Can Earnings Season Be the Market's Savior?

Can second quarter earnings reports save the market? 

Looking at other earnings seasons, the results are mixed.  Stocks rallied 2.22% when S&P 500 companies reported their first quarter results (between AA: 4/7/08 and WMT: 5/13/08). However, during the two previous earnings seasons the market declined -4.28% and -5.37%. 

As shown in the table, Alcoa (AA) began 3Q07 reports on 10/9/07, the market top.

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Comments

[Will Rahal:]

The downward adjustment in stock prices are a result of expectations being lowered by investors.
Next week's reports (using consensus estimates) show no improvement for the the sluggish environment we are in.

2008 Jul 12 04:31 PM