and it is better to be lucky than good.
Finally, as I tell you endlessly, you need to buy stocks of companies you like at discounts the market gives you, especially ones created by those who truly did believe this market was on its last legs. Earlier this week, when traders were flipping out over the dollar, bonds, oil, the euro, and comments from Fed Chief Janet Yellen that stocks are dangerously overstretched, you needed to do some buying. It is why we stress buying at your price, not the inflated price. When everything went right today, it was, sadly, too late. You don't get a chance to buy after we get good news. You have to buy when others are freaking out.
Oh, and can I just say that Janet Yellen is now 0-for-2 on stocks? Perhaps it's just better to recognize that she is in the American League and she can pitch, but we will get a designated hitter -- maybe Hall of Famer Warren Buffett -- to do the batting.
