BusinessWeek – We invest in stocks — and other markets — based on an idea we pioneered called fundamental indexing. Instead of weighting companies in an index according to their market capitalization, we weight them according to how big they are as a business, by measures such as aggregate profits, sales, and dividends. The size of the company’s business becomes your anchor. So when a stock soars and its business doesn’t, trim it. When a stock plunges and its business doesn’t, buy it.

BusinessWeek – Further signs that the housing market may be about to enter a “double dip” downturn emerged yesterday when the Nationwide said property prices rose by just 0.1 per cent in June. The trend in house price inflation is clearly down: prices rose by 1.1 per cent in April and by 0.5 per cent in May.

AP – Apple says it is “stunned” to find that its latest iPhone model uses a “completely wrong” formula to show how many bars of signal strength it’s getting.

AP – Congress’ rejection of proposed additional stimulus funding for states means Arizona would have to resort to painful budget cuts thought to be have been averted when voters approved a temporary sales tax increase, a key legislator said Thursday.

AP – General Motors Co. says its first-half sales of vehicles in China overtook the U.S. for the first time amid a fitful recovery in American demand.

AP – Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Friday it’s jumping into the battery business for electric vehicles in a development deal with Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

AP – General Motors Co. says its sales dropped nearly 13 percent from May to June, another sign that the economy is stalling.

AP – A strike by hundreds of clerical workers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors has failed to shut down the nation’s busiest port complex.

AP – The stock market closed out a painful second quarter Wednesday, leaving investors with heavy losses and far more doubts about the economy than they had just months ago. The Dow lost 96 points on the last day of the April-June period, and all the big indexes were down about 1 percent. Stocks sold off sharply in the last hour, a pattern that has become common.

AP – A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Wednesday:

Reuters – The Senate banking panel said on Wednesday it has scheduled hearings on the nominations of Janet Yellen to serve as Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve and of two others to become members of the Fed Board of Governors.

Reuters – The TSX bounced higher on Wednesday following two days of steep falls as investors scooped up cheaper shares after fears of a funding crisis for European banks eased and U.S. data showed improved business activity.

AP – Senate Republicans again block measure to extend jobless benefits.

AP – A small rise in retail sales offered a hopeful sign Thursday for Germany’s long-sluggish domestic demand, even as the country’s economy minister mounted a robust defense of its export-heavy recipe for success.

AP – Women’s clothing retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. said Wednesday that its net income nearly quadrupled in the latest quarter as revenue rose on stronger sales of full-priced items, sending its shares higher in after-hours trading.

Reuters – A bipartisan group of governors on Wednesday urged Congress to continue sending them emergency Medicaid funds through the first half of 2011, saying that for many the lack of funds could lead to thousands of layoffs and the end of the fragile economic recovery.

AP – The Swedish central bank on Thursday raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 percent for the first time in two years, saying the economy is recovering strongly from last year’s global downturn.

Reuters – World Trade Organization judges gave the European Union a stinging rebuke on Wednesday, saying the EU must axe prohibited export subsidies to plane-maker Airbus which had injured U.S. rival Boeing .

U.S. News & World Report – There are scads of online tools that ask you key questions about your retirement goals and then provide you a dollar figure for how much money you need to be setting aside to reach those goals. And that’s all they do. The rest is up to you. Mint.com, a 3-year-old personal finance site that was bought late last year by Intuit, has just launched a new series of planning tools called Mint Goals that can follow your spending, income, investment, and retirement plans in real time, and provide informed advice on how you should proceed. …

AP – The World Trade Organization ruled Wednesday that European governments gave planemaker Airbus illegal subsidies in its battle with U.S. competitor Boeing Co., in a first key ruling on a long-running dispute between the European Union and Washington.