Right now I think the expectation is that a lot of these companies are meeting muted estimates. I think you'll see earnings guided higher, but that outlooks will be tempered.

'Tis silence all, And pleasing expectation.

Our expectation right now is we expect to bring at least several million gallons of discounted oil into Vermont and we expect to announce the details next week.

There's a reasonable expectation that at some point there will be further consolidation and Lloyds, of all the high street banks, is probably in the most tricky position in terms of how it's performed and the size of its dividend, and for that reason it's more vulnerable.

The expectation was that the economy was going to get better and wages were going to rise and employment was going to increase. But you have the ingredients for a fundamentally different economic picture - one that's not so promising.

The earnings were about a penny or two more than expectation, but because the source was investment banking, it probably doesn't excite the market that much.