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By Alex Eule | Friday, May 2 Rolling Along. A better-than-expected jobs report and speculation of a trade truce led stocks to another day of gains. The S&P 500 was up 1.5%, for its ninth straight positive day, the longest winning streak since November 2004. The large-cap index is up 10.2% over the span. On the jobs front, the economic data remain good enough to put off real worries about a recession. For April, the U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs, besting estimates for a 135,000 gain. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. With the economy on still sound footing, the expectations for near-term rate cuts from the Federal Reserve are falling. That didn't stop President Donald Trump for continuing his pursuit for lower rates. "NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!" he posted on social media this morning. Rate cut or not, investors responded with a good old-fashioned rally. Every sector in the S&P 500 was up on the day, with 456 of 500 stocks in positive territory. Traders are also growing increasingly buoyant about the trade situation. The Chinese government said Friday that its "door is wide open" for trade talks. This comes a day after Apple's latest quarterly results suggested that the trade war was weighing on the company's sales in China. Apple said sales in its Greater China region were $16 billion in the January to March period, down 2.3% from a year ago, and $1 billion short of Wall Street estimates. Trade tensions and nationalistic sentiment could cause other U.S. companies to lose business in China in the months to come. Apple was one of the few decliners on the day; its shares fell 3.7%. The decline was enough to cede the title of world's most valuable stock. By the close of trading Friday, Microsoft had moved into the No. 1 spot, with a market cap of $3.24 trillion, versus Apple's $3.07 trillion. Microsoft's own results this week were widely celebrated, particularly the accelerating growth in its Azure cloud unit. My colleague Angela Palumbo has more on the new market value champion here. Watch our TV show on Fox Business Saturdays and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. ET. This week, KKR's Henry McVey on how to insulate investments from tariff uncertainties. 
DJIA: +1.39% to 41,317.43 The Hot Stock: DexCom +16.2% Best Sector: Financials +2.1% 
This Weekend's Magazine
The CalendarBerkshire Hathaway holds its annual meeting tomorrow morning. It could be one of the last for 94-year-old CEO Warren Buffett, who has said "it won't be long before" his successor takes over. Next week, the S&P 500 looks to continue its winning streak. The highlight of the week will be the Federal Open Market Committee’s monetary-policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. While the FOMC is expected to leave the federal-funds rate unchanged on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference will be must-see-tv. Powell, the target of much criticism from the White House, has been preaching patience as the Federal Reserve seeks more clarity on the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. On the earnings front about 90 S&P 500 companies are slated to report. Palantir Technologies and Vertex Pharmaceuticals announce results on Monday, Advanced Micro Devices, Arista Networks, and Electronic Arts release earnings on Wednesday, while Uber Technologies and Walt Disney do the same on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips, Match Group, and Monster Beverage report their earnings on Thursday. Economic data releases next week include the Institute of Supply Management's Services PMI on Monday and the NY Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations on Thursday. --Dan Lam 
What We're Reading Today
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