To determine the direction in which the winds of corporate earnings will blow, Wall Street observers have long looked to Alcoa AA -0.19% for guidance. For years, the lightweight metals and aluminum giant was the first Dow component to report its quarterly earnings, thereby kicking off the season and even serving as a bellwether for the bevy of financial news to come. But Alcoa was kicked out of the Dow in 2013, and in the time since, many people have argued that it is no longer the best way to determine how the earnings season will go.
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