Alcoa (AA) earnings are the traditional kick off of every quarterly earnings season. I don't really follow this name much simply because, while it's a basic material, aluminum is not exactly my favorite. But I'd like to show readers the reality behind the numbers, while the seals on CNBC were clapping and hooting and hollering about the "beat". I'd also like to show you a trend you will be seeing this earnings season, and the ones coming - higher input costs. And squeezed profit margins - we've been warning about this "era" coming since last summer. It's now here.First to the "great news" - Alcoa "beat" estimates - 66 cents versus 65 cents. So the seals cheer "better than expected". It's a joke. 90 days ago Alcoa was expected to do 77 cents, 60 days ago that was lowered ...

NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks fell following hefty market swings as investors fretted about the opening of the second quarter earnings season, sensing major banks could unveil further losses.
The leading Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 56.58 points, or 0.50 points, to end at 11,231.96. The Dow recovered some ground after falling over 100 points in earlier trading, partly on worries that corporate earnings may disappoint.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 2.06 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 2,243.32 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 10.59 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 1,252.31.

LONDON - Britain’s leading share index ended up almost two per cent as energy companies rebounded after last week’s fall, while lower crude prices boosted travel and leisure companies.
The FTSE 100 closed at 5,512.7 points, up 99.9 or 1.85 per cent.

FRANKFURT - The DAX index ended at 6,395.75 points, up 123.54 or 1.97 per cent.

PARIS - The …