Small caps stay in the red

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The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are still in negative territory on fears of an economic slowdown. At 2:27 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had fallen 4.35 points, or 0.58%, to 744.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was missing 113.15 points, or 0.87%, to 12,896.99.

The U.S. index of leading economic indicators for October unexpectedly fell 0.5%, the Conference Board announced after the start of trading. That’s more than the projected decline of 0.4% and a sign that the economy might be headed for an abrupt slowdown in 2008. The index increased a downwardly revised 0.1% in September.

Only three of the leading ten indicators that make up the index rose in October, the business organization said.

The news raised fears that consumer spending will decline as the slump in the U.S. housing sector and higher energy costs take their toll.

Worries of a coming economic slowdown are what caused stocks to open lower.

On Tuesday the U.S. Federal Reserve forecasted that growth will slow in 2008 and unemployment will creep up slightly from the current level of 4.7% while inflation remains in check.

The Fed projects that gross domestic product will expand between 1.8% and 2.5%, which is below the rate the central bank had previously called for.

Elsewhere, the price of oil has declined $0.70 to $97.32 a barrel after briefly flirting with a price of $100 earlier today.

Here are the current biggest percentage gainers and losers among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:


• ValueVision Media, Inc. (VVTV), up 18% despite news of a wider third-quarter loss.
• BabyUniverse Inc. (KIDS), up 12%.
• Buckeye Technologies Inc. (BKI), up 10%.


• China Finance Online Co. Ltd. (JRJC), down 18% despite news of a rise in quarterly profit.
• China Fire & Security Group, Inc. (CFSG), down 12%. A company representative could not be reached for comment.
• Stein Mart Inc. (SMRT), down 12% on news of an analyst downgrade.