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This morning brought some negative news to the trading desks as several companies missed earnings or warned that earnings would fall below analysts expectations.

The energy sector saw two of its largest names under pressure this afternoon after both companies warned that refining margins have shrunk drastically and will likely impact their earnings going forward. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) was quite bland in its earnings projections for this quarter, simply saying that investors should expect third quarter earnings to fall significantly from last quarters record $5.4 billion. Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) announced that it expects its third quarter results to come in at $1.30 to $1.40 a share versus estimates of $1.91 a share. The company cited substantially higher costs as the main reason for the earnings misstep.

Two basic material companies reported earnings that missed analysts mark as well. Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) missed estimates and warned that 2008 earnings would be just $2.20 to $2.40, versus current estimates of $2.47 per share. Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) missed estimates by a penny, citing the weaker dollar and high energy costs as the reason for the small miss.

How worried should you be about these earnings misses and warnings? They are certainly concerning, especially given the recent great run that the market has had. The key though will be to see if this is just an aberration of several companies disappointing at once or if this is just the start of a weak earnings reporting period. One has to remember that the quarter that companies will be reporting on now included the turmoil from the fixed-income markets over the summer, so weakness shouldn't be shocking.

The long-term profit picture is still intact up to this point, but if major companies continue to miss estimates it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see the market pullback some more in the next couple of weeks.