Good morning. Welcome back and hopefully you enjoyed your Mother’s Day. Yesterday the New York Knicks gave mothers the greatest gift of all, time, as there wasn’t much of a need to tune in during the second half for the dismantling of the 76ers. The Knicks extended their winning streak to 7 games, a feat that the SP 500 is aspiring for as we enter this week on a six-week winning streak. The S&P 500 ended last week up >2% closing just under 7,400 driven by another very strong week of earnings and hopes that a diplomatic resolution with Iran could be reached.

Yesterday, President Trump said there was No Deal sending oil prices higher and equities modestly lower but we are off the worst level. Otherwise, it is a pretty quiet start to the week. The highlights for this options expiration week include inflation data (Tues/Wed), retail sales (Thurs) and President Trump’s trip to China at the end of the week. There continues to be upside momentum in chip and memory stocks in the pre-market. Oil prices are on the move higher again reversing about half of last week’s decline. Gold is around unchanged while Silver is up >5% and copper is up >2%.

Ahead of tomorrow’s CPI report the only economic data today is existing home sales at 10:00. There is a 3yr auction this afternoon. Treasury yields are up 2/3bps with the move higher in oil. The USD index is a touch higher continuing to hover just under its 200d ma (~$98.35). The Yen remains a focal point with Treasury Secretary heading to Japan to meet PM Takaichi and Minster of Finance Katayama. Global markets were mixed overnight. South Korea continued to be the standout up >4% with memory stocks leading (SK Hynix +11%, Samsung +6%) with more reports of energy shortages.