President Bush confidently predicted the country would safely weather the financial storm.

Today's comments — made in separate appearances — by Bernanke here and the president in Washington, sought to send a reassuring but tough love message: Fed policymakers and the Bush administration are on top of the situation that has unnerved investors on Wall Street and around the world and raised anxiety on Main Street. But they'll act in the best interests of the economy.

———

WASHINGTON — President Bush today announced a set of modest proposals to deal with an alarming rise in mortgage defaults that have contributed to turbulent financial markets over recent weeks.

Housing analysts said it was highly likely the limited steps Bush outlined will be expanded in coming weeks by a Democrat-controlled Congress intent on responding to growing voter anxiety as up to 2 million homeowners worry about losing their homes.

Officials in the troubled housing industry said the important thing was that the administration had finally offered a proposal, a step they said should help calm global financial markets that have been on a rollercoaster ride in recent weeks as investors worried about a serious credit crunch.

———

NEW YORK — Wall Street closed out another erratic week with a big gain today after investors took comments from President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as reassuring signs Wall Street won't be left to deal with problems in the mortgage and credit markets on its own.

Investors balked early in today's session when comments from Bernanke didn't indicate a cut in the benchmark federal funds rate was imminent. However, they moved past some of their initial disappointment and appeared to concentrate on comments that the Fed would step in if needed.

Bernanke, speaking at the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., said the central bank will "act as needed" to prevent the credit crisis from hurting the national economy.

The major indexes fluctuated but by midday extended their gains after President Bush spoke about details of a plan to help borrowers facing trouble paying their mortgages.

———

WASHINGTON — Consumers returned to the malls in July after taking a breather in June, although worries about the future could make the rebound short-lived.

The Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending rose by 0.4 percent in July, double the June increase. The spending was supported by a solid 0.5 percent rise in incomes, the best showing in this area in four months.

The gain in spending was right in line with expectations, while the increase in incomes was double what analysts had expected. However, economists cautioned that the July increases could be temporary given recent weakness in consumer confidence caused by a prolonged slump in housing and the past several weeks of financial market turbulence.

In another strong report, the Commerce Department said that orders to factories jumped by 3.7 percent in July, even better than the 3.3 percent increase that had been expected.

———

GENEVA — The World Trade Organization opened a formal investigation today into allegations by the U.S. and Mexico that China is providing illegal subsidies for a range of industries.

The two countries accuse Beijing of using WTO-prohibited tax breaks to encourage Chinese companies to boost exports, while imposing tax and tariff penalties to limit purchases of foreign products in China.

Beijing blocked a separate probe of its rules for protecting intellectual property rights. But the move will probably only delay the creation of a panel until the next meeting of the WTO's dispute body in September, when Washington can bring up the issue again.

———

NEW YORK — Gasoline prices rose again at the pump today, extending a trend that analysts believe will continue until mid-September because of an end-of-season shortage of summer blend gasoline.

In the futures market, meanwhile, prices were mixed as investors kept an eye on tropical weather patterns.

Refiners are running low on summer-grade gas, a mixture designed to emit fewer pollutants, analysts said. Refiners try to run down their supplies of the more expensive summer grade gas just in time for Sept. 15, when stations can legally begin selling winter grade gas, he said. But this year, that run down came a little early.

Gas prices at the pump rose 0.8 cent overnight to a national average of $2.777 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. It was the third increase in as many days.

———

TOKYO — Toyota plans to sell 10.4 million vehicles globally in 2009, well above the auto industry's current 30-year-old record and another sign of the Japanese automaker's momentum toward displacing industry kingpin General Motors.

But even as he outlined the ambitious plan, Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said the company was going after quality — not quantity.

The total would be an 11.3 percent increase from the 9.34 million vehicles Toyota plans to sell this year and would eclipse GM's auto industry record of 9.55 million vehicles sold in 1978.

Analysts said Toyota's target was realistic.

Koji Endo for Credit Suisse in Japan said 10 million in sales was a benchmark for Toyota but said the number was a cautious underestimate.

———

NEW YORK — Apple Inc. escalated a dispute with NBC Universal over the pricing of television shows by announcing today it would not sell any of NBC's programs for this fall season on iTunes.

Earlier, NBC had told Apple that it would no longer allow its programs to be sold via iTunes at the end of the year. NBC Universal-controlled television programming accounts for an estimated 40 percent of the video downloads on iTunes.

Rather than cut off NBC programs in the middle of the season, Apple decided to stop before the new fall episodes premiere next month, said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes.

———

PARIS — Entertainment and telecom conglomerate Vivendi SA reported today that its second-quarter earnings dropped 49 percent from a year earlier, when it had a gain from an asset sale, and said it is sticking to its forecast for the full year.

Net profit at the French company fell to 594 million euros ($810 million) from 1.15 billion euros a year earlier. Last year's figure was inflated by the gains on the sale of Vivendi's shares in chemicals company DuPont Co. for nearly $700 million (512 million euros).

Vivendi calculates its net profit by excluding charges such as impairment of goodwill and income from discontinued operations. In the second quarter, adjusted net income rose to 755 million euros ($1.02 billion) from 750 million euros, still below analyst expectations.

Paris-based Vivendi is the owner of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, Canal Plus television, Vivendi Games and telecom operators SFR and Maroc Telecom.

———

WASHINGTON — A new HIV-fighting drug from Merck & Co. appears superior to options for patients who have stopped responding to available drugs, federal regulators said today.

The Food and Drug Administration said Merck's studies of Isentress show the drug is safe and effective to treat HIV patients who have developed a resistance to other medications.