US Stocks posted their best week of the year, boosted by quarterly earnings reports and a better-than-expected January employment report.  Last week’s gains follow a rocky start to the year for the major averages as rising rates prompted investors to shed growth names in favor of value-oriented areas of the market.

So far 56% of S&P 500 companies have posted quarterly earnings, with 79% beating earnings estimates and 77% topping revenue expectations.  Individual performance has been different, however. Amazon shares added 13.5% on Friday, while Snap surged 58.8%. Facebook-parent Meta dropped 26% on Thursday after its quarterly update. The social media company is coming off its worst week on record.

The Labor Department reported that 467,000 jobs were added in the US in January, well ahead of the 150,000 economists were expecting.  The increase sent confirmation to investors that Fed rate hikes are imminent, with the first occurring in the March meeting.

A new poll by the Portland firm DHM Research finds 63% of Oregonians say they are worried, or very worried, about their own financial situation. That’s on par with March 2020, as COVID hit Oregon, and the highest level of negativity in DHM’s polling since 2014.