Investors are spotting some reasons to be hopeful

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 27, 2008 INVESTORS HEAD INTO the week with a bit more resolve that U.S. companies are doing a better-than-expected job managing their way through an economy stifled by unprecedented turmoil in the housing and credit markets. Wall Street is about midway through second-quarter earnings season, and the overall results haven't been as dreary as some analysts feared. About 61 percent of the Standard & Poor's 500 index companies reporting results so far have surpassed projections, and 72 percent of them were able to top last year's sales figures. Expectations were low for the quarter and that helped some companies beat forecasts. But if you strip out the market's problem child — the financial sector — S&P said companies are headed for a 10 percent growth rate from last year. "Regardless of the estimates... [read full story]