Maybe we should be used to high unemployment … but now the bad news on jobs is coupled with queasiness about corporate earnings.
The latest earnings season began with the S&P 500 dropping 1% yesterday. It has dropped 2.5% over the past four trading days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8%
Based on estimates compiled by Bloomberg analysts, profits for S&P 500 companies fell 1.8 percent in the second quarter, marking the first decline since 2009. More troubling, though, is that the drop is likely part of a trend. What can we expect in the third and fourth quarters?