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Market indexes finished today’s trading session mostly higher, after peaking in the morning and then giving way temporarily into the red in the early afternoon. The Dow closed modestly in negative territory today, -17 points or -0.04%, while the S&P 500 was up +26 points, +0.40%. The biggest movers on the day were the Nasdaq, +148 points or +0.66%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 +24 points, +0.97% — setting another new all-time closing high.

For the most part, Q3 earnings season has been very good. Every major Wall Street bank having reported so far has beaten estimates on both top and bottom lines. Even early-reporting non-bank stocks like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) and Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) outperformed expectations for the quarter.

Beige Book Remains Lukewarm for October
 

Much as we saw in the September Beige Book from the Federal Reserve, this afternoon’s October book showed an economy in the middle of the road and not seemingly in a hurry to rush one direction or the other. Three cities reported slight growth (Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, VA), four slight declines (New York, Minneapolis, Kansas City and San Francisco) and five flat (Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, St Louis and Dallas).

Overall retail consumer spending was down, even with an increase in EV sales ahead of the expiring federal tax credit. Luxury retail was up — unscathed by economic headwinds. Prices were up due to tariff policies, but to the extent these higher costs were passed onto the consumer varied by region. Labor was stable overall, but showing signs of strain in Hospitality, Agriculture, Construction and Manufacturing — mostly as a result of ongoing immigration policies.

United Beats Q3 Estimates After the Close
 

United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) became the latest major airline to report a solid earnings beat in its Q3 report this afternoon: earnings of $2.78 per share handily overtook the $2.64 in the Zacks consensus (though still lagging the $3.33 per share reported in the year-ago quarter) on revenues of $15.23 billion, which was shy of the expected $15.30 billion.

However, United performed well in its areas with higher profit margins: Premium Revenues grew +6% year over year, and its Loyalty program gained +9%. This, while Revenue per Seat Mile was negative on both Domestic and International flights. Initially, shares of United rose over +3% in late trading, but is now down slightly on the news.

What to Expect from the Stock Market Tomorrow
 

It was supposed to be an eventful day for economic data on Thursday, with Weekly Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, and the Producer Price Index (PPI) for September all kept in mothballs while the federal government remains shut. So far, it is not expected the Fed will change tack from its proposed 25 basis-point (bps) rate cut at the end of this month and the final Fed meeting in December. But I’m sure voting Fed members would feel more secure about their decision if they were able to see the data.

Philly Fed and Homebuilder Confidence, both for October, are expected to hit the tape tomorrow. These join expected earnings results from consequential companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM - Free Report), Dow component The Travelers (TRV - Free Report), Chas. Schwab (SCHW - Free Report), transportation major CSX (CSX - Free Report), and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG - Free Report). 

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