Amazon to offer Wi-Fi-only Kindle for $139

Amazon.com will introduce two new versions of the Kindle e-reader on Thursday, one for $139, the lowest price yet for the device. Amazon is hoping to convince even casual readers that they need a digital reading device and also signaling it intends to do battle with Apple and its iPad. Unlike previous Kindles, the $139 "Kindle Wi-Fi" will connect to the Internet using only Wi-Fi instead of a cell phone network as other Kindles do. Amazon is also introducing a model to replace the Kindle 2, which it will sell for the same price as that model, $189. Both new Kindles have higher-contrast screens and crisper text.

Avis Budget offers rival bid for Dollar ThriftyAvis Budget Group Inc. has offered $1.33 billion in cash and stock for rival rental-car operator Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. The bid is an effort to trump Hertz Global Holdings Inc., which in April said it was buying Dollar Thrifty for about $1.17 billion in cash and stock. In response, Dollar Thrifty, based in Tulsa, Okla., said it will study the offer but noted it had already signed a merger agreement with Hertz. The latest bid consists of $39.25 in cash and 0.6543 shares of Avis Budget stock. It amounts to $46.50 a share for Dollar Thrifty, a price below the stock's Wednesday close at $48.68.

Durable-goods orders slumped last monthOrders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods fell in June as demand for commercial aircraft plummeted. But businesses increased spending on capital goods for a second straight month, a sign that manufacturing continues to help keep the economic recovery afloat. Demand for durable goods dropped 1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $190.5 billion, the Commerce Department said. It was the second straight monthly decline and the largest drop since August 2009.

Co-founder of Aldi supermarket chain diesTheo Albrecht, the secretive co-founder of Germany's worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, a co-owner of Trader Joe's in the United States and one of Europe's richest men, has died at age 88. The retail machine that Albrecht built with his brother Karl won over German consumers with a no-frills but super-cheap approach, making billionaires of the two and spawning imitations across Europe. The company's Aldi Nord division said Albrecht was the driving force behind Aldi's internationalization. The company said he died Saturday in his home city of Essen, but it gave no cause of death.

Airfares rose 5% in first quarter, report saysIf you think airfares have been rising, it's not your imagination. Figures just released from the government, while a bit dated, show that airline prices in the first three months of this year rose nearly 5 percent from a year earlier. And that doesn't include baggage fees and other extras. But if you take a step back, air travel still looks like a bargain. Average fares are 25 percent lower than they were in 1999 after adjusting them for inflation, the government says.

American Airlines settles freight lawsuitAmerican Airlines has agreed to pay $5 million and provide evidence against other airlines to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by freight shippers who were victims of a price-fixing cartel. A lawyer for the shippers, Michael Hausfeld, said American was the first airline to agree to help the shippers conduct other lawsuits outside the United States. He said Air France-KLM, which agreed to pay $87 million to settle the same case, refused to offer its help. Tim Wagner, a spokesman for American Airlines, said the settlement avoids the cost of a trial.

Mortgage report was flawed, Treasury saysThe Obama administration is revising the latest report on its troubled mortgage-relief program, and the changes are likely to show a greater number of borrowers facing foreclosure after having their loans modified. The Treasury Department said that the mortgage company Fannie Mae, which helps run the program, provided inaccurate information about borrowers who restructured their loans under the program and then missed mortgage payments. A spokesman said Treasury has hired an outside consultant to review the data.

Senate panel endorses Obama's Fed picksA Senate panel approved three of President Obama's picks for the Federal Reserve, including his nomination of Janet Yellen to be the central bank's second-highest-ranking official. The Senate Banking Committee also approved Sarah Raskin and Peter Diamond to be on the Fed board, sending all three nominees to the full Senate for confirmation. A vote is expected in September.

FROM NEWS SERVICES