MORNING BUSINESS MINUTE, WEDS. MAR. 1, 2006

It started with the fourth-quarter gross domestic product -- up to a %1.6 percent rate, better than expected -- but bringing with it fears of inflation. Investors also saw weak existing home sales, lower consumer confidence and weak manufacturing numbers. The Dow lost -104.14 (-0.94%) to close at 10,993.41. The NASDAQ lost -25.79 (-1.12%) to finish at 2,281.39 and the S&P 500 lost -13.46 (-1.04%) to close at 1,280.66. Local stocks mostly posted negative results. Tyson Foods (TSN) lost -3.84% to close at $13.53. JB Hunt (JBHT) lost -2.15% to close at $23.66. Acxiom (ACXM) added +0.15% to close at $25.88. Wal-Mart (WMT) lost -0.87% to finish at $45.36. Today, we`ll have car and truck sales for February. We`ll also see January personal income and spending, along with construction spending. We cap things off with the ISM Index for February and last week`s crude oil inventories. Earnings come from PetsMart, Vivendi Universal and The Washington Post. Overseas on Asia last night, the Nikkei lost %1.5 percent at the mid-day break in Tokyo. Back in the U.S., in extended hours trading, the NASDAQ 100 Afterhours Indicator stayed flat closing the night at 1,670.52.