Investors including Doug Cliggott of Brummer & Partners attribute the third-quarter economic growth to $330 billion in tax cuts signed into law in May. Cliggott expects growth to slow in the second half of 2004 as the effects from the stimulus fade.

``The consumer is going to slow down in the second half of the year,'' Cliggott, who helps oversee $2 billion, said in an television interview with Bloomberg News. ``That's saying the U.S. economy will slow down.'' Stock indexes will likely reach their 2004 highs in February, March or April, he said.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 1.31, or 0.1 percent, to 1052.58 as of 12:24 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 30.22, or 0.3 percent, to 9733.72. Johnson & Johnson contributed the most to the benchmarks' decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.06, or 0.2 percent, to 1938.98.

Five stocks rose for every four that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Some 562 million shares changed hands on the Big Board, 9.4 percent less than the same time a week ago.

Today will be the last full day of stock trading this week. U.S. exchanges will be closed tomorrow for the Thanksgiving Day holiday, and will shut down three hours early Friday.

Brian Pears, head of trading at Victory Capital Management, expects activity to be below average because many people have taken off ahead of the holiday. ``The garage was empty today,'' said Pears, whose firm oversees $46 billion in Columbus. ``There is an apathy that sets in the day before the holiday.''

Annual Gains

Stocks are headed to their first annual advance in four years amid expectations corporate profits will climb along with economic growth. The government said yesterday the economy expanded last quarter at an 8.2 percent annual pace, the fastest growth since 1984.

This year, the S&P 500 Index is up 20 percent, the Dow has climbed 17 percent and the Nasdaq has surged 45 percent. The benchmarks have had two straight weeks of declines.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, slid 69 cents to $55.35, the second-biggest contributor to the S&P 500's drop. General Electric, a maker of appliances and owner of the NBC television network, fell 28 cents to $28.63 and was the third- biggest contributor.

Economic Reports

Economic reports stoked concern that the pace of economic growth is unsustainable. October orders for items made to last at least three years climbed the most in 15 months, the Commerce Department said. Manufacturing this month in the Chicago expanded at the fastest pace in almost nine years, a survey of purchasing managers showed. First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest in about three years, the Labor Department said.

Economists forecast growth this quarter of 4 percent, less than half of the expansion in the third period, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Profit at S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 22 percent this quarter, then slow to 12 percent in the first quarter, Thomson Financial said.

``You have to worry about what's going to happen next year,'' Richard Goldman, who helps oversee $3.5 billion at Guardian Life Insurance Co. in New York. ``The market is forecasting that earnings are peaking.''

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, the world's top maker of medical devices, fell $1.08 to $49.61, extending yesterday's 1.5 percent drop. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that the company's Cypher heart stent was linked to 10 more deaths. The FDA also said the rate of complications was in line with older devices and it considers the Cypher safe and effective.

Eli Lilly & Co. lost $1.94 to $68.73. The company's best- selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa wasn't significantly more effective than a generic drug at controlling the disease's symptoms. In a one-year study sponsored by Lilly, researchers found Zyprexa and the $2-a-month drug haloperidol were equally effective at treating schizophrenia and improving quality of life. Zyprexa costs more than $4,000 a year.

Genentech Inc. slid $1.38 to $82.99. The country's second- biggest biotechnology company said an experimental drug, Avastin, failed to prolong the lives of colon-cancer patients.

Nordstrom Inc., a 102-year-old department-store chain, lost $1.10 to $34.15. Its 3.1 percent drop was the second-biggest in the S&P 500. The company said a partnership run by members of the founder's family plans to sell as much as two-thirds of its stake, or 5.4 million shares, to diversify its holdings.

H&R Block

H&R Block Inc. jumped $3, or 6.1 percent, to $52.40, for the second-largest gain in the S&P 500. The world's biggest tax- preparation company earned a second-quarter profit for the first time. The company had net income of 6 cents a share, beating the average estimate of a 6-cent loss among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Ameritrade Holding Corp. added 44 cents to $12.40. Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Colin Clark said increased trading, assets and account growth will help Ameritrade record bigger profit growth than its competitors E*Trade Financial Corp. and Charles Schwab Corp. He lifted Ameritrade to ``buy'' from ``neutral.''