Soaring Profits Pull Big Biz Out of Recession

Corporate America is poised to throw off its almost 3-year-long “earnings recession," despite the plain ‘ol recession still bedeviling much of America. Fourth-quarter reports will begin rolling in this week, and analysts believe they’ll continue the upward trends seen in last quarter’s better-than-expected showing. S&P 500 companies are expected to post earnings triple their year-earlier figures, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The market hasn’t seen year-over-year earnings growth since the second quarter of 2007, its longest such drought sine it began tracking operating earnings in 1991. The figures look better in part because the economy was so bad in the fourth quarter of 2008, but also reflect some economic growth. “It’s really good to be a corporation right now,” says one investment strategist. (More corporate earnings stories.)