•New orders of durable goods -- cars, furniture and other items that are expected to last three years or more -- fell 4.5% in August, the Commerce Department reported, after posting slight gains in July, June and May. Even after the exclusion of orders for aircraft, which fluctuate wildly from month to month, and automobile sales, which everyone knows are in the tank, new orders were down 3% in August.
•On Sept. 25, General Electric (GE, news, msgs) told Wall Street to expect earnings of $1.95 to $2.10 a share in the third quarter of 2008 and not the $2.20 to $2.30 a share it had projected earlier. In addition, the company said it wouldn't raise dividends in 2009. That will mark the first time in 21 years the company hasn't raised its annual dividend.
•On Sept. 26, the Commerce Department (boy, those guys just keep dishing out the bad news lately) announced that the economy had grown at an annual rate of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2008, instead of the 3.3% calculated just a month ago. Corporate profits fell 7.1% from the second quarter of 2007.
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