BRIEFCASE RYLAND BUYS BACK MORE OF ITS STOCK.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

CALABASAS - The Ryland Group's board of directors authorized a buyback of another million shares of its common stock, the home builder announced Friday.

Ryland has already repurchased 1 million shares this year and has previous approval to buy an additional 900,000. The stock closed at $74.50, down 29 cents after the announcement.

Intel, Home Depot lifted by upgrades

NEW YORK - Shares of Intel and Home Depot got a lift from Wall Street upgrades Friday, boosting the Dow industrials and halting a two-day losing streak for blue chips.

The major averages ended higher for a second consecutive week, with the Dow up .5 percent, the Nasdaq rallying 4.2 percent and the S&P 500 posting a 1.3 percent gain. Retail, financial and biotech stocks were Friday's best sector performers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83.55 points, or 0.9 percent, to 9119.59.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 18.07 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1733.93 and the Nasdaq 100 Index put on 11.92 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1280.57.

Wholesale prices raised by fuel cost

WASHINGTON - Wholesale prices moved up in June, reflecting a surge in energy costs, after two months of decline. The combination of higher fuel bills and weak prices for many other products gave profit-squeezed businesses little to cheer about.

The Producer Price Index, which measures prices before they reach consumers, rose 0.5 percent in June from the previous month, marking the biggest advance since March, the Labor Department reported Friday. The increase came after wholesale costs plunged by a record 1.9 percent in April and dipped by 0.3 percent in May.

However, excluding energy and food prices, ``core'' wholesale prices - those of all other products - edged down by 0.1 percent in June, after inching up by that amount in May. That suggests that many other product prices remain soft, economists said.

CVS drugstores dropping ephedra 

WOONSOCKET, R.I. - CVS Corp. announced Friday it will stop selling all ephedra-based diet products at its 4,100 drugstores Aug 1.

Ephedra is an herbal ingredient found in dietary supplements. Ephedra and its manufacturers have come under increased scrutiny after a Major League Baseball player died with the drug in his system early this year.

A number of other companies have taken steps to stop ephedra sales. General Nutrition Centers, the nation's largest chain of dietary supplement stores, has said it will halt all sales of ephedra. The state of Illinois has also banned ephedra sales.

On July 1, the Federal Trade Commission announced three enforcement actions that challenged what it said was false advertising claims that ephedra supplements cause rapid, substantial and permanent weight loss without diet or exercise.