Left undecided until Thursday are the important honest services cases, which could spring former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling, and Bilksi, the patent case that could upturn business-method patent law.

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He said there might be a "glimmer of hope" for the industry as other textile businesses in the region had seen a recent upturn in business.

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While that portends an upturn in business heading into mid-2007, any significant slowdown in the economy would likely curb corporate technology spending, hurting Comverse's sales and profits.

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Confidence among both businessmen and consumers rose for the third month in a row in January, according to the Commission's latest regular survey, with the upturn in business sentiment stronger than had been expected by many economists.

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Most Wall Street analysts think industry labor costs will rise substantially over the next couple of years, as pilots and other employees look to the upturn in business as a catalyst for grabbing back a chunk of what they gave up during the industry's rough period.

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In Europe, too, surveys of consumer and business confidence confirm that an upturn is under way.

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Property consultants and logistics property developers said there had been an upturn in investment interest in logistics and business parks in recent months as a way to tap into the growth of e-commerce and rising domestic consumption.

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Overall business investment tells a similar story (albeit with a slightly greater upturn in the last 18 months).

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