[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] We begin with the U.S. economy, which is suffering a crisis of confidence. Government figures out today show the annual growth rate plunged during the summer to 2.2 percent, the economy's worst performance in four years. Despite that, a rally is under way on Wall Street a day after stocks sank to the lowest close in more than a year and a half. Right now, the Dow Jones is up about 162 points. The Nasdaq is up about 100 excuse me, about 90 points. A growing chorus of analysts say the end of the year could mark the end of the most spectacular bull market in a century. Look to the retail market for more evidence. CNN's Greg Lefevre reports the holiday shopping crush isn't bringing in the cash.
[Greg Lefevre, Cnn Correspondent:] America's shopping malls, 8,000 of them, say business so far this holiday season is down 8 percent from last year. Retailers are pulling out the discount stops. Example: trousers at J.C. Penney were tagged at $42; I bought for $15. Penney's wouldn't discuss its pricing, but insiders say so deep a discount wipes away most, if not all, the profit.
[Andrea Brentham, Apparel Manufacturer:] Many retailers will buy merchandise specifically at an off price to give a value, or to offer a discount to a customer for the Christmas holiday to generate volume.
[Sue Woods, Apparel Manufacturer:] And then as the Christmas season evolves, there's a lot of things that can happen that make a retailer, you know, maybe panic because it is a very short selling window.
[Lefevre:] One sign of nervous retailers: they are buying 21 percent more newspaper ads than last year. Mall jewelry sales are off 22 percent. This year's half-off sales start before Christmas, good timing for these newlyweds.
[Unidentified Male:] Fifty percent off, which puts it just within my range.
[Lefevre:] Not all is gloom. Some specialty chains are doing nicely.
[Unidentified Female:] We have definitely been within the goal that we targeted for this year. And we can't keep the shelves filled fast enough.
[Lefevre:] The sale signs seem to be working.
[John Konarski, Intl. Council Of Shopping Centers:] What we're not going to know until all is said and done is, are these promotions planned or are they unplanned? If they're unplanned, that's going to eat into retail profits.
[Lefevre:] Traffic is growing, and this year's shopping season is two days longer than last year.
[Konarski:] Thirty-five percent that's over a third of all holiday purchases are being done this week. So we have a huge potential here.
[Woods:] I guarantee you it will explode.
[Lefevre:] It's a tradition in retail: There's always hope. Greg Lefevre, CNN, San Bruno, California.