U.S. stock futures pushed higher Tuesday morning, building on Monday's positive momentum as investors braced themselves for what could only be described as a data deluge. It's not just any Tuesday slate of numbers. We're talking about delayed retail sales figures and employment cost data that have been sitting on ice while statisticians caught up after earlier disruptions. This stuff matters because it gives the Federal Reserve critical insights into whether the economy is running hot, cold, or just right as policymakers decide what to do with interest rates.

Adding some political spice to the mix, President Donald Trump spent Monday publicly second-guessing his 2017 decision to skip over Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve Chair, calling it a "really big mistake" and blaming the choice on pressure from his former Treasury Secretary. Nothing like a little Monday morning quarterbacking on monetary policy personnel decisions.

The bond market was doing its thing with the 10-year Treasury yielding 4.18% and the two-year sitting at 3.48%. Meanwhile, the CME Group's FedWatch tool shows traders putting an 82.3% probability on the Fed keeping rates exactly where they are when they meet in March. That's a pretty strong consensus that the central bank is in wait-and-see mode.

Monday's session delivered modest but broad gains across the major indices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.13%, the S&P 500 added 0.18%, the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.15%, and the Russell 2000 small-cap index gained 0.26%.

As for the big exchange-traded funds everyone watches, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) were both showing solid gains in premarket trading Tuesday. The SPY was up 0.23% at $695.56, while the QQQ advanced 0.26% to $615.91. These track the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices, respectively, and they're often a good barometer for where institutional money is flowing.

Stocks Making Moves

Credo Technology Crushes Expectations

Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (CRDO) absolutely ripped higher in premarket trading, jumping 16.89% after the company dropped preliminary third-quarter numbers that blew past its own guidance. The networking semiconductor company now expects revenue between $404 million and $408 million, compared to prior guidance of $335 million to $345 million. That's not a small beat. That's a "something fundamentally good is happening in our business" kind of beat.

The stock maintains what market data describes as a weaker price trend over the short and medium terms but a strong trend in the long term with a solid growth ranking. Translation: it's been choppy lately but the big picture looks good.

Philips Posts Strong Quarter

Koninklijke Philips NV (PHG) gained 6.01% after reporting better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. The Dutch health technology company has been working through various challenges in recent years, and investors seemed pleased with the direction of travel. The stock maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, though it carries a poor quality ranking in some market assessments.

Oracle Unveils AI Agents

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) was up 1.47% after announcing new prebuilt AI agents for Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. The company says these agents are designed to automate end-to-end supply chain workflows and speed up strategic decision-making, and here's the kicker: they're available at no additional cost to customers. That's a competitive move in a market where everyone's scrambling to demonstrate AI capabilities.

According to market rankings, ORCL maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a poor value ranking. The stock has had a tough run lately despite the broader AI enthusiasm.

Clear Channel Gets Bought Out

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (CCO) advanced 6.85% after announcing it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Mubadala Capital in partnership with TWG Global. The all-cash transaction values Clear Channel at an enterprise value of $6.2 billion. Outdoor advertising has been an interesting battleground between traditional media and digital disruption, and this deal suggests private equity sees value in the billboards-and-transit-ads business.

The stock maintains a strong price trend over the long, medium, and short terms, according to market data. When you're getting acquired, price trends suddenly become less relevant, but it shows the stock was already moving in the right direction.

Ford Earnings on Deck

Ford Motor Co. (F) rose 0.29% ahead of its quarterly earnings report due after the closing bell. Analysts are expecting earnings of 19 cents per share on revenue of $41.83 billion. The automaker has been navigating a challenging transition toward electric vehicles while trying to maintain profitability in its traditional combustion engine business.

Ford maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms, with a strong value ranking. The stock has been quietly putting together a decent run even as the EV narrative has gotten more complicated industry-wide.

Monday's Market Action

Looking back at Monday's close, materials, energy, and tech sectors led the S&P 500 higher while consumer staples and health care shares declined. The Dow Jones squeaked out a 0.040% gain to close at 50,135.87. The S&P 500 did better with a 0.47% advance to 6,964.82. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.90% to reach 23,238.67, and the Russell 2000 climbed 0.70% to 2,689.05.

It was one of those sessions where the market's internals told a more interesting story than the headline numbers. Tech strength pushed the Nasdaq while the Dow barely moved, suggesting large-cap growth stocks were doing the heavy lifting.

What the Strategists Are Saying

LPL Financial strategists Jeffrey Buchbinder and Adam Turnquist are taking a constructive view of the global economy, with particular enthusiasm for Emerging Markets potentially continuing their recent outperformance. They're describing 2026 as an "extended but aging expansion" where growth remains sturdy enough to support corporate earnings even if it's uneven across different regions.

The strategists anticipate that the U.S. economy will dodge a recession, powered by "ongoing enthusiasm around AI and further easing of monetary policy from the Fed." They're expecting a modest slowdown in early 2026 but project a rebound later in the year as inflation continues to moderate.

From a technical perspective, Turnquist notes that the broad market's long-term uptrend remains intact, though investors should prepare for occasional volatility. That's Wall Street strategist speak for "things look good but don't freak out when stuff gets choppy."

A major driver for their positive outlook is what they call the "avalanche of AI investment in Asia" and the U.S. Buchbinder puts it bluntly: "nothing is bigger than AI right now." They specifically highlight that emerging market earnings are expected to grow by 29% in 2026, more than double the 14% projected for the U.S. That's a striking differential and helps explain why international diversification is getting more attention from strategists.

Economic Calendar for Tuesday

Here's what investors will be watching throughout the day. January's NFIB optimism index drops at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. Then at 8:30 a.m., we get the fourth quarter employment cost index, December's delayed import price index, and the delayed U.S. retail sales data. That's the big kahuna everyone's waiting for.

November's delayed business inventories data arrives at 10:00 a.m. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack speaks at noon, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan takes the microphone at 1:00 p.m. When multiple Fed officials are talking on the same day, markets listen carefully for any hints about the direction of monetary policy.

Commodities, Crypto, and Global Markets

Crude oil futures were trading slightly higher in early New York trading, up 0.12% to hover around $64.44 per barrel. Energy markets have been relatively calm lately after a volatile stretch.

Gold fell 0.25% to trade around $5,046.29 per ounce. The yellow metal's last record high was $5,595.46 per ounce, so it's come off those peaks but remains elevated by historical standards. The U.S. Dollar Index spot was 0.03% higher at the 96.8440 level.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading 0.89% lower at $69,203.57 per coin. Crypto has been bouncing around as investors try to figure out what the regulatory landscape will look like and whether institutional adoption will continue accelerating.

Asian markets closed higher on Tuesday, with the exception of Australia's ASX 200 index. India's Nifty 50, Japan's Nikkei 225, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's CSI 300, and South Korea's Kospi indices all rose. European markets were showing mixed results in early trading, suggesting investors across the Atlantic were also waiting for U.S. data before making big moves.