Fourth-quarter earnings results for S&P 500 companies are expected to show a decline in profits for a third quarter in a row, showing that corporate America has slipped into an earnings recession. Profits are expected to have dropped by 7.2% in the fourth quarter on a share-weighted basis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while revenues are expected to have fallen by 3.1%. This would represent the worst earnings season since the third quarter of 2009. Read the original story from Bloomberg.