Final answer:
The question is related to Business at the College level, focusing on retained earnings and how S&P 500 companies grew their profits by 9.7% after the 2009 recession through strategic cost cutting and input cost reduction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the subject of Business and is appropriate for College level students, specifically those studying finance or accounting. It involves understanding how the retained earnings of companies have changed over time, including periods of economic recession and recovery.
Retained earnings are a critical aspect of a company's financial health, reflecting the cumulative amount of profits that have been reinvested in the business rather than distributed to shareholders as dividends. In the context of the question, students are expected to analyze how S&P 500 companies have managed to grow their profits by 9.7% from the end of the recession in 2009 through the second quarter of 2013 despite a weak economy. This growth in profit has been attributed to strategies such as cost cutting and reductions in input costs, which have proven effective even when the broader economic conditions were not favorable, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.