Hello friends!

It’s been a great week in many ways–solid earnings across many economic sectors, new scientific discoveries and achievements, and the COVID vaccine becoming available for everyone over 16. We hope the week has been good for all of you, too.

We want to first dive into the economy. More S&P 500 companies than average are beating EPS estimates for the first quarter, as well as beating those estimates by a wider margin than average. What we see now is the highest year-over-year growth in earnings since 2010. Perhaps from higher earnings in 2021 and the relatively weak earnings in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic.

Revenue is also good, with 84% of S&P 500 companies currently reporting actual revenues an average of 3.3% above estimates. If this holds until the end of the quarter, this will be the highest revenue surprise percentage since 2008. This shows that the earnings recession has ended for the US economy.

The good news likely won’t stop as analysts project double-digit earnings growth in the remaining three quarters of 2021.

Science has had a lot of great news this week, too. Besides the COVID vaccine availability, we’ve seen significant achievement in space and a big discovery here on earth.

First, NASA made history with its first powered flight on another planet. Scientists kept Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully in the air for about 30 seconds–ten times longer than the first Wright Brothers flight. Click here to interact with models of Ingenuity, read more about NASA’s plans for this incredible machine, and see the video of the first flight on Mars.

On a more terrestrial note, Chilean geologists have identified a new dinosaur species in Chile’s Atacama desert. It’s been a long process–the geologists first discovered the remains in the 1990s and carried their research into the 2000s. They published their findings in the Journal of Cretaceous Research, which was made public on Monday. The dinosaur, called Arackar licanantay, will be on display in Chile’s Museum of Natural History.

We hope next week brings more fun and exciting news and that you all enjoy a fantastic weekend.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Securities offered through Triad Advisors, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC, and Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, Inc, are not affiliated with Triad Advisors.