Caterpillar Is Bellwether of the Week: Poll

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- One might argue that this is the most important quarterly earnings season of the decade.

For many companies, this quarter will either make or break their chance for recovery in the second half of the year and the beginning of 2010. And the attention is all the more intense for the economy-revealing stocks known as the bellwethers.

Given this, we asked users of the TheStreet: "Which company, reporting earnings this week, is the most revealing bellwether of the state of the economy?" According to you, it is Caterpillar(CAT) that is the most revealing of near-term economic conditions, with 31% of the vote.

If that's the case, things are starting to improve, though at a snail-like pace. The heavy-machinery maker saw its third-quarter profit cut more than half, as sales tumbled by 44%. Still, Caterpillar easily topped Wall Street's consensus and said it is seeing some encouraging signs like an increase in demand.

As a result, management upped the lower end of its full-year outlook. The company now expects earnings between $1.10 and $1.30 a share, from a prior forecast of 40 cents to $1.50 a share.

Apple(AAPL) came in second, with 24.3% of the vote. The company reported a 45% surge in third-quarter profit, as sales gained 25% on strong demand for Macs and iPhones.

And while Apple did not provide forward-looking details, CEO Steve Jobs did say there are some exciting new products in the pipeline for 2010.