Wall Street rallies toward an all-time high

stock market is closing in on an all-time high on Tuesday.The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and is on track to finish the day above its record closing level set in August. Even with worries about war, high inflation and cranked-up pressure from the bond market continuing to weigh on it, the backbone of many 401(k) accounts has soared 23% since hitting a bottom in late March.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 201 points, or 0.4%, as of 1:23 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.5% to its own all-time high set the day before.

The record-high stock prices are helping investors feel better about their finances, or at least less bad, when Americans are generally feeling more discouraged about keeping up with the fast-rising cost of living.Many of the fears that sent the U.S. stock market to its bottom in March, sparked by the war with Iran, have indeed come true. Oil prices have jumped, which has made inflation worse.

That in turn helped send yields higher in bond markets worldwide, which is threatening to slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money and by making investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks.But despite all those challenges, one vital source of support has remained resolute for the U.S. stock market: the relentless ability for U.S. companies to make bigger profits.Lamb Weston, which sells frozen fries and other potato products, said on Tuesday that its profit and revenue during its latest quarter topped its projections, for example.

The results also beat analysts’ expectations, and its stock rallied 11.1%.CEO Mike Smith said the company continues to deal with unexpected increases in freight and other expenses as inflation remains high. But the company nevertheless raised its forecast for an underlying measure of profit for its full fiscal year.It's not just potato products proving to be more profitable. All kinds of companies are lining up to report soon how much profit they made from July through September, and expectations are high.Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to deliver overall growth of nearly 30% in earnings per share from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

If they’re correct, it would be the third straight quarter of growth better than 25%.And along with interest rates, how much profit companies are making are the big levers that help to set price… The results also beat analysts’ expectations, and its stock rallied 11.9%.CEO Mike Smith said the company continues to deal with unexpected increases in freight and other expenses as inflation remains high.