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The PC is dead. Long live the PC.

The personal computer marked its 30th anniversary as a mass-market product last month. To mark the occasion, Hewitt-Packard Co., world

The economy might not be on the brink of another recession after all.

Consumers, who drive most economic growth, spent more on cars, furniture, electronics and other goods in July _ and more in May and June than previously thought. That burst of activity is encouraging because it shows many Americans were willing to spend despite high unemployment, scant pay raises, steep gas prices and diminished wealth.

If it keeps up, the economy might rebound after growing at an annual rate of just 0.8 percent in the first half of 2011.

That’s a big if.

Whether Americans remain willing to spend freely despite the stock markets’ wild swings will determine whether the second half of the year is any better than the first. Their 401(k) retirement accounts have shrunk.

A sustained stock-market decline tends to slow consumer spending because it reduces wealth, especially for upper-income Americans. The richest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of stocks. And the richest 20 percent drive about 40 percent of consumer spending, analysts say.

That loss of wealth may help explain a report Friday that consumer sentiment hit a 31-year low in August. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s survey, completed early this week, showed that market turmoil and the political strife over raising the federal debt ceiling rattled consumers.

“The fact that retail sales held up over the last few months … is a positive economic development,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank. “However, the true test will be to see if consumer activity held up in the face of recent financial market gyrations and slumping economic confidence. So the August data will be of much greater significance.”

The Dow finished Friday with a gain of 125.71 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 11,269.02. That means the turbulent week in the end dragged the market down just 1.5 percent after it had plummeted as much as 6.3 percent.

The Dow is still down about 11 percent since July 21.

Worries about the markets and the economy already seem to have caused some shoppers to pull back. The International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs index, which tracks revenue at stores open at least a year, has shown two straight weekly declines.

Claire Sanders Swift, a Washington media consultant, said that after the stock market plunged, she “sent her baby sitter home early and called her broker.”

“I keep trying to remind myself we’ve been through this rodeo before,” she said early this week. “The fear is making me not want to spend.”

It’s a pivotal moment for the nation’s retailers. They’re in the midst of back-to-school season and are planning for Christmas sales. Together, the two shopping seasons represent up to half their annual revenue.

Retailers are concerned that the weak economy and stock market turmoil could cause shoppers to retreat as they did when the financial crisis hit in 2008. Back then, spending plunged so much that some retailers slashed prices up to 80 percent just to draw shoppers to stores. Others sold jewelry and clothing to liquidators for pennies on the dollar. Some went out of business.

This time, retailers seem better prepared. They’ve kept inventories lean to avoid being stuck with huge piles of marked-down products.

Jeff Landis of Chicago-based Montopoli Custom Clothiers said because business has been quiet the past few weeks, he’s decided to delay stocking up on fabric for custom suits for fall. And Geoff Stern, owner of Toy Professor, a toy store in Summit, N payday loans for bad credit.J., said sales this week were down about 25 percent from a typical August week.

Until late this week, a batch of poor economic data and a gloomy outlook from the Federal Reserve set off fears that the economy might be about to slide into another recession. That threat appears to have diminished. But it’s hardly gone away.

Still overhanging the financial markets and the U.S. economy is concern that Europe’s debt crisis will spread through the U.S. financial system. Investors worry that Italy and Spain, two of Europe’s biggest economies, might be unable to pay all their debts.

If they couldn’t, big European banks that hold huge amounts of government debt would be at risk of failure. That possibility, in turn, could harm many large U.S. banks with close relationships with their European counterparts.

The mildly positive economic figures in recent days have at least given economists cause for hope. Layoffs are down. Retail sales are up. Gas prices have fallen. Employers added 117,000 jobs last month. That isn’t enough to significantly lower the unemployment rate, now at 9.1 percent. But it was more than expected and was an improvement after two dismal months for hiring.

Retail sales rose 0.5 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the best showing since March. The government also revised up its estimates of sales for the previous two months. Even after excluding gas station sales, which were boosted by a rise in gas prices, sales rose 0.3 percent in July.

It was the second encouraging signal for the economy in as many days. On Thursday, the Dow rocketed up 423 points after the government said the number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped below 400,000 for the first time since April.

Consumers may feel better later this month as gas prices drop further, economists said. That would help increase their confidence. Gas prices have fallen 10 cents to $3.60 a gallon in the past week _ down from nearly $4 a gallon in early May.

In addition, stock prices have rebounded slightly since the consumer sentiment survey was completed early this week, said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics.

“Confidence is very unlikely to stay this low for long,” Dales said.

Most large retailers are remaining optimistic. Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. have boosted their annual profit outlooks. Yet they’re also concerned about the risk that conditions will worsen.

J.C. Penney said Friday that it expects its earnings this quarter to trail Wall Street estimates.

“The tumultuous last 10 days or so haven’t given our core customer, the middle income family, any reason to be more confident,” said CEO Myron E. Ullman III.

The retail sales report is the government’s first read on consumer spending for the July-September quarter. In June, consumers cut spending for the first time in 20 months, a troubling sign.

Demand for cars has been low this year. But part of the reason is that dealers have had trouble stocking popular models because of parts shortages related to Japan’s earthquake in March. Those disruptions are easing, which could boost auto sales in August.

And that would confirm the optimism sparked by the retail-sales report Friday.

“At this point, a mild report is a good report,” said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

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The Senate emphatically passed emergency legislation Tuesday to avoid a first-ever government default, rushing the legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature just hours before the deadline. The vote was 74-26.

Obama planned to sign the bill promptly and also was making remarks at the White House.

Tuesday’s vote capped an extraordinarily difficult Washington battle pitting tea party Republican forces in the House against Obama and Democrats controlling the Senate. The resulting compromise paired an essential increase in the government’s borrowing cap with promises of more than $2 trillion of budget cuts over the next decade.

Much of the measure, which the House passed Monday night, was negotiated on terms set by House Speaker John Boehner, including a demand that any increase in the nation’s borrowing cap be matched by spending cuts. But the legislation also meets demands made by Obama, including debt-limit increases large enough to keep the government funded into 2013 and curbs on growth of the Pentagon budget.

“We’ve had to settle for less than we wanted, but what we’ve achieved is in no way insignificant,” said Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “But I think it was the view of those in my party that we’d try to get as much spending cuts as we could from a government we didn’t control. And that’s what we’ve done with this bipartisan agreement.”

Many supporters of the legislation lamented what they saw as flaws and the intense partisanship from which it was forged. In the end, it was a lowest-common-denominators approach that puts off tough decisions on tax increases and cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare.

“What troubles me about it is that the bipartisan compromise also represents a kind of bipartisan agreement by each party to yield to the other party’s most politically and ideologically sensitive priority,” said Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn. “In the case of Democrats, it’s to protect entitlement spending. … In the case of Republicans, it’s to not raise taxes.”

The measure would provide an immediate $400 billion increase in the $14.3 trillion U.S. borrowing cap, with $500 billion more assured this fall. That $900 billion would be matched by cuts to agency budgets over the next 10 years.

The Senate vote was never in doubt after Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and McConnell signed on. But like Monday’s House vote, defections came from liberal Democrats unhappy that Obama gave too much ground in the talks, as well as from conservative Republicans who said the measure would barely dent deficits that require the government to borrow more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends.

“This is a time for us to make tough choices as compared to kick the can down the road one more time,” said freshman GOP Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas.

The measure sets up a fall drama that promises to again test the ability of Obama and Republicans to work cooperatively. It establishes a special bipartisan committee to draft legislation to find up to $1.5 trillion more in deficit cuts for a vote later this year. They’re likely to come from such programs as federal retirement benefits, farm subsidies, Medicare and Medicaid. The savings would be matched by a further increase in the borrowing cap.

There’s no guarantee the committee, to be evenly split between the warring parties, will agree on such legislation. But there are powerful incentives to do so because more budget gridlock would trigger a crippling round of automatic cuts across much of the budget, including Pentagon coffers.

And questions linger about the effect the grueling political free-for-all will have on the U.S. credit rating.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told ABC News that he didn’t know whether the debt-limit fight would cause America’s AAA credit rating to be downgraded. “It’s not my judgment to make,” he said. Geithner also said he fears world confidence in the United States was damaged by “this spectacle.”

Enactment of the measure provides welcome closure for Obama, who has seen his poll numbers sag during the debt-limit battle.

GOP presidential candidates such as Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann issued statements opposing the legislation.

“As with any compromise, the outcome is far from satisfying,” Obama conceded in a video his re-election campaign sent to millions of Democrats.

In a tweet, the president was more positive: “The debt agreement makes a significant down payment to reduce the deficit _ finding savings in both defense and domestic spending.”

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Prime Minister George Papandreou has called for a fall referendum on “changes to the political system,” including to the country’s constitution.

Opening a three-day parliamentary debate that will culminate in a confidence vote late Tuesday, Papandreou blames Greece’s bloated state sector for bringing the country to its knees and has vowed to effect deep changes.

He also says the constitutional revision will make it easier to prosecute delinquent government officials saving account pay day loan.

He also says Greece is in talks for a new bailout package “roughly equal” to the first package of euro110 billion ($155 billion) agreed to in May 2010.

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Stocks are poised for another day of losses ahead of several key economic reports.

The government will release figures on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. Economists expect that the number fell to 420,000 from 427,000 the previous week. Separate reports will shed light on the construction of new homes and manufacturing growth in the Philadelphia region.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 32, or 0 bad credit payday loans.3 percent, to 11,799. S&P 500 futures are down 3, or 0.2 percent, to 1,257. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 4, or 0.2 percent, to 2,201.

The Dow fell nearly 180 points Wednesday after unrest in Greece rattled financial markets.

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Americans are finally getting some relief from high gas and food prices.

Wholesale food prices fell last month by the most in nearly a year, and gas prices keep dropping after peaking in May. A separate survey suggests CEOs are feeling more optimistic and will hire more in the second half of this year.

It amounted to welcome news Tuesday after a rough patch that has stoked worries the economic recovery is slowing. More jobs and lower prices would both give Americans more money to spend on other things and rejuvenate economic growth.

Food prices at the wholesale level fell 1.4 percent, the Labor Department said. It was the largest drop since last June. About 40 percent of that decline resulted from steep declines in vegetable and fruit prices.

The drop in food prices followed harsh winter freezes, which had driven up prices of tomatoes and other vegetables in February. Even if prices don’t fall further, economists say they probably won’t go much higher, at least.

It may take as long as six months, but lower wholesale prices should work their way to the grocery store.

“That’s a good thing for consumers, and it’s even better that it comes in parallel with lower energy prices,” said Gregory Daco, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.

Overall, the producer price index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, rose 0.2 percent in May. That’s much lower than April’s 0.8 percent gain and signals that inflation is in check.

Gas prices at the wholesale level rose in May by the smallest amount in eight months. At the pump, they’re coming down. On Tuesday, the national average was $3.70 a gallon, according to AAA. Gas has fallen steadily since the national average almost hit $4 a gallon in early May. It’s still about a dollar more expensive than a year ago.

For now, Americans remain cautious about spending. Another report Tuesday showed that retail sales fell 0.2 percent in May. It was the first decline in 11 months and came mostly because Americans bought fewer cars.

Auto sales fell 2.9 percent, the sharpest drop in 15 months. The decline was attributed to temporary factors, including fewer incentives offered by dealerships and a shortage of popular fuel-efficient cars because of disrupted shipments after the Japan earthquake.

Excluding the drop in car sales, retail sales rose 0.3 percent. That gain seemed to please investors, who were expecting broad declines because of high gas prices. The Dow Jones industrial average, which has fallen six weeks in a row, closed up 123 points, or 1 percent.

Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities, said the retail-sales report shows that household budgets are still tight, forcing people to put off buying expensive items. Sales at electronics and furniture stores dropped in May.

Some of the biggest sales gains were reported by thrift shops and other stores that sell used goods, Vitner said, and by online retailers, which many shoppers use to find the best deals.

Lower food and gas prices “should provide some near-term relief,” Vitner said, “but a sustainable pickup in spending will not likely occur until job growth picks up and the unemployment rate falls.”

There were some encouraging signs that hiring could pick up in the second half of the year. The Business Roundtable, which represents CEOs for the 200 biggest U.S. companies, said 51 percent of chief executives plan to step up hiring in the second half of the year.

Last quarter, the figure was 52 percent said they planned to hire more over the following six months, the highest since the trade group began polling its members in 2002.

The survey began in mid-May and ended June 3, the day the government released a report that showed a steep pullback in hiring in May. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent in May from 9 percent in April.

ManpowerGroup, one of the nation’s largest staffing companies, said the proportion of businesses that plan to hire in the next three months is higher than at any time since the end of 2008, during the recession.

Melanie Holmes, vice president at ManpowerGroup, said the company’s employment outlook is still at only about half the level associated with a healthy economy.

The Commerce Department said businesses added to their inventories for the 16th straight month in April, another sign that companies are confident people will spend more in the second half of the year.

The pace at which businesses sold those goods was the slowest in 10 months, but economists said it wasn’t a concern because inventories are still historically small compared with sales. Companies are unlikely to get stuck with huge stockpiles of goods.

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The federal budget deficit is on pace to break the $1 trillion mark for a third straight year, putting pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to come up with a plan to rein in government spending.

The deficit through the first eight months of this budget year totaled $927.4 billion, the Treasury Department said Friday. Three years ago that would have ranked as the highest ever for a full year. Instead, it is running almost even with last year’s pace, when the deficit grew to $1.29 trillion, and behind the 2009 deficit that hit a record $1.41 trillion.

The imbalance for May was $57.6 billion, compared to $135.9 billion for the same month last year. But much of that improvement came from a $45 billion write down in the estimated cost of the financial bailout program.

Soaring deficits have prompted Republicans to insist on deep spending cuts before agreeing to raise the $14.3 trillion borrowing limit, which the government hit in May.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that a large majority of Americans believe the country could suffer serious harm if Congress fails to broaden the government’s borrowing authority. But barely half of those polled said they support such an increase.

The White House and Democrats want to trim the deficit through spending cuts and also by ending tax cuts for the wealthy, which were first passed when President George W. Bush was in office and later extended by Obama.

Republicans reject that approach, saying it amounts to a tax increase. Their plan would focus exclusively on cutting spending. They have also proposed further tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

The government had a surplus of $127 billion in 2001, the year President George W. Bush took office. It was projected to run surpluses totaling $5.6 trillion over the next decade.

But by 2002, the country was back in the red. The deficits grew after Bush won approval for broad tax cuts, pushed a major drug benefit program for seniors _ which wasn’t offset with revenue to pay for it _ and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were launched.

In 2008, Bush’s last full year in office, the deficit had grown to $454.8 billion, a record at the time. And when the economy soured, it jumped into the $1 trillion-plus range.

The Bush administration pushed a $700 billion bailout program in 2008 to rescue the nation’s banks, financial firms and automakers. The following year, the Obama administration continued the bailouts and also backed a $787 billion stimulus program to boost the economy.

Higher spending for unemployment insurance and food stamps, and the sharp contraction in tax revenues, also widened the deficit. And it grew even more this year after Obama and congressional Republicans signed off on a deal that extended the Bush tax cuts for two years and also reduced Social Security payroll taxes for one year.

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A judge has appointed a receiver to take over management of the Suson Pines Apartments in South St. Louis County. It’s the third residential property owned by Gannon International placed in receivership this year.

MLP Investments took over management of Suson Pines after a federal judge approved appointing a receiver on June 2.

PNC Bank sought the appointment of a receiver in connection to a loan it made to an affiliate of Creve Coeur-based Gannon that is secured by Suson Pines. In a federal lawsuit, PNC alleges Gannon is in default on a promissory note and owes more than $13 million.

The Suson Pines Apartments at 5625 Suson Hills Drive has 336 units on 36 acres business cards.  

PNC filed a lawsuit in April against several affiliates of Gannon International and its chief executive, William Franke, alleging Gannon is in default on loans secured by real estate. MLP Investments has also been appointed receiver to take over management of two other Gannon-owned properties: Springwood Apartments in Bel-Ridge and the Aspen Cove Townhomes in Ellisville. PNC alleges Gannon is in default on a $5.7 million loan secured by Springwood and $272,438 for Aspen Cove.

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The impact of a two-month strike at a big Winnipeg manufacturer of aircraft parts is escalating and spilling into southern Ontario.

About 100 members of the Canadian Auto Workers held up employees and production on Thursday morning at a Magellan Aerospace operation in Kitchener and the union promises similar actions at other company plants to increase pressure for a settlement of the Winnipeg strike.

The Canadian dollar was higher against the American currency Wednesday amid falling commodity prices and positive economic news.

The loonie rose 0.3 of a cent to 104.72 cents U.S. following a similar sized gain on Tuesday.

Higher commodities, particularly oil, are supportive of the currency. But oil and metals were lower Wednesday amid mixed signs of energy demand in the U.S. while metal prices declined on worries about a slowing of the Chinese economy.