Blue-Chip Companies Set to Issue Earnings Results

Wall Street investors seem to have shaken the profit-warning blues and are expected to remain chin-up this week, giving stocks a boost, as the corporate earnings season revs up to full-speed. Corporate America already has largely confessed to the sins of weaker profits committed before the backdrop of slowing growth, and Wall Street appears ready to forgive and forget--at least for now. “Most of the bad news is already in most of these stock prices,” Peter Gottlieb, portfolio manager at First Albany Asset Management, said. The tap opens on the flood of earnings reports this week--with a substantial batch of blue-chip firms set to issue their quarterly results--and analysts say many investors will be able to shrug off any negative surprises. There could even be some good news--particularly from the slew of pharmaceutical companies expected to issue statements about their profits, as well as many U.S. oil companies, which saw their profits get a boost from sky-high oil and natural gas prices.