BOSTON (AP) — What relief rally? Hope that the stock market would surge on news of Washington's debt ceiling deal has given way to pessimism. Increasingly defensive-minded investors are adapting to the reality that the economic recovery is stalling, if not ending.

Stocks rose slightly on Wednesday to snap an eight-day string of declines that sent prices down nearly 7 percent.

That stumble complicates matters for investors who recently pulled cash from the market, fearing a government default was a strong possibility. With that worry behind, the question is what to do next.

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