Courtesy of a somewhat recent John Mauldin piece, we see that analysts have been far off the mark in their ability to forecast earnings.
They were way off in 2008:
And you can bet 2009 will be no different, as already evidenced by the continual slide in their estimates.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hmvHJuvC2X80eHjwdknXrmgWoaUIvV1_XRgsbvFzbRiFQQU-h0eUA1ruPGuMkUTZ0hEAm2zIKsW7wy71D9meILaFBNiaC0XqwZNgv5V2YHL2sfkUjoSn6zeJ7iI_iFhQhYrqEeb3P1c/s400/earnings_estimates_2009.gif)
You would think that at some point, analysts would get the picture and face up to reality. That said, we respectfully ask: Are these guys on meth?!