Storage company's

takeover complete

Extra Space Storages said it has completed its $300 million acquisition of 94.9 percent interest in a joint venture it entered into in 2005 with Prudential Real Estate Investors. The joint venture controls 2.5 million square feet of rentable space in 23,000 units and serves a customer base of about 20,000 tenants.

USU to study

water meters

Utah State University is participating in a study with American Water Works, a U.S. water and wastewater utility, to measure how often home water meters suffer "backflow" problems that may cause public health issues. The $648,000 project will look at how often water flows backward from residential pipe through the meter to the drinking water system.

House panel split

on farm bill

The House Agriculture Committee encountered an ideological rift over the federal food stamp program as it began voting on a half-trillion-dollar farm bill. The panel was caught between Republicans clamoring for cuts and Democrats who contend any cuts to the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program will result in people going hungry. The panel was expected to work possibly into Thursday to consider dozens of amendments to the bill.

SEC OKs new

market rules

U.S. stock exchanges must establish a uniform system for tracking all orders and trades. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the new requirement will make it easier to investigate market disruptions, such as the "flash crash" two years ago that sent the Dow plummeting nearly 600 points in five minutes.

S&P downgrades

J.C. Penney debt

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is lowering its rating on J.C. Penney Co. further into junk status, saying that the department store chain's performance remains weak. The ratings agency says it lowered its corporate credit rating on the company to "B+" from "BB-." That's the fourth notch into junk status.

Fed is open to

more stimulus

The Federal Reserve is open to further action to support the struggling economy. But minutes of the Fed's June meeting show policymakers at odds over whether more help is needed. A few members said the economy may already require additional support, but others said further action "could be warranted" if the recovery lost momentum.

USDA to declare

disaster areas

With drought gripping much of the nation, more than 1,000 counties in 26 states will be named natural-disaster areas on Thursday in the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The declaration makes farmers and ranchers in 1,016 counties eligible for low-interest loans to help them weather the drought.