Business News

Regulators have closed a small lender in Illinois, bringing U. S. bank failures this year to 14 after 24 closures in all of 2013. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rebounded in June after a May decline, helped by a recovery in demand in a key category that signals business investment plans.

The U. S. government's highway safety agency is checking into a complaint that some Chevrolet Impala front passenger air bags may not inflate in a crash.

The on-demand ride-sharing app Lyft says it is starting limited service in New York City after reaching agreement with state and city officials to resolve regulatory issues.

The stock market is falling in midday trading after Visa and Amazon posted weaker results than Wall Street expected. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 127 points, 0.8 percent, to 16,956.

Baidu Inc., which operates China's most popular search engine, says its quarterly profit rose 34 percent over a year earlier as its mobile business grew. Baidu said Friday it earned 3.5 billion yuan ($571.1 million) in the three months ended June 30.

Nearly 300 passengers perish when their plane is shot out of the sky. Airlines suspend flights to Israel's largest airport after rocket attacks.

Bankrupt power giant Energy Future Holdings terminated its restructuring agreement and announced plans to auction its stake in the profitable power transmission business Oncor Electric Delivery Co., according to a filing Thursday with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company and its creditors "believe that the (restructuring agreement) has provided significant benefit," including obtaining billions of dollars in new financing, the filing said. In a letter to employees Thursday, Energy Future said it would maintain its approach to reorganizing the company, which centers on a tax-free spinoff of the unprofitable side, including Luminant, the state's largest power generator, and TXU Energy, the state's largest electricity retailer. With cash flows for electricity distribution and production shielded from creditors, the bankruptcy has not yet impacted consumers. The proposed auction of Oncor, which the company said would take place in the coming weeks, has already generated interest from potential bidders, including Florida-based NextEra Energy and Hunt Consolidated in Dallas. Hunt hired former Energy Future executive David Campbell as chief executive of its power utility investment arm on Monday, with Hunt spokeswoman Jeanne Phillips saying in a statement that the company is "intent" on acquiring control of Oncor. Moody's Investor Services analyst Jairo Chung says Oncor's prospects for growth are better than the industry average because of its coverage area in Northwest Texas, which is projected to see significant population growth. The auction proceeds would be allocated among Energy Future's creditors, Chung said. Energy Future filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in April in an attempt to halve a $40 billion debt load stemming from a bet that natural gas prices would rise.

Dunkin' pushing cashiers to 'upsell' in afternoons

US new-home sales plummet in June

Caterpillar's second-quarter net income rose 4.1 percent even as revenue slipped.

Breitburn Energy is buying QR Energy LP in a deal worth about $1.46 billion.

A closely watched survey suggests economic growth in the 18-country eurozone picked up during July despite ongoing concerns over France, the currency bloc's second-largest economy.