Stocks close lower a day after Dow briefly passed 13,000

NEW YORK - A day after Dow 13,000, investors took a break.

Stocks closed lower Wednesday for the first time in four trading days. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 27.02 points to finish at 12,938.67. The day before, it briefly passed 13,000 for the first time since May 2008.

Media General explores sale of newspaper operations

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Newspaper publisher and TV station owner Media General said Wednesday that it is exploring the sale of its newspaper operations, which produce nearly half its revenue.

Netflix bolsters its video library as new threat looms

SAN FRANCISCO - Netflix's Internet video service is adding more marquee attractions as it braces for a new competitive threat from cable-TV provider Comcast Corp.

Regional auction lists livestock prices

The Northampton Co-op Auction Inc. lists Tuesday prices:

Calves: 0 to 60 lbs. $10 to $35; 61-75 lbs., $41 to $75; 76-95 lbs., $30 to $75; 96-105 lbs. $70 to $76; 106 & up $60; farm calves, $80 to $175; feeders $54 to $91; heifers $94 to $97; steers $86 to $87.50.

Dow breaks 13,000 but can't hold peak gains

NEW YORK - It came and went in a flash each time, a number on a board for mere seconds, but its symbolic power couldn't be dismissed.

The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.

Greece bailout saves European meltdown

BRUSSELS - The bailout has saved Europe, for now, but it's unlikely to save Greece.

The 130 billion euro ($172 billion) rescue - agreed to Tuesday after an all-night summit of European ministers - prevented an uncontrolled bankrupcty and calmed investors worried that a Greek default would have started a chain reaction across Europe. But it left key problems unresolved.

Speculators again inflating oil prices

WASHINGTON - U.S. demand for oil and refined products - including gasoline - is down sharply from last year, so much that United States has actually become a net exporter of gasoline, unable to consume all that it makes.

Yet oil and gasoline prices are surging.