New York, Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- In the stock market, ``anything that's embracedby too many people isn't going to work out,'' says Byron Wien. The idea that's too common right now, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.'schief U.S. strategist says, is that profits and the U.S. economy will recover bythis year's second half, helped by lower interest rates. ``It will take longer than that,'' Wien said in an interview in his Times Squareoffice. The economy will take time to shed the ''excesses'' of debt and spendingthat have accompanied a decade- long economic expansion, he said. Investors have pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index up 12 percent and theStandard & Poor's 500 Index up 3.2 percent this year, betting that FederalReserve rate cuts will spur growth and boost corporate earnings later in the year. The Fed cut rates by half a percentage point yesterday, following another half-point cut on Jan. 3. Investors expect the central bank to cut rates further to spurthe economy, which grew at a 1.4 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter, theslowest in 5 1/2 years. Many stocks have rallied this year in the face of bad news about the slowingeconomy, showing that investors are optimistic about a quick turnaround, Wiensaid. He cited semiconductor equipment companies and automakers asexamples. Applied Materials Inc., the No. 1 maker of semiconductor equipment, hasclimbed 44 percent from its Dec. 21 low. The company said yesterday that profitand sales in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Jan. 28, missed already-reducedforecasts.