The past couple of months have bolstered the “soft landing” bulls, who think that the US can defy history and emerge from a fast and furious round of interest-rate increases with inflation curtailed and real output still growing.
A bad earnings season just might be good for stocks.
Consider this scenario: Companies air their dirty laundry, analysts cut their 2023 outlooks and perhaps the S&P 500 Index takes another detour back toward 3,600. Suddenly, expectations aren’t as hard to beat, and a foundation might be built for a new bull market. Crazy? Maybe just a little.
