Stocks look to open weaker Friday , as the market digests a mixed bag of economic and corporate news. General concern about the strength of the U.S. recovery is weighing on the U.S. dollar and markets alike. Higher oil prices amid geopolitical tensions are feeding the fear that growth may slow. Big names such as Boeing Co. and General Electric Co. are down as a result.

In economic news, the U.S. Producer Price Index slipped 0.4% in November, and core prices dropped 0.3%. The unexpected slide has some analysts worried about deflation once again. Also, U.S. business inventories reportedly rose 0.2% in October, as sales increased 0.4%.

In Canada, it was reported that labour productivity in the business sector slowed in the third quarter with growth of only 0.2%. However, productivity growth on an annual basis remained strong.

Also, the Composite Index continued to grow slowly in November, up 0.1% after three straight monthly increases of 0.2%.

There’s plenty of turmoil in executive suites this morning. First, Dow Chemical has fired its CEO, citing poor earnings as the reason.

In Canada, Canadian National Railway has tipped E. Hunter Harrison as its new president and chief executive officer, replacing Paul Tellier, who is moving over to head up Bombardier Inc. Harrison’s appointment is effective January 1, 2003. He has served as CN’s executive vice-president and COO since March 1998.

Bombardier announced that Tellier is appointed president and CEO, and, effective immediately, current CEO Robert Brown is leaving the corporation. Tellier will take up his new responsibilities on Jan. 13, 2003. In the interim, former CEO Laurent Beaudoin will assume the CEO’s functions. Beaudoin says that Brown, “asked to be relieved of his functions and the board of directors accepted his resignation.”

In other corporate news, Coca-Cola has confirmed its current earnings guidance, but it has also decided to stop giving future direction to analysts.

Nortel Networks has decided to drop about US$1.2 billion in undrawn credit facilities. It is making the move, it says, to facilitate future financial flexibility.

In Europe, stocks are down on the same fear of slowing U.S. growth. This is hurting names such as Royal Philips Electronics NV which get a lot of their earnings from the U.S. The FTSE is down 78 points to 3,858. The CAC 40 is down 58 points to 3,079. And, the DAX has dropped 60 points to 3,052.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were weaker, too. The Nikkei closed down 193 points to 8516. And, the Hang Seng slid 85 points to 9,728.

In M&A news, Diageo plc is said to be slashing the price on its Burger King restaurant chain to US$1.5 billion in order to get a deal done with a group of investors.

Computer Sciences Corp. is buying DynCorp Inc. for about $950 million.