Two short weeks ago, investors were in the throws of fearing a double-dip recession. That would require negative growth, which is going to be pretty hard to achieve if any other companies can grow like Intel. The company reported earnings that did not beat by the usual 2c – 3c, but crushed by 8c at 51c. Revenues were also way above expectations at $10.8 billion. But that’s in the past. What we care about is the future, and that could not be any brighter. Q2 gross margins were at a new all-time record 67%. The company expects profit margins to stay at that level in Q3, as revenues expand to $11.2 billion. I know that this is just one number, but it is a heck of a number. Yesterday’s market advance was certainly helped by earnings from companies that also measure demand, Alcoa and CSX. Financial reform is in its final stage, set to go to vote on Thursday. It looks like the banks and brokers are going to get a definitive playing field so they know the rules of the game. There’s no question they’ll win the game, it was just harder to play without rules. If you want banks to lend, they need to know what the capital require- ments are going to be. The Financials did exceptionally well yesterday. The Euro was also a factor as it broke above a long-standing downtrend line (see chart) and to a 2-month high. That was good news for Retailers and the risk trade, as the Russell 2k soared 3.4%. Quite simply, the economy looks like it was doing better in Q2 than thought, and may do better in Q3 than feared.