SUMMARY

• Financial markets take First Republic Bank's failure in stride, focusing on corporate profits and upcoming Fed decisions
• JPMorgan Chase swoops in to acquire First Republic at a bargain price, as S&P 500 continues to rally
• Investors juggle massive bank failure with strong corporate profits amid stubborn inflation and tightening lending standards

When First Republic Bank went belly-up over the weekend, the financial world was like, "Meh, no biggie." Instead of panicking, peeps were more interested in corporate earnings and what the Fed's got cooking for interest rates this week.

The S&P 500 casually climbed higher as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation swooped in to save First Republic, handing it over to JPMorgan Chase at a sweet discount. The bank's stock had tanked from $120 to just $2 a share, but even that didn't get anyone too worked up.

Investors were all chill about the whole thing, with the S&P 500 continuing its rally from last week. The KBW regional bank index stayed steady, and while PNC's shares dropped a bit, JPMorgan's stock gained some ground.

Trying to juggle the massive bank failure and strong corporate profits is like walking a tightrope for investors, especially with inflation being a stubborn pain and the Fed on a mission to fight it. As banks face more scrutiny and tighten lending standards, things could get a little dicey for the economy.

But even with all that, investors are still betting the Fed will hike up interest rates again this Wednesday after their pow-wow. The First Republic rescue, along with some solid manufacturing data, has peeps feeling pretty good about a 0.25 percentage point rate bump this week.

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