Companies generally do give pretty conservative guidance to help them beat expectations.
Still, the numbers have been very solid this earning’s season. I know a number of big companies posted big increases from last year. Of course, not every stock that beats expectations goes up. Mostly I’ve noticed the biggest jumps are caused by analysts upgrading or downgrading stocks. This can result in hilarious jumps of 5, 10, even 20% in a day. “Wait, the company that was worth 20 milliion yesterday is only worth 16 million today? But… nothing changed?”
The market almost always overreacts to both good and bad news, then gradually corrects.
There probably will be a lot of uncertainty following the election, regardless of who wins. If you’re looking for a good point to take some profits, the Monday before election day might be a good day to trim some positions for safety.
