Guidance from S&P 500 companies during the Q4 2018 earnings release season revealed a stark change in trend for U.S. stocks. Even though actual results for this quarter sustained recent growth trends and positive earnings surprises,
forward guidance for Q1 2019 was significantly less than pre-earnings season expectations. As a result, median S&P 500 estimates for the current quarter call for a sharp deceleration from 14% earnings growth in Q4 2018 to
just 4% in Q1 2019.
