The upcoming week closes the door on September and the third quarter, also raising worries that the upcoming quarter’s profit showings, launching in mid-October with Alcoa’s (NYSE:AA) traditional kick-off, are most likely to surprise on the downside, as last week’s warnings from FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and 3M (NYSE:MMM) foretold. According to Reuters’ data, Wall Street anticipates third quarter profit declines of 2.2% from a year ago, the first drop in three years. Corporate guidance for the quarter is running the most negative since the third quarter of 2001, at a 4.3 to 1 ratio. |