What to watch

As profits tick up, earnings parade continues

The earnings recession you’ve heard so much about might be dead on arrival when all the profit reports from companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index are counted up.

According to the latest tally, which includes 303 companies, or 60% of the index, third-quarter profit growth for S&P 500 companies is now at +3.1%, according to earnings-tracker Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

And while that single-digit growth rate isn’t resoundingly robust, it is a gift of sorts to investors, as profit growth has been negative four consecutive quarters. What’s more, that seemingly tepid 3.1% growth rate is something to write home about as it is the best earnings growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2014.

The earnings parade continues Tuesday, with more than three dozen stocks in the S&P 500 reporting.

Wall Street will get another look at the health of the U.S. consumer, as companies ranging from cereal maker Kellogg, highend leather purse seller Coach, video game player Electronic Arts and beer seller Molson Coors Brewing report their quarterly results.

And for value investors wondering if the turn in oil prices is translating into profits at hardhit energy companies, reports from Devon Energy and Noble Energy will provide color into the state of the U.S. oil patch.

Oh, one more thing. The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting on interest rates Tuesday. Decision day is Wednesday.