Analyst Connect March 2026: Guidelines For Politics And The Markets

Markets and politics often intersect, and they crossed paths big time in March with the Iran conflict. We want to remind analysts of our guidelines and how to approach geopolitical topics in a challenging environment:Make sure to focus on how a political development may impact the macro picture, the stock market, or a specific investment idea.Make sure any investment or macro takeaway is actionable.Make sure to provide support and sourcing from credible sources (and consider using Seeking Alpha’s news coverage as a source; see details on sourcing below).Most importantly, make sure any political commentary does not distract or overwhelm your macro or investment-specific assessment.What we avoid:Articles should not take a position on the merits of a policy or politician. And we won’t present articles that contain an attack on a politician, a policy, or other analysts.We’ll pass on articles that focus on a political topic without a direct connection to an investment or a clearly defined macro theme.We won’t present content that contains unsupported speculation or allegations regarding intent.And we don't present politically based acronyms within analysis articles. That includes "TACO," "BigMAC" and "TUNA."Once an article is posted, make sure to remain respectful of opposing viewpoints. We rely on analysts to ensure that article comments remain polite and useful for all readers.Our guidelines on politics and the markets can be found here.Adding in secondary tickers to an article puts more eyeballs on the content. Articles with secondary tickers will appear in the "Related Analysis" section of that ticker’s profile page. And users who have that ticker in a portfolio will see the article appear on their "My Portfolio" page.Our guidelines for secondary tickers:Articles should present a decent amount of detail on any company with a secondary ticker designation. Just a single, passing mention or inclusion in a chart or table does not warrant secondary ticker placement.Key items such as current stock price, a quick look at key valuation metrics, or mentions of a material development or catalyst can help ensure a ticker gets secondary ticker placement. The details can be brief, but they still need to be in the article.Any stock mentioned in an article and given a secondary ticker placement should be directly relevant to the analysis. There needs to be a connection between the main stock in focus and the secondary ticker. This includes tickers in the same sector, but also can include stocks (or other investments such as ETFs) that can be compared based on items such as valuation, dividends, or any other related factor.We encourage analysts to present a peer/competitor comparison in articles. A detailed comparison will likely get any peer listed as a primary ticker. Otherwise, the ticker could instead be listed as secondary. Please see our Primary Tickers Policy for more information on multiple primary tickers.Editors have discretion when it comes to the use of secondary tickers. Feel free to present a note to editors explaining why you want to list certain tickers as secondaries.Please note our guidelines on preferred shares and other investments such as baby bonds. We invite coverage of preferred shares and related investments, along with the common stock of a company. Use of a preferred stock as the main focus must provide in-depth analysis for primary ticker designation. If the content isn’t in depth, it’s likely that the preferred shares will be designated as a secondary ticker. We don’t allow for secondary ticker designation for preferred shares that don’t get mentioned in an article. And, again, editors have discretion when it comes to secondary ticker use.The best advice we can provide about secondary tickers? Don’t present a lengthy list - avoid "spamming" with secondary ticker designations. Present a reasonable selection that’s relevant to the analysis.These secondary ticker guidelines apply only to articles in which a single stock is the focus (a primary ticker), not for "lists" articles. We’ll present guidelines on lists articles at a later date.We encourage strong sourcing in article content. Whether those sources are offsite or on Seeking Alpha, links to pertinent and supportive sources create a stronger article.Our guidelines for outside links:We allow up to three links to Web pages directly associated with an analyst.Please note, however, links to an analyst’s external site cannot contain pop-up marketing solicitations and "subscribe" buttons.We do not allow links to Substack pages given that these pages contain pop-ups, subscribe buttons, or other solicitations.We prefer that outside links do not go to paywalled content. For paywalled content, we recommend that analysts clearly identify the source along with pertinent information such as the name of the source and date of the sourced material.Do not use AI tools to locate sources.There’s no limit to the number of links to articles written by analysts on Seeking Alpha. But we suggest limiting these links only to relevant and timely/recent submissions. Editors can exercise discretion with regard to these article links.We strongly recommend analysts use resources on Seeking Alpha as much as possible. Our individual ticker pages contain tabs for our news coverage, transcripts, press releases, and SEC filings. Analysts are encouraged to link to these sources when available, rather than linking to offsite sources.As a reminder, we don’t allow for a question format in titles. This type of format appears to readers as potential clickbait. And the question format often leaves out key details about the article’s premise.This includes rhetorical question formats.We’ll make limited exceptions based on the article content, the quality of the article, and if the question format provides some context about the analysis. Please provide a note to editors explaining the need for a question format in a title.We updated our title guidelines in the February Analyst Connect newsletter, which can be found here.Luca Socci, a Seeking Alpha analyst since 2022, is based in Italy. Being overseas gives this analyst a unique perspective on the markets and investing. This month, Socci shares his work experience, what’s similar in his approach compared to other analysts, and what may be different.His advice for other overseas analysts and those based in North America: Use your unique talents to put a bigger spotlight on your work. Focus on quality first.His perspective can be found here.As we move into April, the earnings reporting activity is rather slow for the first few days, but then ramps up as the month goes on. We will enter the spring earnings season where most companies will be reporting results for the calendar first quarter of 2026. The first full week of the month is when things kick off and the quantity of reports increases gradually throughout the month. As for the earnings reports, please keep in mind that as we get further out in the month, some of the earnings dates haven’t been confirmed by the companies yet and these are estimated dates.Seeking Alpha Earnings CalendarWeek 1 (April 1-3)During the first few days of the month, there isn’t a single company set to report with a market cap over $10B. April 3 is a market holiday in observance of Good Friday and there aren’t any earnings reports that day. As for Wednesday and Thursday, the biggest names reporting are Conagra (CAG) and Lamb Weston (LW) on Wednesday and Acuity (AYI) on Thursday.Week 2 (April 6-10)The week sees an increase in the number of large-cap names reporting and it kicks off on Wednesday when we expect to hear from Delta Airlines (DAL), Constellation Brands (STZ), RPM International (RPM), and Applied Digital (APLD). There aren’t any large caps expected to report on Thursday or Friday.Week 3 (April 13-17) Week 3 is when we see what many would consider the kickoff to the second quarter earnings season as the biggest banks in the U.S. unofficially start the action. Goldman Sachs (GS) will kick things off on Monday morning with Fastenal (FAST) also reporting. Moving to Tuesday, April 14, things really start to heat up with a number of $100B companies set to report. Those names include JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) from the banking sector and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) from the healthcare sector. Looking out to Wednesday, we get reports from more major financial institutions like Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), and PNC Financial (PNC) along with chip giant ASML (ASML). Shifting our focus to Thursday, we see more banking names – Bank of New York Mellon (BK, U.S. Bancorp (USB), but we also get reports from Netflix (NFLX) and Alcoa (AA). Moving out to Friday we see more financial sector companies like Truist (TFC), Fifth Third (FITB) and Ally (ALLY), but we also have oil service giant SLB (SLB).Week 4 (April 20-24)This is when we start getting less certainty about the actual dates as many companies haven’t announced or posted when the earnings will be released on their investor relations pages. Regardless, we see that there are some companies with rather large market caps and that are highly followed reporting during the week. On Monday, Steel Dynamics (STLD) is expected to report and then on Tuesday we expect to hear from GE Aerospace (GE), RTX (RTX), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), and Halliburton (HAL).Moving out to Wednesday, Philip Morris International (PM), GE Vernova (GEV), IBM (IBM), AT&T (T), and CME Group are all expected to report. On Thursday, we expect to get results from heavyweights like American Express (AXP), SAP (SAP), Honeywell (HON), Newmont (NEM), L3Harris (LHX), and Baker Hughes. On Friday, look for reports from AbbVie (ABBV), HCA Healthcare (HCA), and Charter Communications (CHTR).Week 5 (April 27-30)The final week of the month is when we expect to start hearing from the Magnificent 7 cohort, but not right out of the gate. On Monday, we see names like Verizon (VZ), Eaton (ETN) and Southern Copper (SCCO) on the docket. Tuesday marks the uptick in the mega cap reports with Alphabet (GOOG), Visa (V), AMD (AMD) Coca-Cola (KO) and Novartis (NVS) all expected that day. Wednesday and Thursday see a big jump in total reports (196 on Wednesday, 243 on Thursday). We expect to hear from Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) on Wednesday, along with AstraZeneca (AZN), KLA (KLAC), Qualcomm (QCOM), and Sandisk (SNDK). Looking out to Thursday, watch for reports from behemoths like Apple (AAPL), Eli Lilly (LLY), Mastercard (MA), Caterpillar (CAT), Merck (MRK) and Amgen (AMGN).April Investor and Industry Events This article was written byAnalyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given that any particular security, portfolio, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. The author is not advising you personally concerning the nature, potential, value or suitability of any particular security or other matter. You alone are solely responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy, or any product or service, is appropriate or suitable for you based on your investment objectives and personal and financial situation. The author is an employee of Seeking Alpha. Any views or opinions expressed herein may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.