Reuters - Employees at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet in Canada won an arbitrator-imposed contract on Friday, becoming the giant retailer's only location in North America with a collective agreement in place.

Reuters - J.C. Penney Co Inc posted a quarterly profit on Friday that beat Wall Street expectations as strong inventory controls offset weaker consumer spending, pushing its shares 6 percent higher.

Reuters - Chrysler LLC aims to cut its supply chain costs by 25 percent in the next three years, and improve its relationship with suppliers, John Campi, executive vice president of procurement, said on Friday.

Reuters - Consumer confidence improved slightly in early August thanks to a drop in gasoline prices, but worries about a recession still weighed heavily on consumers' minds, according to a survey released on Friday.

Reuters - J.C. Penney Co Inc and Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported quarterly profits that beat Wall Street expectations on Friday, but came up short in their earnings forecasts, joining other U.S. retailers who fear a deeper slowdown in consumer spending toward year's end.

Reuters - Kohl's Corp , a mid-priced apparel and home goods retailer, reported a quarterly profit on Thursday that beat Wall Street's expectations and raised its full-year forecast, saying tight expense controls would help it weather a tough U.S. economy.

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages remained at the same level for a third week while rates on other types of home loans posted small declines.

Reuters - Best Buy Co Inc , the leading U.S. electronics chain, is expanding into Russia, having registered its Future Shop trademark to operate on the fast-growing market, two business dailies reported on Friday.

Reuters - Oil dropped by $2 to $113 a barrel on Friday to trade near the lowest since early May, pressured by faltering global demand and rising supply.

Reuters - Deutsche Telekom's (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile USA will be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone based on Google Inc's Android software, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the company's plans.

Reuters - Google Inc's India subsidiary is being sued for alleged defamation in the Bombay High Court by an Indian construction equipment company, The Wall Street Journal said.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc second-quarter profit jumped 17 percent, but the discount retailer forecast current quarter results that could miss Wall Street estimates as consumers worldwide deal with tough economic times.

Reuters - Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to buy back billions of dollars of illiquid auction-rate securities and pay fines to settle charges that they misled investors about the debt's risk.