Equity markets ended the week, month and year on a sour note falling more than 1.0% at the low of the day on Friday to cap off a year of selling in the stock market. The S&P 500 shed more than 25% at the depths of the correction and may reach those levels again in 2023. The risk for the market this year is not only a worsening outlook for corporate earnings but a growing possibility for a deep recession.

This week may be another week of listless trading but the action will heat up soon enough. The calendar Q4 2022 earnings reporting season begins with releases from JPMorgan and other major banks along with key reports from other sectors. As it is, the market is expecting to see S&P 500 earnings fall by roughly 3.0% on average which will be the first decline in earnings since the depths of the pandemic in Q3 of 2020.