How much have the S&P 500's total earnings changed compared to this time last year? I am interested in initial impressions (unbiased by research) to help create a sentiment reading. For sake of this poll, please do not post the correct answer.
Standard & Poor's said Tuesday early figures show that third-quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 declined 21.6% from the year-ago period. About 94% of the S&P 500 has reported quarterly earnings this cycle. "The Energy sector played the role of hero during the third quarter, contributing 40.4% of the S&P 500's operating earnings -- up from 16.2% a year ago," said Howard Silverblatt, an S&P senior index analyst, in a statement. "Without Energy, the third quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 would have hit an all-time low. Conversely, Financials have now posted their fourth consecutive quarter of negative earnings after accounting for 18.5% of operating earnings this time last year."
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"Earnings drive the stock market." -- Peter Lynch
A better topic would be to ask how bad GDP wise will the Q4 be. Estimates seem to range from -2% to a worse case -8%.
