Tim Cook is stepping down. No one is shocked. And that’s a good example of how his critics always underestimated him. 

Good morning. On Fortune’s radar today:

Tim Cook’s critics always underestimated him.

Markets: So far, so good.

Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s $7 trillion plan for the bond markets.

Trump hints Iran war could last longer than estimated.

Quantum computing might be further away than you think.

Countries of the world ranked by “hopefulness.”

Oil is at $95 per barrel—pretty much where it was yesterday. S&P 500 futures ticked up 0.18% this morning prior to the open in New York. The index closed down 0.24% yesterday, at 7,109. Asian markets closed solidly up and Europe was flat in early trading.

The S&P is up nearly 4% year-to-date, despite the war, and remains a smidge below its all-time high. Why? 

Because companies keep beating expectations. In the first week of Q1 earnings calls, 49 companies reported results and 76% of them beat earnings estimates, according to Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian.

Because the U.S. economy is isolated from downside risk. “We respect the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ and appreciate that last year, markets ultimately rose more than 16% on 12% earnings growth. In fact, with the U.S. economy no longer as sensitive to oil prices, consumer sentiment and the level of rates, 2026 could be a repeat,” Morgan Stanley’s Lisa Shalett told clients in a note seen by Fortune.

Tim Cook is stepping down. His critics owe him an apology. 

So long, and thanks for all the phones. Apple disclosed that Tim Cook will step down as CEO in September in favor of John Ternus, the company’s 51-year-old senior vice president of hardware engineering. Literally no one was surprised by this move and Apple’s stock barely budged on the news. The company has, shall we say, been failing to deny that Ternus was Cook’s heir since last year.

This is exactly what you want a good CEO succession to look like: A smooth delivery into a safe pair of hands.

The incrementalist. Cook was long dogged by unfair comparisons to Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs. Jobs was the visionary who gave us the iPhone, the iPod, and the iPad. Cook was dismissed as “the operations guy,” an incrementalist who failed to introduce a revolutionary new hardware product. (Although he did launch the Apple Watch and AirPods.) 

Shareholders have precisely nothing to complain about. The above view is a complete misunderstanding of Cook’s achievements. When he took over from the late Jobs, Apple’s market cap was just $349 billion. It is $4 trillion today. In 2011, Apple’s........

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