THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)

White House: stock fall takes toll

White House economic adviser Glenn Hubbard told Reuters the stock market's decline is weighing on the economy but was unlikely to cause recession. "The effects . . . on consumption are likely to be more noticeable, but have sort of been priced in," he said. If stocks don't rebound for a year, that could cut GDP growth by 0.6%, not enough to cause a double dip, he said.

Weekly consumer gauge steady

The ABCNews/Money magazine consumer comfort index was unchanged at -15 this week, holding at its lowest level of the year and worst since April '96. Just 30% of those surveyed rated the economy as being in excellent or good shape, unchanged from last week and at an eight-year low. Those rating their own finances excellent or good fell one point to 57%.

Panel approves new steel duties

The U.S. International Trade Commission gave final approval to antidumping duties on steel wire rod imports from seven countries. The vote lets the Commerce Dept. impose duties ranging from 369% for Moldova to 4% for Indonesia. Other countries targeted for unfairly low-priced or subsidized imports include Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Ukraine and Trinidad/Tobago.