What The World's Biggest Companies Are Telling Us About The State Of The Economy

Earnings season is well under way, with nearly a fifth of the S&P 500 having reported their first quarter financial results.

Rather than dwelling on company-specific performance, we wanted to see what the world's largest companies were saying about the big picture.

We dug through earnings announcements, conference calls and presentations to get a sense of how 2012 is shaping up to be for the world.

Alcoa is worried a water shortage will curb westward industrial expansion in China

"In fact, I mean it drives the water scarcity aspect further in those provinces because the amount of water that you would need for the 10 million tons per annum is equivalent to the water used at about 1.4 million people would need to live to a year....You would need massive investments, you would increase your sustainability issues, granted you have some social returns but I would still call them inferior to what you would get in other industries and you would almost make no improvement on the cost curve. So obviously, it's for China to evaluate whether this is really the right way to move forward, and I think that's exactly what's going to happen."

Source: Seeking Alpha

McDonald's doesn't think Europe is dead, in fact, it delivered solid first quarter results

"Europe delivered solid comparable sales growth of 5.0% and operating income growth of 4% (8% in constant currencies) for the quarter. Performance in the U.K. and Russia led the segment's sales growth, with France and Germany also contributing. Europe's emphasis on everyday affordability, premium product innovation and restaurant reimaging continued to provide an appealing restaurant experience and contributed to the segment's quarterly results. Ongoing economic challenges and severe weather in February negatively impacted the quarter."

Source: McDonald's

JPMorgan Chase says it will take two more year to get through the foreclosure backlog, but that the overall housing market is at bottom

"I don't know the lumpiness by month or by quarter, but we're pretty much at the bottom here as long as you have a recovery ...You should start seeing [increased foreclosures] like every quarter for the next 8 quarters. It will be a little lumpy, but my guess is 8 quarters from now it will be a lot less than it is today."

Source: Seeking Alpha

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