It seems that we'll need to wait for a real trend to be established regarding the latest earnings direction of major U.S. corporations. Alcoa
For the quarter, the company earned $546 million, or $0.66 per share, compared with last year's $715 million, or $0.81 a share. The analysts who follow the company had anticipated that the per-share line would come in about two pennies lower.
A couple of events stripped $39 million from the company's results for the most recent quarter: About $17 million was cut by an Apache Energy
And while Alcoa, like Rio Tinto
So there you have the first shot out of the cannon for the new earnings season. All things considered, given the expanding role of the resources sector and Alcoa's position in it, I'm inclined to suggest that Fools keep an eye on the company. And beyond that, I'll be watching ever so closely in the days and weeks ahead for confirmation of economic and earnings trends -- both in the U.S. and abroad -- from other fellow big industrials such as Caterpillar
Related Foolishness: