tentative steps

Stocks erased losses, with investors taking tentative steps back after the previous session's battering, as fears about record oil prices were tempered by reports showing a rise in personal income and spending.

Stocks tiptoed higher Thursday morning as investors made tentative steps back into the market after a two-day exodus sparked by record oil and gas prices.

Pro- and anti-whaling nations open some possible avenues to compromise at a meeting in London.