Investors want to know what firms are spending more than earning

Wall Street is already looking past what’s expected to be Corporate America’s slowest gain in quarterly earnings in a year, instead focusing on a number that rarely captures the limelight: capital expenditures.

As President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff regime keeps investors wondering what comes next, they’re turning their attention to the pace at which the companies that propel the economy are spending to build their businesses. The hope is that their stance on big expenditures...