Profits Comeback Paired With Rate Cuts Make a Powerful Mix

Profits are growing again, and the Federal Reserve looks as if it will start cutting rates sometime this year. It is an unusual combination and, for the stock market, possibly a potent one.

Earnings season has just gotten under way, with a bevy of big banks reporting fourth-quarter results on Friday. It is early days still, but the rebound in profits that began in the third quarter looks poised to continue. Analysts on average estimate that earnings per share at companies in the S&P 500 will register an increase of 4.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to London Stock Exchange Group, which compares with a third-quarter gain of 7.5% and a second-quarter decline of 2.8%.