Corporate profits before tax and capital consumption adjustment are up 22% year on year. Except for the recovery quarter Q4 of 2009 (from a very low base), this is close to the best performance since the 2008 financial crisis.
As we wrote yesterday, the S&P is trading right around its long-term average of 16 times earnings, if we believe the forward P/E forecasts. Today’s report is good news for US stocks.