S&P 500 Collective Earnings Expected to Show a Decline for the First Time in Three Years

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Oct 15, 2012) - The S&P 500 Index has clumped for 4 consecutive days as the International Monetary Fund has cut its global growth forecast. The IMF forecasts the global economy will expand by 3.3 percent in 2012, down from their previous estimate of 3.5 percent. The Paragon Report examines investing opportunities in the S&P 500 Index and provides equity research on Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB).

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Aggregate profits for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to decline in the third quarter for the first time in three years according to analysts' estimates collected by Bloomberg. The data has shown that earnings per share and sales are expected to drop on average 1.7 percent, and 0.6 percent, respectively.

"Weaker economic data over the past 12-18 months has steadily eroded the growth outlook," said Jonathan Golub, a strategist at UBS. "Unfortunately, this weakness is relatively broad-based. More specifically, earnings are now expected to come in lower than 3Q11 in 5 of 10 sectors, with the greatest contractions in Energy and Materials."

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Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. The company recently announced the official opening of its state-of-the-art Advanced Perforating Flow Lab (APFL). Halliburton is scheduled to release its third quarter 2012 results on October 17, 2012.

Schlumberger provides a range of products and services from exploration through production. The United Kingdom's energy secretary, Ed Davis, recently expressed interest in resuming shale gas exploration. The country suspended shale exploration after hydraulic fracturing was believed to be a cause of two small earthquakes. Schlumberger is scheduled to release their third quarter 2012 results on October 19, 2012.

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