Company earnings reports imminent - we'll know where we stand in the economy in a few days

The current rally also began with a company announcement. This time, beleaguered and bailed out Citigroup Inc. said March 10 it was profitable for the first two months of the year. The S&P 500 gained 43 points, or 6 percent, that day to 719. The index closed Thursday at 857, and markets were closed on Good Friday.

The S&P could rise more, and even turn positive for 2009, if earnings reports for the first quarter show a strengthening economy. Alcoa, the first big company to report their results each quarter, announced a loss of $497 million on Tuesday evening. But investors were pleased about the aluminum company's efforts to cut expenses by $2 billion a year, and the shares are up 14 percent since.

SHOOT: We'll have a clearer picture of the markets in a few days, and the prognosis is contraction across the board. But as the Citigroup example above shows, the market will clutch at straws in order to rally. If there is a 'recovery' in 2009, it will be temporary, based on artifice, sentiment, wishful thinking and delusion [the same things that propelled markets into hypergrowth over the past decade].

clipped from finance.yahoo.com NEW YORK (AP) -- It's the earnings, stupid. Optimism that the fortunes of financial companies like Citigroup were improving sparked a four-week rally beginning March 10 that drove the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 25 percent. But now investors will find out exactly how companies across all industries performed during the first three months of the year. Those quarterly results will determine whether the surge was the beginning of a bull market, or just a blip. The current rally also began with a company announcement. This time, beleaguered and bailed out Citigroup Inc. said March 10 it was profitable for the first two months of the year. The S&P 500 gained 43 points, or 6 percent, that day to 719. The index closed Thursday at 857, and markets were closed on Good Friday. -- General Electric Co. -- When it will report: Friday, April 17. Intel Corp. -- When it will report: Tuesday, April 14. Johnson & Johnson -- When it will report: Tuesday, April 14 Citigroup Inc. Friday, April 17