For Investors

Someone wrote me a couple days ago to point out he had not seen any stories in the media/CNBC about companies downgrading their second quarter earnings estimates.

This morning, he sends me a very interesting story from Bloomberg (if you can't trust Bloomberg, who can you trust -- that Bloomberg). Here's the lead paragraph:

Analysts are raising earnings estimates for U.S. companies at the fastest rate since at least 2004 just as stocks post the biggest losses in 16 months on concern that the economy will sink back into a recession. 

I wrote just last week that with the market way down, I hope investors are accumulating shares in their favorite companies.  For me, it's energy and telecommunication companies, but there are probably opportunities everywhere.

Also, I posted the following a few days ago:

For a system allegedly being strangled in its bed, U.S. capitalism seems to be in astonishingly robust shape.

Numbers published by the Federal Reserve a few weeks ago show that corporate profit margins have just hit record levels. Indeed. Andrew Smithers, the well-regarded financial consultant and author of "Wall Street Revalued," calculates from the Fed's latest Flow of Funds report that corporate profit margins rocketed to 36% in the first quarter. Since records began in 1947 they have never been this high. The highest they got under Ronald Reagan was 30%.

I am still on the road, so my postings may be a bit fewer in number (and quality).