60 A bankruptcy judge has ruled that General Motors Corp. can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection. www.newsobserver.com/1596545 Agriculture futures dropped in early trading Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade. www.newsobserver.com/1597096 Investors pulled away from stocks again as conflicting signs emerged about the direction the economy is taking. www.newsobserver.com/1596752 The U.S. services economy - from retailers and restaurants to real estate brokers - contracted less than expected in June in its best showing since before the financial crisis struck last fall, according to a private trade group's gauge. www.newsobserver.com/1596916 Raleigh Surgical Group and Wake Surgical Center have joined together as a single group and agreed to become part of Rex Healthcare, Rex announced today. www.newsobserver.com/1597263 Popular Ninth Street eatery George's Garage closed this weekend after 15 years in business. www.newsobserver.com/1597145 Wells Fargo will officially unveil the new brand name for its investment banking and capital markets unit today and signal plans to build a business largely inherited from Charlotte-based Wachovia. www.newsobserver.com/1596744 Firing the latest salvo in a bidding brawl, data storage company EMC Corp. boosted its offer for Data Domain which has already accepted a lower bid from NetApp Inc. www.newsobserver.com/1596889 The Spoetzl Brewery ferments its brew in a one-stoplight town that's not on the way to anywhere, and much larger regional brewers long ago succumbed to consolidation/ www.newsobserver.com/1596279 County officials are keeping quiet, but signs are starting to point to the Catawba County town of Maiden as the site of Apple's new $1 billion data center. www.newsobserver.com/1596280 Almost everybody dreams of winning the lottery. And after Jeff Wilson, 27, of Kings Mountain won the $88.1 million Powerball drawing last month, we started wondering what a person would do with all that money. www.newsobserver.com/1593540 Tim Bannister had to shut down the family business in February. For more than three decades Cary Printing provided services to customers including Glaxo SmithKline, SAS and Burt's Bees. But the recession sapped sales, and the credit crunch staunched financing. It all proved too much. www.newsobserver.com/1593538 Long before his death, we heard more about Michael Jackson's financial troubles than his incredible music. The singer was reportedly $400 million in debt. www.newsobserver.com/1593565 For the N.C. Research Campus to reach the promise its founder had in mind, it will need more people like Randy Crowell. www.newsobserver.com/1593559 Bounced check: $32. Stop-payment: $30. ATM charge: as high as $3. www.newsobserver.com/1593550 Eat more onions www.newsobserver.com/1403412 Holly www.newsobserver.com/1593564 I read with great interest your article "Beach Plan losses could trip surcharge" [Triangle & Co, June 26]. One point I would like to make to you and others relates to the quote you attributed to John McMillan, a lobbyist for the insurance industry. www.newsobserver.com/1593563 Just a quick note of appreciation [Redwoods Group CEO] Kevin Trapani's statements in the article [Insurer practices capitalism with a heart," June 23, Triangle&Co] concerning the forgotten purpose of a company for its employees and for the community. www.newsobserver.com/1593560 What should you be reading this summer? Trashy romance or books that can help you make sense of it all? The editors at Kiplinger's Personal Finance have suggested a few of the latter. www.newsobserver.com/1593557