At mid-day, today's top business headlines:

June job loss rate rises
The unemployment rate rose for the month of June peaking at its highest level in 25 years. Job losses dropped a staggering 467,000, far more than the 350,000 amount forecast by economists.

Exelon Corp. raises offer to buy NRG
Exelon Corp., the largest nuclear power generator in the U.S. raised its offer to acquire NRG Energy Inc. by 12 percent to $7.45 billion, saying this is its best and final offer.

J&J buys stake in biotech firm Elan, acquires Alzheimer's research
Johnson & Johnson is committing to greater involvement in neuroscience biotechnology and Alzheimer's treatment development, announcing on Tuesday it is buying an 18.4 percent in biotech firm Elan Corp Plc for $1 billion while also buying most of the right's to the company's research in Alzheimer's, which it hopes to accelerate.

European Central Bank will keep rates unchanged
The European Central Bank indicated that it will keep its rates at a record low for the coming months after Jean-Claude Trichet said The current rates are appropriate.

Facebook Has New Simpler Privacy Settings
The online social network is testing new ways for users to set privacy settings for any piece of content they post on the site.

Natural gas inventories rise less than expected
Natural gas stockpiles rose 70 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 26 to 2.721 trillion cubic feet signaling demand for the gas increased, the U.S. Energy Department reported. The figure was less than analysts expected.

Rio Tinto overcomes 2009/2010 debt problems, completing rights offer
Rio Tinto will not have to worry about an $8.9 billion debt in August and additional liabilities next, year after announcing today it has completed a $15.2 billion rights offer. Investors bought nearly 97 percent of the shares as previously announced. Today it said it sold a few remaining shares.

Boeing Steady with plane deliveries, 125 in 2Q
Boeing Corp's commercial plane deliveries in the second quarter were stable compared to the same period a year ago, according to results issued today. Boeing delivered 125 planes in the second quarter, with 246 delivered so far this year. The company delivered 126 in the same period last year. It's most popular plane in the quarter was the 737 Next Generation plane, with 99 deliveries.

US Bank regulators fail to agree on private equity rules
Regulators have clashed over the proposed guidelines for private equity investments in failed banks.

Sirius XM's Mel Karmazin Gets A Pay Raise
The satellite radio company's board votes to extend through 2012 the contract of the CEO, who gets a pay raise of $250,000 a year