The analysts who forecast the fortunes of corporate America have rarely been more pessimistic at the start of a year than they are in 2023.The country’s largest companies are about to start publicly reporting their quarterly financial results, when analysts will pepper company management with questions about profits and losses and try to glean hints about what to expect in the months ahead. Coming after the S&P 500-stock index fell nearly 20 percent last year, these reports could help buoy the market if things aren’t as bad as they seem, or drag it down further.On Friday, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and others will set the tone, providing a window on the state of the economy, consumer confidence and business activity in their financial releases.Wall Street’s prognosticators predict that companies in the S&P 500 are about to reveal an aggreg …
