It's beginning to look a lot like a "W." After logging the fastest rate of growth in two years last quarter, the economy appears to be losing steam during the current period. This is no big surprise; the consensus of forecasters surveyed weekly by MarketWatch has long been expecting slower growth during the fourth quarter. Their latest projections call for a growth rate of 2.5% -- a percentage point slower than the government's preliminary take on the previous quarter. (See Economic Calendar.) There's plenty of evidence that our panel may be right -- if not a tad optimistic. For one...