Stocks edge higher after 4-week losing streak

NEW YORK (AP) — Here's what passes for the new normal on the stock market: The Dow Jones industrial average soars 200 points in the morning, gives up nearly all those gains by lunch, then jumps back another 100 points by the early afternoon.

It was the latest wild ride for stocks this month, which has seen eight days of more than 200-point swings in the Dow.

Investors increasingly believe the U.S. may fall into another recession. Manufacturing dropped sharply last month; there are concerns that consumers will cut back their spending, especially after they've watched stocks plunge; and earlier in August the U.S. government's credit rating was downgraded. All that led investors to dump risky assets, leaving the Dow down 10 percent since the month began.