When expectations are as overheated as they were heading into Apple’s iPhone 6 victory lap yesterday, disappointment tends to follow. Not this time. Everything leading up to the report pointed to some serious eye-poppery from Apple, and that’s exactly what Tim Cook and his crew delivered.

As it stands now, Apple shares are trading in line with what they’ve done in the wake of prior reports. Over the past 20 fiscal quarters, the stock has moved an average of 4.2% during the session after its results. That’s about where it this morning.

The numbers are just mind-boggling. Let’s consider the big one. The biggest one, actually. Apple’s profit came in at $18 billion, a level last reached never. Sounds like a lot, and it is. In fact, Apple’s quarterly haul surpassed the amount earned by 435 firms in the S&P 500. In the past five years.

But is it enough to lift a market that wants — maybe even needs — to let off some more steam? Can one blowout performance mask duds from heavy hitters like Caterpillar CAT, -0.96% and Microsoft MSFT, -1.24% while also magically diverting the focus from the red flags in Europe?

It certainly seems to be helping in the wee hours, as stocks charge higher ahead of more key earnings and the Fed meeting later this afternoon.

Key market gauges

Futures on the Dow US:YMH5 and the S&P US:ESH5 are setting up for a rebound this morning, though that looks to largely center on tech stocks, following a mixed session in Asia ADOW, +0.33% . Europe SXXP, -0.66% was erasing losses, but that hasn’t lasted. Gold US:GCG5 is taking a breather, while crude CLH25, is barely holding above $46 a barrel.

The quote of the day

“They are telling you that you can’t go out into the streets when it’s snowing? This situation is a total disgrace, as Americans are now bowing down to the total control of their lives. Pretty soon they will ban children from making ‘snowmen,’ instead it will have to be Frosty the transgender snow-person.” — Gerald Celente, thumbing his nose at “the losers and liars” we know as politicians.

The economy

We’ll hear from the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting board for the first time this year at 2 p.m. Eastern. Analysts expect the European Central Bank’s stimulus push may free up the U.S. to raise interest rates sometime in the middle of the year. The Fed hasn’t done that since 2006.

Meanwhile, easy money keeps pouring in. Singapore just became the latest country to hop on the stimulus bandwagon, which sent its currency to its weakest level since 2010. “For Singapore to do such an unscheduled move, it has to be against the backdrop of enormous uncertainty,” Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Research, told Bloomberg.

Earnings

Apple AAPL, -3.17% easily topped quarterly earnings and revenue thanks to some gaudy iPhone sales numbers, sending its stock up nicely premarket. Yahoo US:YHOO is also deep in green territory after the company announced it would spin off its Alibaba BABA, -1.20% . AT&T T, -0.48% and U.S. Steel X, +4.87% are also capitalizing on upbeat numbers. Rounding out premarket earnings winners are Juniper JNPR, +0.04% , Electronic Arts EA, +0.51% and especially Abiomed ABMD, -4.00% .

In the sparsely-populated negative column, Ethan Allen Interiors ETH, -1.48% shares dropped by double digits after the company’s results came up well shy of targets.

Boeing BA, -3.81% shares are up on earnings. Facebook FB, -0.89% and Qualcomm QCOM, -3.64% are still to come. Check out MarketWatch’s Earnings Wall. And in case you missed it, behold the Zuckerberg poo portrait.

The buzz

Currency trading is seeing a groundswell in activity amid a ever-changing landscape for monetary policies around the globe. Daily volumes broke records through the middle of last year, and daily trading in London reached a record $2.67 trillion a day, according to Reuters. Overall daily trading volumes surpassed $10 trillion while the ruble RUBUSD, -0.00 was collapsing in December, which is about twice the $5 trillion a day average in recent years.

The chart of the day

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend — and a suitor’s nightmare — but they can also come in handy for traders with a knack for finding them in the patterns. Greg Harmon of Dragonfly Capital just spotted one in Monsanto US:MON, and he likes what he sees. “This pattern is often talked about as a topping pattern, but it can be a continuation pattern as well,” he said. “From this chart a continuation higher is where I will place my bias.” Harmon pointed to some positive movement in the momentum indicators that could pave the way to $132.50 a share.

Dragonfly Capital

The call of the day

Ford Motor Co. F, -0.68% reports on Thursday, and now is as good a time as any to be hitching a ride with the car makers, according to Greg Guenthner of the Daily Reckoning blog. In fact, he believes there’s a slam dunk 20% to be made by going long in the sector. “We’re looking at the best January in eight years for the auto industry — and that’s without any performance-increasing fuel injection from our friend Uncle Sam,” he wrote. “Nope, they’re doing it all themselves.” For now, lowly gas prices are only helping boost demand for the guzzlers that have always been Detroit’s favorite profit makers.

Ford

Random reads

Get your dancing shoes on. Here’s the theme from M.A.S.H. set to disco.

The story behind the rule that the U.S. doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.

A look back at the Danny Pearl story and how journalists aren’t getting any safer.

The Ivy League Super Bowl bet pays 20 to 1.

Some drone footage that will have you checking Aer Lingus flights.

Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but sign up hereto get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7 a.m. Eastern.