Business Highlights

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Obama signs student loan deal, says job isn't done

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama signed into law a measure restoring lower interest rates for student loans, pledging the hard-fought compromise would be just the first step in a broader, concerted fight to rein in the costs of a college education.

The legislation links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. It offers lower rates this fall because the government can borrow money cheaply at this time. If the economy improves in the coming years as expected, it will become more costly for the government to borrow money, and that cost would be passed on to students.

About 11 million students this year are expected to have lower interest rates, saving the average undergraduate $1,500 on interest charges on this year's loans.

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Priceline stock flirts with historic $1,000 mark

NEW YORK (AP) -- Priceline.com came close to becoming the first stock in the Standard & Poor's 500 index to cross $1,000.

Investors jumped onboard after the travel booking company reported better than expected second-quarter earnings. The stock rose to almost $995 before leveling off. The stock closed at $969.89.

The company's stock hasn't been this high since it had an adjusted closing price of $974.27 on April 30, 1999, a month after going public in the heady days of the dotcom boom. The stock dropped below $10 just two years later.

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ITC issues import ban on some Samsung products

NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge refused a request by Apple Inc. to temporarily suspend her ruling that it violated antitrust laws by conspiring with publishers to raise electronic book prices in 2010.

Judge Denise Cote, ruling from the bench in Manhattan federal court, declined to withdraw the effect of last month's ruling while Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. appeals.

The maker of iPods, iPads and iPhones continues to fight what it calls "false accusations."

The judge ruled last month that Apple had conspired with publishers to spoil the $9.99 e-book price Amazon.com had established. That ruling sided with government regulators' contention that Apple joined five major book publishers to gang up on Amazon.com to the detriment of consumers.

Apple, determined to protect one of the world's most beloved brands, has steadfastly denied it did anything wrong.

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Obama says he has range of candidates to lead Fed

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said that he's still considering a range of candidates to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve and that whoever gets the job will need to focus in the near term on reducing unemployment.

Obama said during a White House news conference that former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and current Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen are both highly qualified for the job, and that he's also considering others. He said he'll make his decision in the fall.

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US wholesale stockpiles fell 0.2 percent in June

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. wholesalers cut their stockpiles in June for a third straight month even as their sales rose again. Businesses may need to speed up restocking if demand continues to increase, a trend that could boost economic growth in the second half of the year.

The Commerce Department said that wholesale stockpiles fell 0.2 percent in June from May. That follows a 0.6 percent drop in May ? the biggest in 20 months ? a modest 0.1 percent decline in April.

Wholesalers haven't shrunk their stockpiles for three months or longer since September 2009, which was three months after the Great Recession ended. The decline shows that many remain cautious and are keeping inventories lean, despite three straight months of solid sales growth.

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Tyson to stop buying cattle fed Merck supplement

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Tyson Foods Inc. told cattle feeders this week it will no longer buy animals fed a supplement that's designed to bulk them up before slaughter, citing experts who suggest the drug may be causing cattle to become lame.

The decision by the food giant has raised concerns from industry experts that less beef will be available, which would drive up consumer prices. The growth-inducing drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and help feedyards get roughly 25 more pounds of beef from each carcass. They've been increasingly used to offset dwindling cattle herd numbers, especially in the face of last year's drought.

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Ackman pushes for Penney chairman to go

NEW YORK (AP) -- The battle over J.C. Penney's future just got uglier. Activist investor Bill Ackman said that he has lost confidence in J.C. Penney's board and that its chairman should be replaced. Penney Chairman Thomas Engibous fired back and called Ackman's comments inaccurate.

The exchange adds more fuel to an unusually public squabble between Ackman and the rest of J.C. Penney's board over how quickly it should replace CEO Mike Ullman.

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FCC votes to cap, slash prison phone rates

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A decade after families of prison inmates asked for action, the Federal Communications Commission agreed to limit how much companies can charge for phone calls made from behind bars.

The FCC voted 2-1 during an emotional meeting to cap interstate phone rates at 21 cents a minute for debit or prepaid calls and 25 cents a minute for collect calls. Companies wanting to set higher rates would have to file a request for a waiver and could not charge more until that waiver is granted.

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Carlos Slim in $9.6BN bid for Dutch telecom KPN

AMSTERDAM (AP) -- America Movil SAB, owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, will launch a 7.2 billion euro ($9.6 billion) bid for the part of Dutch telecom company Royal KPN NV it doesn't already own, in a challenge to a rival offer for KPN's prized German mobile group E-Plus.

Movil's 2.40 euros per share bid for KPN announced Friday offers a 20 percent premium on Thursday's closing price, valuing the company's stock at around 10.3 billion euros, and the 70 percent it doesn't already own at 7.2 billion euros.

The offer price is miles above the 1.60 euros KPN's shares were trading at in mid-July before Movil's archrival, Telefonica SA, announced plans to buy E-Plus from KPN for around 8.1 billion euros.

The Telefonica deal was backed by KPN's management, but many analysts believe Slim, the world's richest man according to Forbes magazine, wants E-Plus for himself. E-Plus has a 15 percent stake in the German market that would be near-impossible to build from scratch.

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By The Associated Press=

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 72.81 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,425.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 6.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,691.42. The Nasdaq composite fell 9.02 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,660.11.

Benchmark crude for September delivery gained $2.57, or 2.5 percent, to close at $105.97 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex, heating oil rose 4 cents to $2.99 a gallon, natural gas fell 7 cents to $3.23 per 1,000 cubic feet and wholesale gasoline rose 5 cents to $2.91 a gallon.

In London, Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange, rose $1.54 to $108.22 a barrel.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-highlights-221928528.html

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