At the start of the fourth quarter, analysts were expecting S&P 500 earnings to grow by 30% versus Q4 '07. While this seems outlandish now, remember that growth in Q4 '07 was extremely poor as well, and analysts thought many companies would begin to turn the corner by Q4 '08. As we all know, the economy pretty much came to a halt last October. As a result, analysts quickly began to cut growth estimates for the fourth quarter after it became apparent that things weren't going to get better anytime soon. Fast forward a few months, and now analysts are expecting those same Q4 '08 earnings to be 28% weaker than the fourth quarter of 2007. With the direction that these estimates have been heading, when all is said and done, it's likely that this number will get even worse.

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