Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP rode a widespread market advance in the second quarter, earning 36 percent more than a year earlier. The results fell short of analysts’ estimates as a downturn in energy prices hit private equity holdings. While the asset manager’s public holdings — shares of companies it’s taken public — tracked positively, private investments were “pressured by the …

Bloomberg Ride-hailing provider Lyft Inc., emboldened by public stumbles by larger rival Uber Technologies Inc., is taking the leap into developing its own fully autonomous vehicles. Lyft is opening a self- driving vehicle development facility in Palo Alto, California, called “Level 5,” a nod to the designation of fully autonomous vehicles that don’t require human supervision. Several hundred employees will …

Bloomberg Another week, another scare from the German car industry. What began with Daimler AG’s massive recall of more than 3 million diesel cars to lower their emissions, ended with Audi also embarking on a voluntary recall of 850,000 vehicles. Adding to the spate of bad news was a report in Der Spiegel magazine that the biggest car manufacturers — …