By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER and ALAN ZIBEL
AP Business Writers
People aren’t spending money like they used to. Unemployment is still flirting with double digits. And the housing market is still shaky. So the future looks bleak for the economy, right?
Not necessarily.
A handful of surprisingly good earnings reports Thursday suggested that some of the major U.S. companies that make things and move them around – including Caterpillar, 3M and UPS – could lead the way to an economic recovery.