The market remains sensitive to weak forward outlooks and continues to punish those stocks that miss on revenues and beat on earnings. Today, ESRX, Z, and BSFT bore the brunt of that attitude, down -14%, -21%, and -11% respectively after-hours.

But not all is morose. EOG and CVI delivered great earnings reports and raised their forward outlooks, and the market responded positively, though not in as dramatic a fashion as the disappointers.

That’s been hard to figure lately.  Uncertainty has not eased.  Not in Europe.  Not in the Middle East. Not in China or Japan. Not in the U.S., with a dead-heat election battle and unknown future Congressional dynamics.  Companies overall continue to beat earnings, mostly, and miss on revenues.  Now there is a certainty: earnings cannot keep going up if revenues keep going down.

It is fairly clear that what the market wants is a solution, or more likely, an entire truckload of solutions, to the issues that have polarized the globe. I hope you’ve noticed that the market passionately hates uncertainty!  The market’s behavior of the last few weeks speaks to this attitude.