Earnings Season Starts with a Bang

Today looks like an easy one: solid earnings from Alcoa (NYSE:AA) + lower than expected initial jobless claims = higher stock prices.

We've seen the initial jobless claims vary quite a bit lately. Some weeks they have been worse than expected, some weeks better. As I've said, this is to be expected as the US economy puts in a floor.

Now, most economists expect unemployment to stay on the floor a lot longer than other recessionary conditions. And this is going to be a drag on GDP. But unemployment isn't necessarily a drag on all corporate earnings. In fact, we've already seen job cuts help some companies boost their profitability. And there are sectors where the drop in consumer spending will have only a minimal impact...

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