The earnings season is here again with nearly a quarter of S&P 500 companies having returned their Q4 and full FY 2019 scorecards–and it doesn’t make for pretty reading, especially by the pivotal Energy sector. Energy investors who expected a late-2019 rise in oil prices to salvage fourth quarter earnings are in for a big disappointment. Somehow, the sector has once again managed to come out as the worst house in a bad neighborhood. Blended earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is so far clocking in at -1.9%, putting the US market on course for the fourth consecutive decline in quarterly earnings since Q3 2015. A total of six sectors are reporting positive Y/Y earnings growth, led by the Utilities sector; four sectors are reporting Y/Y earnings decline led by the Energy sector, Consumer Discretionary, and Materials sectors, while the IT sector is reporting flat earnings. Meanwhile, the blended […]