Investors find a wealth of worries
The worries are piling up for investors, who saw modest gains on Wall Street on Friday after stocks took a nasty slide earlier in the week:
Some economists are predicting a return to recession conditions.
The Federal Reserve is warning that the American economy is in significant difficulty.
Economic indicators are heading down in Europe and Asia.
Greece might be in danger of defaulting on its debt.
"The markets are eagerly awaiting a resolution or, at the minimum, a more rigid strategy to reduce Greece's debt liabilities," said Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index in London, a market analysis company.
Intense fear that global debt issues and stagnant growth cannot be resolved has pummeled market confidence. Since July 1, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has tumbled 15 percent. The U.S. markets sold off nearly every day last week on panic reminiscent of the financial meltdown in 2008.
"The way things are going, we're going to be in a recession by the end of the fourth quarter," said Barton Biggs, managing partner of Manhattan-based Traxis Partners.
But profit growth could still be relatively strong for the season that kicks off in early October, and that could lift stocks.
Earnings have been one of the market's few positives. But while profits are high, companies are still not hiring. And analysts now are toning down double-digit growth targets for the rest of this year and next on the heels of a record second quarter.
Forecasts for third-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 companies have slipped to 13.7 percent growth from 17 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Many strategists, though, say those estimates are still too high.
For next year, S&P 500 earnings-per-share estimates are eyeing $112, which would be a record.
"If that number is anywhere near real, order the champagne now," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P.
Tech, meanwhile, has been the sector where forecasts are rising behind powerhouses such as Apple, whose stock hit an all-time high last week.
The forecast for technology earnings for the full-year 2011 is 16.6 percent growth, compared with 2010, according to Thomson Reuters data released on Friday. In July, the forecast called for growth of 13.7 percent.
And after a relatively quiet few days on the economic calendar, the flow of data will pick up next week with reports on housing, factory activity, consumer spending and the broader economy. New home sales for August are due Monday, followed by the consumer confidence index on Tuesday.
