John Authers, Columnist

The Recession You May Have Missed Is Over

Profits are again growing at S&P 500 companies, while Europe tumbles into an earnings downturn. Plus: ESG needs an ethics change.

November 8, 2023 at 5:34 AM UTC

By John Authers

John Authers is a senior editor for markets and Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief markets commentator at the Financial Times, he is author of “The Fearful Rise of Markets.”

The earnings recession for the S&P 500 companies appears to be over. — The earnings recession for the S&P 500 companies appears to be over.
Photographer: Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg

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After that perhaps misleading headline, let me stress that the recession I’m talking about is in the profits made by companies in the S&P 500. After three quarters of year-on-year declines, they’ve plainly grown in the third quarter. Wall Street is confident that this will continue. This chart from UBS shows it clearly enough: