IBT Staff Reporter

In many parts of the world, summer vacation season starts winding down at the end of August. Beach trips come to a halt as people start getting back to the daily grind for the push toward Christmas.

The Obama administration warned on Friday the U.S. economy had encountered strong headwinds and the country's fiscal challenge remained grave, but it lowered an estimate for the budget deficit this year.

Google's dominant position on the global online search market slipped slightly in the second quarter, as it retreated from the Chinese market, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Friday.

McDonald's Corp reported weaker-than expected sales at established restaurants, overshadowing a profit beat for the second quarter, and its shares dropped 2 percent.

Increased spending may have hurt Amazon.com Inc's quarterly profit, dragging down the largest online retailer's shares, but analysts believe the investments the company made will benefit it in the long run.

Stocks rose on Friday as a dividend hike by General Electric Co and solid earnings from companies including telecommunications provider Verizon Communications Inc boosted sentiment.

Seven of 91 European banks have failed stress tests and show an overall capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros, the organizers of the tests said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday as solid margins from Verizon Communications Inc and a dividend hike by General Electric Co boosted sentiment.

Stocks rose on Friday as solid earnings from companies including telecommunications provider Verizon and a dividend hike by General Electric helped sentiment.

A federal judge approved on Friday a settlement of litigation brought by Intel Corp shareholders and designed to help the world's largest chipmaker avert future antitrust problems.

British aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce said it secured $1.7 billion in orders at the Farnborough Airshow, including deals for its Trent 700 engine, the leading engine for the Airbus A330. Rolls-Royce said on Friday it won orders totaling more than $1 billion for Trent 700s to power 17 Airbus A330s from Russia's Aeroflot and Garuda Indonesia Airlines.

Stocks were little changed on Friday as investors digested results of European bank stress tests, but solid earnings from companies including telecommunications provider Verizon helped sentiment.

Ford Motor Co posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit of $2.6 billion and said it was on track for higher earnings and lower debt in 2011, sending its shares up 4 percent.

Europe's attempt to restore confidence in its banks comes to a head on Friday with widespread expectation that up to 10 lenders will fail the test and have to raise capital.

Ford Motor Co posted a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit of $2.6 billion and said it was on track for higher earnings and lower debt in 2011, sending its shares up 3 percent in premarket trade.

General Motors Co plans to file its registration for an initial public offering during the week of August 16, just after the expected date for its second quarter results, according to two people with direct knowledge of the preparations.

A plan to maintain operations at a General Motors plant in eastern France was in doubt after a labor union refused to sign a deal on Friday to freeze salaries and cut working days.

China's Chery Automobile Co said on Friday it was unaware of a U.S. case of alleged theft of GM technology that had been linked to the Chinese firm.

Oil prices slipped back from an 11-week high above $79 on Friday, falling on uncertainty over European bank stress test results even as companies began shutting in Gulf of Mexico production ahead of a tropical storm. The dollar's strength against the euro and a basket of currencies .DXY also added pressure.

France's top four banks passed the European banking stress test with an average Tier 1 ratio of 9.3 percent in 2011 under a worst-case scenario, compared with 9.9 percent at the end of 2009, the Bank of France said on Friday.

The United States and the NATO allies are preparing to disengage and soon withdraw from Afghanistan and even the most vocal advocates of the long-term commitment do not anticipate more than five years of active US and NATO involvement. All the local key players - in Kabul, Islamabad, and countless tribal and localized foci of power - are cognizant and are already maneuvering and posturing to deal with the new reality.

Kimberly-Clark Corp posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations due to cost cuts and lower expenses, but trimmed its full-year sales outlook and warned of higher-than-expected costs for materials like pulp.

Seventeen big banks getting bailouts from taxpayers made ill-advised overpayments to executives in late 2008 and early 2009, but they can't be forced to pay them back, U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said on Friday.

Sterling is poised to build on its broad rally as investors speculate that fiscal and economic conditions in Britain will improve faster than in the euro zone or the United States. Technical factors are also working in the pound's favour, while lower implied volatility will help the UK currency higher.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Friday to redouble efforts to fight HIV and AIDS through his global health initiative, despite dealing with economic hard times in the wake of a global recession.

McDonald's Corp reported weaker-than expected sales at established restaurants, overshadowing a profit beat for the second quarter, and shares dropped 2 percent.

The S&P 500 and Dow Industrials edged higher on Friday as another round of solid corporate earnings offset uncertainty ahead of European bank stress test results.

Verizon Communications posted a quarterly loss due to a $2.3-billion charge for job cuts but wireless customer growth and landline profit margins were better than some analysts expected.

Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam is making an all-out legal assault to get the first wiretaps used in a widespread probe of insider trading on Wall Street thrown out, but legal experts doubt the defendant will succeed.