Wall Street's top forecasters have some good news and bad news for 2008. Many think stocks will head higher but that unemployment will rise and the overall economy will slow.

In other words, 2008 is going to look an awful lot like 2007. Despite falling housing prices and the subprime mortgage meltdown igniting fears about a broader economic slowdown, stocks pulled off a winning year in 2007.

For 2008, experts said investors need to be prepared for more woes in the slumping housing market and a slight rise in unemployment.

"2008 will be a sluggish year," Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs' chief U.S. investment strategist, told CNNMoney.com. She said many investors are concerned about what could be weak earnings growth in 2008.

"Portfolio managers sense that 2008 will be a very difficult year for corporate profits," she said.

But Cohen believes that stocks could finish 2008 in the plus column as investors anticipate better news in the latter part of the year.

"We believe that the worst time is right now. The worst numbers will be at the end of 2007 and in the first

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Regional bank National City Corp. said Wednesday it is slashing its dividend 49 percent and shutting down its wholesale mortgage division, eliminating 900 jobs, due to weakened housing and credit markets.

The dividend was reduced to 21 cents per share from 41 cents per share, payable Feb. 1 to shareholders of record as of Jan. 14.

The news sent National City shares tumbling 5.3 percent, or 87 cents, to $15.59 in trading Wednesday. The shares had been as high as $38.94 in the past year.

Investors tend to choose bank stocks for stability and as a way to generate income from dividends.

National City also plans to raise more capital during the first quarter and has hired Goldman Sachs and Co. as its adviser.

The job cuts announced Wednesday bring to 3,400 the number of jobs eliminated in recent months as National City restricted mortgage originations to focus on prime rate borrowers with solid credit histories. Despite leaving the wholesale lending business in which brokers originate loans for National City, National City will continue to make loans through its retail banking offices.

National City has been hit hard in recent months because of rising delinquencies and defaults among

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of major homebuilders declined Wednesday after a government report indicated residential construction spending dropped for a record 21st month in November, as the housing market continued to suffer through its worst slump in two decades.

The Commerce Department reported that private residential construction fell in November by 2.5 percent to an annual rate of $484.9 billion, down 17.5 percent from a year ago.

However, spending gains on government projects and nonresidential construction offset the decline in residential projects. Total spending on construction projects inched up 0.1 percent in November, exceeding economists' expectations.

Builders have recorded major losses in the past year as they contended with declining home prices and sales, plus ballooning supplies of unsold homes. The disrupted credit markets have diminished the pool of qualified home buyers, and a spike in foreclosures has dumped more supply onto the market.

Most economists believe the housing slump will last through 2008, forcing builders to further slash prices on already built homes and sharply curb construction plans.

On Monday, M/I Homes Inc. said it will take charges of about $80 million in the fourth quarter on the sale

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street skidded lower Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected reading on the manufacturing sector and a spike in oil prices to $100 a barrel triggered concerns of a further slowdown in the overall economy.

The major indexes each lost more than 1 percent, with the Dow Jones industrials giving up more than 200 points. It was the blue chip index's biggest point decline for the first day of trading in a new year.

The Institute for Supply Management's report that its manufacturing index fell to 47.7 percent for December from 50.8 percent in November raised concerns that the economy could be slowing at a quicker pace than some investors had estimated. The reading below 50 signals economic contraction, whereas readings over 50 indicate expansion.

Analysts polled by Thomson/IFR had anticipated that manufacturing would expand modestly in December.

Light, sweet crude rose $3.64 to $99.62 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier hitting $100 for the first time. The rise follows violence in the oil-producing nation of Nigeria, concerns about weather-related production halts in Mexico and speculation that inventory figures will show drops in

NEW YORK (AP) -- Crude oil prices briefly soared to $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time, reaching that milestone amid an unshakeable view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will outstrip supplies.

Surging economies in China and India fed by oil and gasoline have sent prices soaring over the past year, while tensions in oil producing nations like Nigeria and Iran have increasingly made investors nervous and invited speculators to drive prices even higher.

Violence in Nigeria helped give crude the final push to $100. Bands of armed men invaded Port Harcourt, the center of Nigeria's oil industry Tuesday, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel. Word that several Mexican oil export ports were closed due to rough weather added to the gains, as did a report that OPEC may not be able to meet its share of global oil demand by 2024.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose $4.02 to $100 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to Brenda Guzman, a Nymex spokeswoman, before slipping back to settle at a record close of $99.62, up $3.64.

Oil prices are within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the