G6 recall could grow

U.S. safety regulators are looking at expanding a small recall of Pontiac G6 midsize cars to include up to 550,000 vehicles.

About 8,000 of the cars were recalled by General Motors in 2009 because the brake lights and cruise control didn’t work properly. But the recall affected only cars made in January 2005.

On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is studying whether all G6s from the 2005 through 2009 model years should be added to the recall.

Less expensive Malibu

General Motors, in an effort to make its Chevrolet Malibu more appealing to online car shoppers, lowered the car’s price by hundreds of dollars to compete with better-selling midsize sedans.

The price of the Malibu, which is built at the Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., was reduced by as much as $770.

E-book settlement

The Justice Department has reached a proposed settlement with Holtzbrinck Publishers, which does business as Macmillan, one of five major book publishers that allegedly conspired with Apple to raise e-book prices.

The government is continuing its case against Apple but has now reached agreements with the five publishers. The government alleges the five publishers and Apple worked together to eliminate price competition.

The proposed settlement still needs approved by a federal judge in New York. It says Macmillan will lift restrictions on discounting and other promotions by e-book retailers. It will be barred from entering new agreements with similar restrictions until December 2014.

Gossip magazines suffer

As the magazine industry continues to suffer from declining circulation, celebrity gossip magazines and young women’s titles have taken some of the biggest hits.

According to data released by the Alliance for Audited Media, overall paid and verified circulation of magazines declined 0.3 percent in the second half of 2012. But newsstand sales, which are often viewed as the best barometer of how well a magazine is doing, fell 8.2 percent.

These figures were far worse for celebrity magazines, which largely suffered double-digit declines. Newsstand sales dropped significantly for People, Us Weekly, In Touch Weekly, Cosmopolitan and Glamour.

Commission-free funds

Discount broker Charles Schwab has launched ETF OneSource, a platform that allows investors to trade 105 exchange-traded funds free of commissions.

The service will offer funds from State Street, Guggenheim Investments and others.