With a little over 100 S&P 500 companies having reported Q1 results so far, the consensus estimate for earnings per share growth for the quarter is now 6.6 percent, up from 4.5 percent just three weeks ago. The improved profitability outlook would seem to be good news for anyone worried about an impending recession; after all, if companies are selling, people are spending and jobs are there for the taking, that would seem to put the likelihood of negative GDP growth to be very low indeed.