It’s a jungle out there in the world of investor and analyst expectations. Amazon (AMZN) handily beat analyst’s expectations in their earning announcement this week. Now, in the bull market of 1999 and early 2000, Amazon’s stock would have seen a immediate upside pop despite the fact that earnings were still strongly negative, just not as negative “as expected”. In a bear market environment, investors don’t seem to care much about meeting or beating expectations if earnings are negative (as in 17 consecutive negative quarters). Amazon lost 24% on the day of their big announcement. The point of this sad tale is to identify the fact that earnings expectations have been lowered to the point that even the weak and weary can meet or beat them. Pessimism among analysts and investors alike is spreading like wildfire. A sure sign that the end is near.

There are lots of questions surrounding the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which was signed into law on June 7. This Q & A may help you provide some answers to your employees....