Will Profit Lag Dampen Stock Rally?

In this less-than-sparkling economy, Americans have at least been able to look to the rising stock market and corporate America’s robust profits as two bright spots, but even these may now be dimming.

Stocks have seesawed much of this year as investors worried about higher commodity prices, the Japanese tsunami’s impact on global supply lines and Europe’s debt crisis.

Now a string of second-quarter corporate earnings announcements due over the next few weeks could confirm that companies are beginning to have a harder time.