Updating Global Economy & S&P 500 Earnings

Today, Melissa takes us on a world tour, reviewing the takeaways from the latest economic releases of major economies. Those in Europe are a mixed bag, with the tourist economies of Spain and Italy looking good as Germany struggles. In Asia, the fast-growing Indian economy stands head and shoulders above the rest, though Japan’s is improving. The “ABC” commodities exporting economies—Australia, Brazil, and Canda—are underperforming for country-specific reasons. … Also: Joe reviews how several S&P indexes performed last year on the fundamental measures of forward revenues, earnings, and profit margins, and he shares takeaways from his new breadth data for the S&P’s three market-capitalization indexes.