For investors, that's obviously good news: there's nothing wrong with profits, and the rebound of the stock market has helped restore many Americans' battered finances.
THE economic and financial storms of recent years have already battered public finances in the developed world.
The recession, which has battered the finances of the region's technology companies as well as the airlines, deserves some of the blame.
And in 2008, with the recession battering state finances, Mr. Corzine cut back on paying into the system.
It is a scenario that is being played out across the country, as high unemployment, falling home values and declining tax revenues continue to batter school finances.
That gap has emerged in the past few years because falling stockmarkets, rising longevity and declining interest rates have together battered pension-scheme finances.
Sony's finances, battered in the global financial crisis, are finally improving after an aggressive cost-cutting drive and a revival in sales.
Higher labor costs, rising malpractice insurance premiums and other expenses have all battered the nonprofits' finances, even if some have benefited from the growing demand for their services.
All that said, something is happening on the job front even in areas badly battered by the recession: finance, construction, technology and media.
In office, Mr Sarkozy veered between moments of liberal zeal (urging the French to work more), acts of Colbertist interventionism (pumping state aid into an ailing engineering giant), and a late move to raise taxes (after public finances were battered by the financial crisis).
