THINGS LOOK GREAT. JUST DON'T LOOK TOO FAR.

The article presents information on the third quarter corporate profits in 2000 in the United States. The U.S. economy is expected to drag behind from the strong 6.1% rise in gross domestic product over the past four quarters to 4% or less in 2001. Thus the profit growth could easily slide from Wall Street's current 13.9% forecast, to around 10%. Despite the projected 40% gain in the high-technology sector in third quarter, business analysts have been cutting their fourth-quarter estimates from 29% to 19%.