digit profit gains?|?Reuters 

digit profit gains?|?Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Despite increasing signs the economy is headed for slower growth. corporate earnings should see double-digit growth in the second quarter and in the second half of the year. chief investment strategist at Prudential Equity Group. said on Monday.
He told the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York that earnings growth could be what propels the stock market higher from its recent rut. with the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> last week breaking below 11.000 for the first time in three months.
"The first quarter turned out to be close to 15 (percent). and it looks as though the second quarter might keep us in double digits." Keon told the summit. "In the second half of the year. despite the fact that we expect an economic slowdown. I still expect we might well see double-digit earnings."
The market has had about four years of double-digit earnings increases. with the energy sector showing the biggest year-over-year profit gains in recent quarters as oil prices have risen.
Even though stocks have fallen sharply in recent weeks and Wall Street thinks the stock market is in a funk. individual investors who focus on picking stocks for the long-term are still poised for growth.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gasoline at nearly $3 a gallon is sending America's ethanol industry into overdrive. with about $2 billion committed to corn processing plants since the start of the year.





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