A mere gently slowing economy and ‘sticky’ inflation combined to cause late April, Q1 S&P 500 (SPX) earnings to print better than recently lowered estimates. This ‘beat’, combined with investor positioning focused on not wanting to miss the traditional ‘Fed is done’ rally, catalyzed the +2.87% surge in stocks during the last two trading days of the month, enabling the SPX to print a 2nd consecutive positive month.