The earnings season couldn't have got off to a worse star with Alcoa and GE both disappointing. But one has to question why the market reacted so violently this week to these 2 behemoths. After all, over the last 5 years, both stocks have made absolutely no money for investors. I am the first to agree that a weak economy would certainly impact these companies, but then they didn't exactly outperform during economic expansion either. All I am saying is that we need to get away from being jolted by the stocks of yesteryear. They are old news and I am not influenced by their earnings. I am still concerned about the recession and the markets but these companies are not a good measure of our broader markets. -- Faisal Laljee Full Disclosure: I do not own GE or AA but my position can change anytime without notice. ...