U.S. chief executive officers are more pessimistic about corporate earnings than any time since the financial crisis, according to research from Bespoke Investment Group LLC. The percentage of companies cutting profit forecasts during this earnings season has outpaced those with upward revisions by 8.6 percentage points, the widest margin in six years, according to data compiled by Bespoke. Consumer companies and drugmakers are the most bearish among 10 major industries, with at least 18 percent of each group providing lower guidance, the data show. Plunging oil and a strengthening dollar are wreaking havoc on earnings this month as Procter & Gamble Co. to Caterpillar Inc. and Pfizer Inc. joined an increased number for companies to announce disappointing forecasts. While the reduction in projections sets a lower bar for companies to […]