Chicago-based Stotler Group Inc., a futures brokerage,...

Chicago-based Stotler Group Inc., a futures brokerage, said it defaulted on $750,000 in debt obligations and was pulling out of the futures business. Stotler Group is a holding company whose principal subsidiary is Stotler & Co. . . . San Francisco-based Chevron Corp. increased its quarterly common stock dividend to 77.5 cents a share from 70 cents, payable Sept. 10 to stockholders of record Aug. 6 . . . Caesars World Inc., Los Angeles, has begun its previously announced tender offer for the 13.4% of the common stock of Caesars New Jersey Inc. it does not already own. The offer is scheduled to expire at midnight EDT on Aug. 21 . . . Altus Corp., San Jose maker of lithium batteries for the military and space programs, has ceased production and will shut down by mid-September . . . Hachette, the French media giant, will retain ownership of Woman’s Day magazine, one of the largest-selling publications in the country, after failing to find a buyer for the magazine.