Investors have been greeted by a strong set of second-quarter earnings, a major source of encouragement after spending much of May and June fretting over the impact of a debt crisis in Europe and China’s efforts to slow its growth.

Almost half of large U.S. companies say they now use, or they plan to use, financial penalties against employees who don’t participate in certain health programs, according to survey cited by MarketWatch contributor Marla Brill in her story today.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks finished lower for a second consecutive day, as disappointing revenue from utilities and consumer companies pushed aside a handful of strong earnings reports Thursday, though the market remained on track to close out the best month since July 2009.