Reporting is not the end of life. We need to look further.

The reporting season for the second quarter begins this week. All investors will want to know about the state of companies and their economies.

Earnings included in the SP500 are projected to decline by approximately 7.6% year-on-year. This will be the third consecutive quarter of decline and the largest decline in earnings reported by the broad-based index after a loss of approximately 32% in the second quarter of 2020.

But investors will be watching even more closely to see what companies forecast for their financials and the economy as a whole. This will be more important than looking back on earnings results to determine whether this year's rally can continue and whether the economy is headed for a downturn.

The S&P 500 is up about 16% for the year, driven by the artificial intelligence hype that propelled tech stocks to sky-high heights and an economy that has remained resilient despite the Federal Reserve's aggressive pace of interest rate hikes.

The economy showed no signs of slowing down this year. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, rose at an annualized rate of 2% in the first quarter, compared with a second estimate of 1.3% reported last month.

Some investors say the strength of the economy could begin to wane as the Fed continues to raise interest rates and consumers draw on savings built up in the midst of the pandemic.

Source: CNN