Business in brief: Stocks stall as market awaits Greece talks

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks closed effectively flat in quiet trading Wednesday as investors waited to see what the outcome would be of an emergency meeting between Greece and the rest of the eurozone to discuss the country’s finances.

Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners as the price of oil fell.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 6.62 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,862.14. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed flat, down 0.06 of a point to 2,068.53 and the Nasdaq composite rose 13.53 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,801.18.

Once again, investors turned their eyes to Europe. Greece wants to renegotiate the terms of its international bailout, which has imposed years of punishing austerity on the country. The current agreement expires in late February. Speculation that Greece could be granted extra time to hold new negotiations lifted markets Tuesday.

IRS to stop some bank account seizures

WASHINGTON – Pressured by Congress, the IRS said Wednesday it is changing its policies and apologizing for seizing bank accounts from otherwise law-abiding business owners simply because they structured bank transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements.

Their alleged crime: routinely making bank deposits of less than $10,000. That allowed the business owners to avoid reporting requirements designed to catch drug dealers and money launderers.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress the IRS is changing policies to prevent the seizures, as long as the money came from legal means.

“To anyone who is not treated fairly under the code, I apologize,” Koskinen told the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee.

By law, bank transactions above $10,000 must be reported to the IRS. It’s a felony, called “structuring,” to manage transactions to avoid the reporting requirement, even if the money is legally earned.

In some cases, the IRS seized and held bank accounts for years without bringing charges.

Boeing opens plant in S.C., adds work

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Even as Boeing opened a new propulsion plant in South Carolina, the aeronautics giant announced it is already assigning additional work to the plant.

When Boeing broke ground on the plant in North Charleston 15 months ago, it said the facility would make jet engine air inlets for the 737 MAX, a new generation of Boeing’s workhorse 737.

But Wednesday, as Gov. Nikki Haley, company officials and local leaders gathered to cut the ribbon on the plant, Boeing said the plant would also design engine fan cowls for the 737 MAX and design air intakes for its new 777X.

Boeing did not say how many jobs are being added. But it said 7,500 people now work at Boeing in South Carolina, up from 6,700 a year ago.

Facebook hosts site to share online threats

Dropbox, Bitly, Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, Yahoo and other Internet companies are using Facebook to share information about threats to their computer systems.

Facebook on Wednesday introduced ThreatExchange, where partner companies can query available cybersecurity threat information and publish their own.

Facebook said it took the lead on a shared information system because its main business is built upon users sharing their lives with one another, making the task a “natural” fit.