Strong earnings fail to impress jittery market

Source: AP-Excite

By JONATHAN FAHEY

NEW YORK (AP) - Investors to Corporate America: Meh.

U.S. companies are reporting strong profits for the fourth quarter of last year. But most are failing to impress investors who were hoping for even better numbers or rosier outlooks, and are too worried about larger global macroeconomic forces to do much buying.

"Earnings season is going quite well," says Christine Short, a senior manager at the research firm S&P Capital IQ. "But what we're seeing in earnings season is not what we are seeing in the market."

With results in from half of the companies in the S&P 500 index, fourth-quarter earnings are up a respectable 7.3 percent, making it the best quarter of last year, according to S&P Capital IQ. Of the 250 companies that have reported results, 172 companies have beaten earnings expectations and 51 have fallen short, a better ratio than average. Company revenues have also come in better than in the past relative to expectations.

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140204/DABOA6881.html

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In this Jan. 29, 2014, file photo, a specialist works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Companies in the U.S. are reporting strong earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, but investors are not satisfied. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)