The U.S. labor force has been split into two groups: the relieved and the desperate. Those who have a job are less likely to lose it than at any point in at least 14 years.
Those who are unemployed are in trouble. Finding a job remains a struggle 20 months after the recession technically ended. Employers won’t likely step up hiring until they feel more confident about the economy. Get the full story »
The company that owns the Nasdaq Stock Market confirmed over the weekend that its computer network had been broken into, specifically a service that lets leaders of companies, including board members, securely share confidential documents.
The fact that the Web-based service, called Directors Desk, was penetrated could lend credence to one theory that law-enforcement authorities investigating the matter are considering, namely that hackers may be aiming to extract nonpublic inside information that could be used illegally to gain a trading edge. Get the full story »
Reports: Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for December, 2 p.m.
Earnings: Hasbro Inc., H&M r, Humana Inc., Lorillard Inc.
Jack Daly
Jack Daly, chief communications officer for McDonald’s Corp., died Saturday morning after a battle with cancer. He was 62.
“Through the depth of his thinking and strength of his insights, Jack helped guide McDonald’s through some of our greatest successes and most difficult challenges, always with humility, calmness and grace,” McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner said in a statement.
A company veteran with nearly 20 years at the Oak Brook-based fast food giant, Daly oversaw the global public relations function.
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The first bank failure in Illinois in 2011 came Friday when Community First Bank-Chicago was closed by state banking regulators, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.
Community First Bank has only one branch, at the intersection of Western Avenue and Howard Street. The FDIC said the branch would reopen Saturday as part of Northbrook Bank and Trust Co.
As of Dec. 31, Community First Bank-Chicago had approximately $51.1 million in total assets and $49.5 million in total deposits, the FDIC said. The regulator estimates that the cost of the failure its insurance fund will be $11.7 million.
asachdev@tribune.com
An $18 million settlement to partially cover losses in prepaid funeral plans has been distributed to Illinois funeral directors after being tied up in a lawsuit for nearly two years.
The state Department of Insurance announced the distribution Friday, but its news release did not mention that the settlement terms had been changed. Get the full story »
Chrysler Group LLC is hoping to catch its rivals off guard during the Super Bowl by running an unusual two-minute commercial during the most heavily watched U.S. television event of the year.
The U.S. automaker plans to run the ad during the third quarter of the National Football League’s championship game on Sunday, being played by the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday at a J.D. Power conference in San Francisco. Get the full story »
Bank of America appointed on Friday a new foreclosure and loan modifications czar, and created a new unit to oversee problem home loans in a bid to sort out its on-going foreclosure issues, becoming the first large U.S. bank to do so.
The new unit creates a seventh major division at the bank reporting directly to Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, an indication that the largest U.S. mortgage servicer is attempting to be more aggressive in resolving its problem mortgage loan portfolio. Get the full story »
The cancellation of 32 orders for Boeing 737s this week appears to have been by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), and more order retractions could be coming from the airplane lessor, an analyst said on Friday.
Boeing declined to comment on Friday and has not identified the customer that canceled the order, potentially worth more than $2 billion. DAE representatives were not immediately available to comment. Get the full story »
Chrysler is working to refinance what its chief executive characterized as “shyster loans” that the Obama administration extended as part of a bailout to keep the automaker from collapse in 2009.
“I want to pay back the shyster loans,” Sergio Marchionne said at an industry conference, using a derogatory term for an unprincipled lawyer or politician. “Pay back the loans, get those out and then take (the company) public.”
Marchionne, who is also CEO of Italy’s Fiat SpA, has said repeatedly that the high interest rates on $5.7 billion that Chrysler owes to the U.S. Treasury have been an obstacle in the automaker’s return to profitability. Get the full story »
In an effort to put 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015, the Obama administration has proposed a plan that would put up to $7,500 directly in the hands of car buyers without having them jump through any tax hoops. Plug-in car advocates love the idea but dealers aren’t so sure about it.
Under the proposal, auto dealers and finance companies would take the tax credit for themselves and give customer’s a simple on-the-spot discount. Get the full story »
Consumer goods maker Fortune Brands posted a sharply higher quarterly profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations as an improving economy helped spur sales of premium liquor and Titleist golf clubs.
But the conglomerate said sales of its Simonton windows, up at a double-digit rate, were fueled by the expiration of a consumer tax credit for the purchase of energy-efficient home products. As a result, it expects the overall window market to fall at a mid-single-digit rate this year. Get the full story »
Crate and Barrel will open more than 20 Marimekko shops within its U.S. and Canadian stores over the next three years, the home furnishings retailers said Friday.
The rollout will begin with its stores in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Crate and Barrel opened its first Marimekko store-within-a-store in its SoHo location in New York in October and it has been well received, Barbara Turf, Crate and Barrel’s chief executive, said in a statement. Get the full story »
