By BERNARD CONDON
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK – Investors cast aside worries of another recession last week and bought stocks by the bucketful. This week brings hard evidence of whether they were right.
A new earnings reporting season kicks off Monday with Alcoa Inc., followed by dozens of other companies over the next few days. A question on everyone’s lips: Will these second-quarter reports show that companies are feeling better about the future, too?
“We’ll find out soon enough what the reality is,” says Howard Silverblatt, a senior analyst at Standard & Poor’s.