MS, USB, ABT & TXT Leads Q1 Earnings

Triple-digit gains in regular-day Tuesday trading in both the Dow and Nasdaq were bolstered by a number of different things — strong housing starts and a lack of relative geopolitical tension early this week among them — but nothing so influential as a very strong Q1 earnings season. We are still in the early stages so far (only a week has passed since Delta Air Lines beat estimates on both top and bottom lines), but overall results have been notably better than expected.