The earnings season beginning today (Tuesday) is shaping up to be an important one, as it could have a significant impact on a struggling stock market rally.

Investment banks have gotten fat off the land since 1982, when the great U.S. bull market got its start. Their business has multiplied many-fold, and their earnings have soared into the stratosphere, to a level far higher than any other sector.

According to one of the world’s biggest banks, 48% of U.S. mortgages will be underwater by 2011. Man… and the critics call us “doom and gloom”?

Has the massive Obama stimulus plan put us on a collision course with virulent inflation? It sure looks that way. Let me explain …

In late January, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), the world’s most ubiquitous oil giant, capped off a whipsaw year in the global oil markets by reporting net income of $45.2 billion, an all-time record for corporate profits that shattered the former record it had set a year before.

Verizon Lays Off 8,000 as Profit Sinks 21%; Bulls Run in Monday Markets; SEC Seeks to Limit “Naked Shorting;” New Single-Family Home Sales Rise in June; Oil Rises 1.4%; Deutsche Bank: Windows 7 Could Trigger New Enterprise Tech Investments; Video Game Industry Takes Hit From Recession

Senate Nixes Quick Healthcare Vote; Falling PC Sales Hurt Microsoft’s Bottom Lines; Jobless Claims Rise; Deutsche Raises Apple Outlook on iPhone Sales; Economist: Housing Market Has Hit Bottom; AT&T Profit Falls 15%; McDonald’s Profit Down; 3M Beats Expectations