Barry Ritholtz Earnings Quotations

Earnings have been coming in across the board pretty good, but the problem hasn't been earnings. The issue is the forward-looking statements for the fourth quarter or 2006. Despite good numbers, you see some stocks getting punished. It's a function of the outlook.

Stock valuations have been stretched, everyone knows a rate hike is coming and great earnings are already baked into the stock market, so you're seeing this churning, and unfortunately, I would expect it to continue for the next few weeks.

The big issue is decelerating earnings growth. Earnings will still be higher but the ideal time to buy stocks is when earnings go from awful to not so bad as opposed to going from great to good.

You're talking about the best-run companies in the world. The economy is slowing, it's starting to show up in earnings and revenue, and this is going to be a tough year.

There was a lot of trepidation on Monday after Friday's sell-off and when things didn't go from bad to worse, it has emboldened dip buyers to step in. But most of the investment community hasn't realized that the economy is slowing and that earnings are reflecting that and valuations are going to have to be adjusted.