11.   Ford Motor Co. reported its first quarterly decline in profits in more than two years Wednesday, attributing the decline to a softening economy and the weak dollar.

12.   Home sales have already softened, consumer confidence has slipped and Wednesday the government reported the first decline in orders for long-lived factory goods in five months.

13.   If the trend holds, this quarter could show the first sustained decline in Internet trading volume for the nascent online industry.

14.   In a separate report, the commerce department said that retail sales fell last month, their first decline in six months.

15.   In NEW YORK, copper prices fell after the first decline in London Metal Exchange inventories of the week signaled that supplies still are abundant.

16.   It was the first back-to-back decline in the Dow Jones industrial average in three weeks.

17.   It was the first decline in almost two years, an indication that companies ratcheted down their production in anticipation of weak Christmas sales.

18.   It was the first decline in half-year earnings in three years.

19.   It was the first decline in the closely watched index in almost two years.

20.   It was the first decline in three months.