Optimism over earnings results and the President Biden’s inauguration helped lift global markets 1.6% last week (+3.4% YTD). For the S&P 500 and the Dow, it was the best Inauguration Day performance since 1985, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

As of Friday, 86% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported fourth-quarter results exceeded analysts’ earnings estimates, according to FactSet. That so-called ‘beat rate’ ranks above the 74% five-year average, and FactSet says it could lead to the first overall quarterly earnings increase since the fourth quarter of 2019. CLICK HERE