Why This Earnings Season Has Been So Brutal

By all accounts, this earnings season will go down in the books for its sheer brutality.

Tuesday's Coverage

Getting a Handle on the Wireless-Handset Slowdown

Previously

Why This Earnings Season Has Been So Brutal

Earnings Burned Investors, but the Tech Fire Remains

With No Catalyst, Stocks Rumbling and Stumbling Through February

For the first time in 11 years, Microsoft(MSFT Quote) warned that it would miss earnings and revenue expectations. Keeping it company were leading names like Intel, (INTC Quote) Dell Computer(DELL Quote) and Home Depot(HD Quote). And though it didn't issue a formal preannouncement, Cisco Systems(CSCO Quote) caused bedlam when it missed estimates after years of beating them by a penny.

There's no question that both the preannouncements and outright misses on estimates reflect a weakening economy, with both business and consumers cutting back spending. But while the economy gets all the attention, there's another change that marks this earnings season out from previous ones: Under a new rule known as Regulation FD (for "fair disclosure"), companies are no longer allowed to furtively guide down numbers by leaking bad news to analysts or favored shareholders. ...