Good morning, investors. Big Banks have kicked off earnings season with mixed results, and today we’ll get more quarterly numbers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and BlackRock.

This morning we’re turning to one of the oldest quips on Wall Street — keep your politics out of your portfolio.

There’s a simple reason stocks keep rising despite the storm of political uncertainty.

Even with a regime change in Venezuela, drama with the Federal Reserve and chaos in Iran, asset prices have stayed remarkably composed.

The S&P 500 is positive to start the year and volatility — as tracked by the VIX — remains below its long-run average. 

The tariff shock last April helped remind investors how quickly markets can rebound from political noise. As the chart illustrates, those who did not panic-sell stocks after “Liberation Day” have doubled the returns of those who did.

“Equity investors care a lot about future earnings and (a bit) about interest rates, but that’s the entire list of what drives stock prices,” said DataTrek Research co-founders Nick Colas and Jessica Rabe. 

In effect, politics rarely register as a catalyst one way or the other, particularly when the fundamentals underpinning the market haven’t changed. 

Plus, for what it’s worth, investors recognize that the White House will do whatever it can to keep the stock market from falling ahead of the midterm elections.

The party of the sitting president almost always loses congressional seats, though the best odds of avoiding that is a booming economy and rising asset prices.

The economic backdrop continues to cooperate.

Wall Street keeps revising its earnings expectations higher, balance sheets are generally healthy, and profit margins still support valuations. 

Not only have companies largely withstood the Fed’s higher interest rates, many have reported AI-driven productivity gains.

With those details in place, there isn’t much room left to sweat political uncertainty. 

🏦The Supreme Court did not rule on tariffs. Markets will have to wait a bit longer before getting the chance to react to a green or red light decision from the Justices, and US freight volumes could hinge on the call. (CNBC)

📉 Bank of America stock tumbled despite beating on earnings. Shares saw one of their worst one-day drops since Liberation Day, and marked the firm’s largest post-earnings loss in percentage terms since the pandemic. (CNBC)

📈 Gold could reach $5,000 this year. That’s what UBS analysts predict, noting that tensions in Iran and the Justice Department’s inquiry into Fed Chair Jerome Powell could fuel metal prices. (WSJ)

🚀 Bitcoin Investor Week 2026 returns to NYC Feb 9–13. Hosted by Anthony Pompliano, speakers include Mike Novogratz, Grant Cardone, Anthony Scaramucci, Lyn Alden and Bo Hines. Opening Bell readers can get 50% off of general admission tickets with code OBD50. Get your tickets here.

🗓 January 15, 1973: The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded above 1,000 for the first time ever, a key psychological milestone during the post-war bull market.

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