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Investors have something new to worry about - corporate profits. Alcoa kicked-off the first quarter reporting season by missing profit targets, but beating revenue forecasts. The aluminum giant blamed higher energy costs and a weaker dollar for slashing its quarterly profit in half. Advanced Micro Devices added to jitters. The world's No. 2 chip maker guided sales estimates lower and said it was cutting 10 percent of its workforce...... And Washington Mutual is also in the mix. America's largest savings and loan warned of a bigger than expected quarterly loss, a cut to its dividend, and a round of job losses tied to the mortgage industry. The bad news overshadowed WaMu's larger-than-expected $7 billion cash infusion from a group led by private equity firm TPG. Judging from the early signs this earnings season is not expected to be a pretty one. According to Reuters Estimates aggregate earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to fall 11.8 percent, last week that number stood at 8.1 percent. And compares to the 8.6 percent rise seen the same period a year ago. There was an absence of good news on the economic front - as well....a measure of future home sales fell to its lowest reading on record. The bigger-than-expected fall in so-called pending home sales suggests the housing market has not yet hit bottom. Conway Gittens, Reuters COMPANIES MENTIONED: SYMBOLS: