WASHINGTON—-The OpenID Foundation and Information Card Foundation announced today they’ve published a white paper outlining their approach to open trust frameworks for certification under the U.S.

Stocks rose slightly on Thursday as better-than-expected earnings by Wal-Mart Stores Inc helped offset gloomy government numbers on retail sales and jobs.

Shares of Bank of America shot up Thursday as a new executive at the bank, as well as a prominent hedge-fund manager, decided to place big bets on the company by buying up blocks of shares.

Ford said Thursday it will build more of its popular Focus and Escape models and boost total vehicle production later this year to help dealers restock depleted showrooms.

A federal appeals court has revived a Medicare fraud case brought by whistle-blowers alleging Johnson & Johnson paid doctors kickbacks to prescribe an expensive drug in a strategy to boost sales.

Government programs to support the auto industry helped Germany and France return to economic growth in the second quarter, rebounds that stoked hopes the recession in the wider 16-country euro area may also end sooner than thought.

Tighter inventory controls helped Wal-Mart Stores Inc. earn more than Wall Street forecast in its second quarter, but the key barometer of same-stores sales fell at the world’s largest retailer for its U.S. stores — a worrisome confirmation of broad weakness in consumer spending.

GREENSBURG, Pa.—-Allegheny Power, the electric delivery business of Allegheny Energy, Inc. , today submitted a request to the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for a base rate increase of $122 million.