Earnings Season: Five Things We’ve Learned So Far

A cursory look at quarterly earnings this month suggests corporate America is regaining its foothold and ready to run again. But a look at the stock market’s reaction indicates otherwise.

Photo: Oliver Quillia for CNBC.com A trader at the New York Stock Exchange.

So goes the dichotomy of third-quarter earnings, in which positive surprises have outweighed the negative by about 4 to 1 though stock gains have been muted.

In fact, since the Dow crossed 10,000 on Oct. 14, stocks have done almost nothing despite a flurry of beats from some of Wall Street’s biggest names.

Investors’ reaction, in fact, has been decidedly undecisive to all the seemingly good news.

“The overall market really seems fatigued at this point in the rally,” says Gary Flam, portfolio manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors in Los Angeles. “The key question is, is this just a pause because solid earnings were expected and then we take off from here, or has the market petered out and we’re due for a pullback?”

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