The major averages closed higher following more earnings and comments from President Donald Trump squashing rumors he was looking to fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 231 points, or 0.53%. The S&P 500 rose 19 points or 0.32% while the Nasdaq rose 52 points or 0.25%.

Earnings season is starting to gear up. Companies reporting earnings today include J&J, Goldman Sachs, ASML, Morgan Stanley, PNC and Brighthouse.

J&J was the diamond today up 6% on earnings and tariff restrictions that were less stringent than expected. Healthcare in general performed well today.

In the tech space, ASML was the dog down 8% on tariff fears crimping earnings next year.  A number of chip equipment makers were down. Micron was down 3% while AMD was up nearly 3% on an upgrade.

Interest rates were lower on fears of the Fed Chairman losing his job. The 2-year Treasury sank 8 basis points to 3.87%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 4.45%, while the 30-year yield was unchanged at 5.02%.

In the commodity space, oil was unchanged, but the energy sector pulled back today. Gold was higher while bitcoin rose 2.6%.

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