S&P boosts outlook for U.S. debt, but investors yawn

| Associated Press Comments New York — A better outlook for the U.S. government’s credit rating did little to impress investors Monday. The U.S. stock market edged higher in early trading Monday after the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency raised its outlook for U.S. government debt and predicted an improving economy. Stocks rose in the first 15 minutes after trading opened at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, then moved between small gains and losses. By 10 a.m., all the major U.S. indexes were down. The S&P Ratings Service had downgraded the U.S. government’s long-term credit rating in 2011 because of a contentious fight in Congress over raising government spending limits. The downgrade, an...