S&P 500 earnings are expected to fall 12.3 percent in Q108 - Bloomberg

First-quarter earnings have been "awful'' and are a "harbinger of things to come,'' a team led by New York-based David Kostin, Goldman's U.S. investment strategist, wrote in a note to clients today. Profits at companies in the S&P 500 are expected to fall 12.3 percent in the first quarter and 3.8 percent in the second, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.