the "wall street journal" says u.s. officials believe many of those hackers were contractors for hire and worked for defense companies created on the fly to do the dirty work of state-owned firms. security experts say because they aren't government employees, it would be very difficult for the chinese government to stop them. all right, time for an "early start" on your money this friday. here's stocks around the world. u.s. futures are slightly lower but still near these records! i sound like a broken record. the s&p hit a record high of the year yesterday, topping 1,920, this despite news the u.s. economy actually shrank last quarter. revised data showed a 1% contraction in the winter, the first in three years. most economists say it's likely a weather-related fluke. meantime, big news from ford, issuing a monster recall. 1.4 million vehicles. the bulk of that, 1.1 million, are very popular suvs. here they are. the ford escape, ford explorer, the mercury mariner, all being recalled for a steering issue. ford says at least 20 accidents