Timothy Ghriskey Improving Quotations

We're into a bit of the summer doldrums. There have been a lot of positive earnings surprises, but the anticipation of that has lifted markets for months, with little proof that the economy is improving enough to justify those earnings. So the mood is more upbeat, but that hasn't translated to higher stock prices.

The impression is that corporations are being increasingly cautious in their projections for the first quarter, which is a trend that you've seen for the last few quarters. I think the companies are taking current economic and business conditions and projecting them onto the future earnings, rather than incorporating the impact the improving economy might have on earnings.

The main thing is the economic news looks like its steadily improving and that should continue to help stocks.