With the market surging and expectations high, I want to look at the actual corporate earnings numbers for 2017. Of course, it is early in the season to do any definitive analysis. But we can certainly set some context, which will be particularly useful for this year.

Last week’s data included news from across the economy. Overall, the signals remained positive, despite some weakening in several areas.

As the conglomerate General Electric weighs a breakup, what will be the effect on its shares? Yesterday, I shared my thoughts on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, including challenges on the fundamentals side.

This morning, the big news was Apple’s announcement that it will bring back what appears to be essentially all of its cash held abroad to U.S. jurisdiction. The immediate impact will be substantial, with Apple saying it will pay $38 billion in taxes. If the remaining U.S. companies with cash overseas were to do the same thing, more than $300 billion would be raised—which would certainly help with the deficit and be good for governmental finances. This is a real benefit of the tax bill.

With the Dow opening above 26,000 yesterday morning, I was all set to continue down the same path of my Dow 24K and Dow 25K posts. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Although markets are up, the Dow is below the magic number as I write this, which is certainly okay. It would not be a bad thing to take a little longer to hit another milestone, as I noted in those previous posts. But what was really interesting about yesterday was not that the milestone was cracked. Rather, it was that sentiment changed and pulled it down again. Past breaks, on the other hand, have driven the market higher. Is this one different?

Last week was a slow one for data releases, with only consumer prices and retail sales. Overall, the news remained good. The expansion continued, with inflation maintaining a moderate pace and consumers spending freely.

Yesterday, I appeared on CNBC’s Nightly Business Report (my segment starts at 11:09) to discuss the effect of rising interest rates on utility investments. Although there are some short-term concerns for investors, there is certainly no cause for panic. Listen in to learn more.

Although many are talking about higher rates, I think the real market story is deregulation. I shared my thoughts on this and more earlier today on CNBC's Power Lunch.

Last week was a busy one for data releases, giving us a wide-ranging look at the economy. Overall, the news remains good and the expansion continues. But there are also signs that growth may be slowing.

Here we go again!