business - "short"

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy is likely to remain sluggish over the remainder of the year, according to Dennis Lockhart, the president of the Atlanta Federal Reserve branch. 'My base case forecast for the economy involves a stronger-than-expected first half of 2008 with growth of 1 to 2 percent but not much pickup in the second half,' Lockhart said in remarks on a panel on outlook at Georgetown University. The drag of high energy costs, continued financial market stress and a still weak housing sector may continue for a while with gradual improvement of growth in 2009, he said. Lockhart said he is taking the recent inflation pressure very seriously. If the economy picks up but inflation remains high, it would be a defeat for the central bank.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

Brett Myers, leading the major leagues with 24 home runs allowed and coming off the shortest start of his career with the Phillies, is headed to the minor leagues. Myers agreed to be optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. Myers, 3-9 after giving up...

Continuing my series utilizing the filters on SchaeffersResearch.com, I'm checking out some struggling stocks with heavy short interest - coupled with excessive optimism on the Street - as these bearish bets can often place additional selling pressure on already-downtrending equities...(Read More)

A new crop of funds that lets you play the short side of commodity indexes is hitting the market.

For some firms that dabbled in real-estate lending, the stock market's advice seems to be: 'Run away at any cost.' As CIT Group (CIT) and H&R Block (HRB) demonstrate, investors are rewarding once-diversified companies that ditch all businesses that touch the housing or mortgage markets.Shares in CIT Group surged 30% Tuesday after the commercial finance firm said it was cutting adrift its housing-related business divisions.CIT's home lending business will be sold to Lone Star Funds for $1.5 billion. Its manufactured housing portfolio will go to Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, Inc. (Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway [BRK.A] owns Clayton Homes, which owns Vanderbilt.)These two divisions are being sold for 63 to 64 cents on the dollar, so CIT will take a big hit in the short term. From the sale of the home lending unit, CIT will register a $2.5 billion loss in the second quarter.'This is lock, stock and barrel,' CIT chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Peek told analysts. 'We

These are some stocks that have been tagged by users over at StockTickr: INGN: INTROGEN THERAPEUTICS INC Outlook: Short Industry: Drug Related Products New low on 36.35 times average volume: 2,035,531 vs. 56,000 (tags: short, New Low on Huge Volume) LMNX: LUMINEX CORPORATION Outlook: Long Industry: Medical Instruments Supls New high on 4.68 times average volume: 1,323,724 vs. 283,117 (tags: long, New High on Huge [...]

A Minnesota judge ruled that Wal-Mart cut short employees' rest and meal breaks and forced them to work off the clock, violating the state's labor laws 2 million times.

Despite renewed interest, deep-water rigs are in short supply--raising costs and limiting production.

Mark Hulbert, founder of the Hulbert Financial Digest and MarketWatch columnist, says that current market conditions have given investors a rare chance to make a play on inflation that goes beyond the typical advice of investing in precious metals and commodities. In both his column for MarketWatch's monthly Trading Strategies edition and in a radio interview, Hulbert said that buying inflation-protected Treasuries while shorting traditional Treasuries will allow investors expecting high inflation to squeeze extra return from the market.

Real estate For Sale: House, Khong riverside, Luangprabang, Luangprabang, Laos: Asking price $800