US equities: A focus on fundamentals

September 2010. At first glance, there are plenty of reasons to be cautious on the US equity market. Headlines warn of tighter financial regulation, weak employment and a possible double-dip recession. With the economic outlook uncertain, the market is volatile and range-bound. For investors though, what really matters is not short-term economic news, but the long-term earnings potential of American companies. In this paper, we focus on the fundamentals. We examine what valuation metrics are telling us, and why we believe the prospects for future earnings growth and profitability present an attractive case for US equities.