Where the hell is the bad news?S&P earnings coming out ahead of projections.
Friday February 5, 10:10 am Eastern Time
S&P 500 earnings running 4.3 pct above forecasts
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Quarterly earnings from Standard & Poor's 500 companies are running 4.3 percent above forecasts, First Call Corp. said.
In a report late Thursday, First Call, which tracks analysts' estimates of corporate earnings, said 383 of the S&P500 companies, or 77 percent, had reported fourth-quarter results so far.
Those earnings ''are coming in at a rousing 4.3 percent above expectations,'' the report said. The figure is likely to decline as more companies report, First Call said.
Over the past five years, an average of 2.4 percent of S&P500 companies have beaten quarterly earnings forecasts. Only 0.9 percent topped estimates in the 1998 third quarter.
First Call said it expected more than the average percentage of the 500 companies to beat 1998 fourth-quarter forecasts.
Companies in the transportation, technology and energy sectors have almost finished reporting, it said.
The bulk of companies that make up consumer cyclicals and consumer staples will report in coming weeks, it said. Those two sectors make up 30 percent of the index, First Call said.
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