TOP STORIES 
 
DOLLAR TREE TO BUY FAMILY DOLLAR

Dollar Tree said it would buy rival Family Dollar for about $8.5 billion amid an intensifying battle for America's poorest consumers. Family Dollar shares jumped 23%; Dollar Tree up 3%.

 
PENDING HOME SALES FALL 1.1% IN JUNE

The number of contracts signed to buy previously owned homes slipped 1.1% in June, a sign the housing recovery remains choppy despite a retreat in interest rates. A 0.5% rise in June sales was forecast.

 
U.S. STOCKS SLIP FURTHER AFTER HOUSING DATA

Stocks slipped following a disappointing reading on the U.S. housing market, while investors looked ahead to a busy week of data and corporate earnings. The Dow industrials were down about 25 points.

 
ZILLOW TO BUY REAL-ESTATE RIVAL TRULIA

Zillow reached a deal to buy Trulia, bringing together two big names in the market for online real-estate information. Zillow will issue about $3.5 billion in stock to acquire Trulia. Shares of Trulia rose 11%; Zillow down 4%.

 
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP FINED OVER LIBOR

U.S. and U.K. authorities imposed roughly $370 million of fines on Lloyds Banking Group for attempting to rig a series of benchmark interest rates. The British bank becomes the seventh financial institution to strike a deal.

 
SPORADIC EXCHANGES BREAK GAZA LULL

Under intense international pressure, Israel and Hamas scaled back their three-week-old conflict, giving many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip a measure of quiet for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

 
RUSSIA MUST COMPENSATE FORMER YUKOS SHAREHOLDERS

An international court ruled that Russia owes shareholders of the now-defunct oil giant Yukos more than $50 billion for what it described as the Kremlin's "devious and calculated expropriation" of assets designed to bankrupt the firm.

 
UKRAINE REPORTS HEAVY FIGHTING AROUND CRASH SITE

Ukraine said heavy fighting erupted in a string of towns around where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed, as Kiev seeks to cut off the rebel stronghold of Donetsk from the rest of the separatists.

 
TYSON'S PROFIT UP; TO SELL SOME OPERATIONS

U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods is refocusing on its home market, selling off a big chunk of its fledgling international operations to a rival to help pay for its acquisition of Jimmy Dean sausage maker Hillshire Brands.

 
MCDONALD'S FACES SHORTAGES AT SOME CHINA STORES

McDonald's is facing a shortage of products in some outlets across northern and central China as a result of a shift away from a Shanghai supplier that allegedly sold expired meat to some fast-food chains in the country.

 
OIL PRICES FALL AMID WEAK GLOBAL DEMAND

Crude-oil futures were lower as traders focused more on low demand in Europe and Asia than on geopolitical tension in several parts of the globe.

 
 
 
 
  ======= DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARIES ======= 
 
 
The Wall Street Journal 
STOCK MARKET REGAINS ITS FAITH IN HUMANITY

After years of ceding ground to trading via computer programs, buying and selling stock the old-fashioned way--over the phone or its modern equivalent of instant messaging--is holding its own, Dan Strumpf writes.

 
Capital Journal 
WHY TENSIONS ARE CLIMBING BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE U.S.

Suddenly, serious stress fractures are opening up as the Israeli operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip enters its third week--and they figure to get worse before they get better, writes Gerald F. Seib.