We are well into the current earnings release season. Many companies have already reported and the news has been mostly negative. Although results have been mixed, guidance is the one constant.

Things are bad and they are likely to get worse. That is a common refrain for almost any publicly traded company reporting earnings. Can we find any good news amidst the growing list of carnage?

Yes, but only if we lower our expectations a bit. It is safe to say that good news today would be simply stating that the future will not be as bad as many expect.

In other words companies that simply meet expectations or only lower future guidance by a small margin can be considered positive for stocks. Such is the benefit of a market whereby shares have been clobbered.

This morning Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ) released its earnings report. The company stated that excluding charges for lay-offs and merger cuts profits came in at $.66 per share in the third quarter. The 31% profit improvement from last year was related to better than expected performance from its wireless unit.

This performance matches Wall Street estimates and they are to be applauded for doing so in a difficult market environment, but what about the future?

VZ did state that it expected consumer and business spending to be lower in the fourth quarter. The key is that the outlook is prefaced by the words 'somewhat lighter'. In other words it could have been much worse.