Earnings season started with a bang only it wasn?t a rally that was started. The first reports out of the financial sector were largely better than expected but reveal the rising threat of inflation. The outlook for earnings is tepid despite the onset of rising interest rates and may sap investor sentiment for the near term. The S&P 500 gave up about 1.0% at the low of the day to close at the lowest levels in three weeks. Based on the technical setup, it looks like the index could keep falling in the near term at least.

This week is the start of peak earnings season but even so, there aren?t too many reports on tap. The majority of the action will be in the financial sector although there are some other S&P 500 sectors with companies reporting. The most important report of the week may come on Thursday evening when Netflix reports. Netflix is important to both the NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 so could easily move the market.