Remember folks, Earnings Growth (EG) plus Dividend Yield (DY) +/ P/E contraction/Expansion is where your returns come from... so check this from Brian Wesbury over at First Trust Portfolios.

"Economy-wide corporate profits declined 5.1% in the first quarter of 2023, the fastest drop for any quarter since 2020 during the early days of COVID."

That puts a NEGATIVE in the first part of the equation for the first quarter. Not a good sign. HOWEVER, one could argue, with validity I might add, the markets are FORWARD looking by about 6 months thus the negative Q1 EG was already priced back in October when the market was in full bear mode.

There's a lot to that argument. However, now we have to wonder where EG comes from...going forward? AI seems to be the rage. I don't see that as a HUGE boost to EG. But who knows? I've been wrong many, many times.