slowdown in consumer spending hurts American Express

--high end customer base --take a $440 million pretax charge against Q4 earnings --Amex news comes on the heels of an annoucement from Capital One Financial Corp. --Q4 loans that wer at least 30 days pst due amounte to 3.2$ of its US loan portfolio outstanding, up from 2.9% Q3. --write-offs rate 4.3% of loans, 3.7% in Q3 --expect write-offs in US lending business to 5.1% to 5.3%. Writes offs were 6% in 2001 and 9% in 1991. --Worldside spending grew in 16% in Q4, slipping to 13% in Dec. US 8% to 10% in 2008.