The same thing happens on Wall Street every earnings season — except this time it could be different

Earnings surprises over the next few weeks may be tamer than usual. 
As usual, analysts lowered their estimates for fourth-quarter earnings in the weeks leading up to announcements, which pick up pace this week.
But this time, the drop was below average, setting Wall Street up for fewer surprises, according to Julian Emanuel, US equity and derivatives strategist at UBS. 
"While we expect earnings to surprise to the upside as is customarily the case, the fact that the decline in consens