The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that how big businesses are meeting this moment of tariffs and turmoil is one of the great unknowns facing Canadian investors. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that the quarterly earnings season, which gets going this week, will offer a glimpse into how each publicly listed company is managing the impact. The world has changed since the last time we heard from the executive ranks. A global economic shock is taking shape, Canada is heading toward a recession and tariffs have struck at the viability of businesses from coast to coast. This time around, the numbers themselves will not really matter. First-quarter financial results are close to meaningless given how quickly the global economic order is shifting. How chief executive officers are feeling and what kind of trouble they see coming their way this year and next is of much greater importance. If corporate earnings are heading for collapse, the torrent of analyst conference calls to come over the next month should provide fair warning. All signs point to the Canadian earnings outlook being "slashed," Bank of Nova Scotia strategist Hugo Ste-Marie said in a note. "Negative revisions are only starting."