US stocks rallied to start the week, rebounding from the longest weekly losing streak since 2002. USD weakness was perhaps the most significant macro positive, helped by a strengthening euro on the back of Lagarde's comments, the yuan rallying on Biden's remarks about cutting Trump tariffs (though White House officials have been talking about this for months, it is not new).

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The softer USD provided a tailwind for the commodity complex and inflation beneficiaries.

Financials and Energy each gained over 3%. The surge across the former followed JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon's comments that helped propel the stock to its most significant daily surge since November 2020 and added strength across the group in his suggestion that "storm clouds" over the economy could dissolve.

Zoom Video (ZM) squeezed +20% after the bell as sales and profits topped estimates on the earnings front, signaling that the vendor is sustaining growth post-pandemic. Conversely, Snap (SNAP) tumbled 25% after a negative pre-announcement into Tuesday's conference, warning that the macro environment deterioration will be reported at the low end of guidance.

We are still in that negative feedback loop where everything gets magnified through the inflation and slowing growth lens, but the story remains the same from last week's US retailers.

If shortages define the post-pandemic macro reality, then the frantic efforts to secure scarce products, which led to hoarding, overstocking, and over-hiring, will still have investors in sell mode. Management teams at America's largest retailers started to paint that picture last week, and this week the market will continue to fabricate that tail.

As the market attacks EPS, investors will find that there's nowhere to hide, putting cold water on the bear market rally narrative that punctuated risk at the start of the week.

The Biden bounce or tariff concession olive branch to China is not new news and will likely have a 5793 km string attached ( distance between Beijing and Moscow).

There is very little pushback that inflation has peaked. But the song remains the same as investors struggle with how to assess the landing path of inflation now that peak inflation is behind us. The question for the market is how long it will take to normalize.

Assets have gotten a lot cheaper, but the question now is whether we are in the inflation regime shift or not. If inflation remains sticky and the Fed needs to be more aggressive, assets are not cheap enough yet – in that world, more recession risk will need to be priced through lower earnings. However, if inflation does cool down, there are many compelling opportunities, significantly if "storm clouds" over the economy dissolve.