The tough economy and saturated advertising market, however, dampened those expectations, according to Eiji Takase, an editor at Basketball Magazine Clinic.

The nation's trade deficit fell 12 percent in November, to $9.7 billion, the Commerce Department reported today, as the weakening economy dampened demand for oil and other imports.

Previous Complaints Analysts said the figures were likely to quiet the complaints of a year ago that a sluggish German economy was dampening demand for imports and holding down growth rates in other countries.

The issue now is whether the sector can remain strong as a slowing economy dampens rent growth and demand for office, store, hotel, apartment and industrial space.

ABC recently shelved the idea of reviving "Wide World" because the slowing economy has dampened advertiser enthusiasm for it.

The cooled-off economy has predictably dampened the audio trade.

A sluggish economy has dampened sales at most retail outlets, causing many to cut advertising budgets.

But this time Mr. Icahn's vision may have failed him when he did not recognize that a sharply slowing economy would dampen consumer spending on laser surgery.

And the tire industry's overall sales are weakening as auto production begins to slow and as a cooling economy dampens demand for replacement tires.

Statements from Charles Schwab, STMicroelectronics and Silicon Storage Technology reinforced investors' fears that the economy might be continuing to weaken and dampened hopes for a rebound in profits soon.