NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - With the presidential election too close to call, oil prices heading for the heavens and the economy struggling to come out of a "soft patch," investors have a lot on their minds.

Then there are third-quarter earnings, which start pouring in next week.

After four quarters of more than 20 percent growth from a year earlier, third-quarter profits are expected to grow 13.5 percent, according to Thomson/First Call.

That's down from forecasts of 14.8 percent growth in July and about 15 percent in the middle of the summer -- the first time in a year that the average forecast has fallen during the quarter.

But historically, actual results have exceeded forecasts by a couple of percentage points, according to John Butters, a research analyst at Thomson/First Call, so third-quarter earnings overall will probably end up rising about 17 percent.

"The long-term average earnings growth is about 7 percent," Butters said, "so mid- to high teens this quarter is still good."

And even though more companies have been warning in "pre-announcements" than usual, the trend is still not as bad as in the past, Butters said.

Still, that's small comfort to investors worrying about how slowing profits will hurt stock prices, particularly in a rising interest rate environment.

At least 40 components of the S&P 500 are due to report results next week.

The writers and editors of CNN/Money have chosen eight that could be key for investors to watch.  

-- from CNN/Money staff writers Mark Gongloff, Chris Isidore, Paul La Monica and Alexandra Twin