With four weeks of earnings in for the third quarter earnings season, and the exceptional news of a 3 percent growth economy and lowest unemployment rate in nearly 17, there's plenty of reason to be excited about the country's economic momentum.
The first couple of weeks produced earnings that just kept getting better.
We had earnings growth of 4.7 percent through the first three weeks of earnings season. One in five companies also reported a negative impact due to the hurricanes.
Last week was another busy one for earnings season. Here's the latest:
81 percent of companies have reported
74 percent have reported positive earnings surprises and 66 percent have topped sales targets
Earnings growth has been 5.9 percent!
By the end of September, after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, earnings growth estimates had been cut to 3 percent.
The prospects of a sustained 3 percent growth economy had also gone by the wayside. That's all now reversed.
Companies are blowing through that 3 percent mark and there's a chance that earnings will double the growth estimates.
The economy did post 3 percent growth in the third quarter despite what the government identified was more than $120 billion in negative economic impact in the third quarter due to the hurricanes.
The room for optimism reigns!