The Dow Jones industrial average swept past 14,000 for the first time Tuesday after a relatively tame inflation report gave investors reason to extend an extraordinary — but questionable — Wall Street rally.

The stock market’s best-known indicator crossed 14,000 in the first half-hour of trading but failed to close above that level. The index rose as high as 14,021.95, having taken just 57 trading days to make the trip from 13,000.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 20.57, or 0.15 percent, to 13,971.55. AP

Murdoch reportedly in initial pact to buy WSJ

NEW YORK — With Rupert Murdoch reportedly sealing a tentative agreement to acquire The Wall Street Journal, the question now turns to the biggest obstacle remaining for a deal: winning over the mercurial Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones & Co.’s shareholder vote.

The family initially rebuffed Murdoch’s offer in early May but later agreed to consider it. They insisted on, and received, a commitment to create an oversight board which must approve the hiring or firing of top editors at the newspaper.

Negotiators from Dow Jones and News Corp., the global media conglomerate controlled by Murdoch, reached an initial agreement to sell Dow Jones for $5 billion, Murdoch’s original offering price, the Journal reported Tuesday./AP

Audit Bureau expands newspaper measurements

NEW YORK  — An independent body that audits newspaper circulation said Tuesday it will begin providing combined print and online readership data, a change that could help publishers negotiate with advertisers as readers increasingly move to the Internet.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations, based in Schaumburg, Ill., plans to begin incorporating the additional data for participating newspapers during the current six-month reporting period. Those results are due out Nov. 5.

Under the new initiative, newspapers will be able to report print, online and combined readership figures. The Audit Bureau will also include information on monthly unique visitors to newspaper Web sites drawn from sources such as Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore Inc.

Previously, newspapers only had the option to report print readership and overall Web site traffic figures in addition to their circulation numbers.

Audit Bureau spokeswoman Kammi Altig said the new metrics will benefit both newspapers and advertisers by providing a better picture of a paper’s overall impact.

“Each copy does not just have one reader,” she said. “This is a way for advertisers to understand just how many consumers their ad has the potential to reach.”/AP

Feds, state crack down on abusive lending practices

WASHINGTON — Federal and state banking regulators on Tuesday said they would step up their scrutiny of lenders that make home loans to people with shaky credit, focusing on companies that operate outside federal banking oversight.

The pilot program announced by the Federal Reserve, two other federal agencies and state banking officials is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter and affect about 12 lenders. It will be designed to examine firms that account for the majority of subprime loans, a category that has experienced a surge of defaults in recent months.

Problems in subprime first emerged in February, when lenders HSBC Holdings PLC and New Century Financial Corp. reported mounting payment defaults.

Numerous subprime lenders have since gone bankrupt or have been sold. Foreclosures were up 87 percent last month from year-ago levels, real estate information company RealtyTrac said last week./AP

Applebee’s sees potential job cuts from merger

WASHINGTON — The Applebee’s International Inc. chief executive said Tuesday the company expects jobs will be cut as IHOP Corp. sells the majority of Applebee’s 508 company owned restaurants.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Applebee’s, which agreed to be acquired by IHOP for $2.1 billion, or $25.50 a share, expects management of the sit-down restaurant chain to stay in place until the deal closes, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

In a note to company employees, Applebee’s CEO Dave Goebel said the company expects positions directly associated with support for restaurants that are sold to franchisees to be cut./Dow Jones AP

US Bancorp misses its profit projection

MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Bancorp said Tuesday its second-quarter profit declined slightly after a strong gain a year ago.

The nation’s seventh-largest bank said it earned $1.16 billion, or 65 cents per share, in the April-June period, down 3.7 percent from $1.2 billion, or 66 cents per share, during the same period last year. Revenue of $3.51 billion was up 1.5 percent from $3.45 billion a year ago.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $3.47 billion.

The company said its year-ago results benefited from a $35 million gain from MasterCard Corp.’s initial public offering. U.S. Bancorp also said its credit costs increased and its net interest income declined from a year ago.

Shares of U.S. Bancorp declined 19 cents to $33.01.

President and Chief Executive Richard K. Davis said the company had about $3.2 billion in subprime mortgages as of the end of the quarter on June 30, up from $3 billion during the first quarter.

Subprime real estate lending amounts to about 2.8 percent of the company’s outstanding loans. Davis told analysts on a conference call that U.S. Bank’s subprime lending is “minimal and very manageable.”/AP