Fueled by earnings, stocks hustle to their next key test

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC’s senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics.

• First traction, then acceleration. The market bent but refused to break the past few days. This, combined with a lull in bond yields, encouraging economic data (jobless claims, PPI) and an early rush of decent earnings, released the tape for an upside effort.