General Electric Co.’s Jeffrey Immelt said Wednesday he wants the United States and China to open their borders for truly free trade between the world’s top two economies, rather than hiding behind protectionist walls.
But the chief executive of the largest U.S. conglomerate acknowledged in an interview with Reuters Insider that he treads carefully in going into business with Chinese companies. Get the full story »
EBay Inc. says its fourth-quarter revenue rose, as the healthy holiday shopping season bolstered growth in its PayPal online payments business and online marketplace.
The online marketplace operator on Wednesday said its revenue rose nearly 6 percent from a year earlier, to $2.50 billion. Get the full story »
The Supreme Court has again rejected broad privacy rights for some government workers.
A unanimous bench on Wednesday affirmed the government’s right to conduct personal background checks on current and prospective employees under federal contract, especially those in sensitive or high-security workplaces. Get the full story »
Hedge fund assets grew a record $149 billion during the last three months of 2010, according to new data released Wednesday. According to Hedge Fund Research, which tracks industry performance and asset flows, hedge funds around the world now invest $1.917 trillion. Get the full story »
Four radio stations in Chicago, including WTMX-FM 101.9 and WDRV-FM 97.1, are getting new owners as part of a $505 million deal between Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. and Bonneville International Corporation.
Bonneville, which is headquartered in Salt Lake City, is selling 17 radio stations to Minneapolis-based Hubbard. Chicago is one of four “strategic markets” that Hubbard is adding to its portfolio with the acquisition, the company said in a press release. The other markets are Washington, D.C., St. Louis and Cincinnati. Get the full story »
The National Football League prodded Toyota Motor Corp. to edit a television commercial, removing an image of a helmet-to-helmet tackle at a time when the effects of concussions have come under heavy scrutiny, representatives of both sides said.
The Japanese automaker, one of the largest corporate advertisers, changed the TV ad after the U.S. sports league complained and warned that the spot would not be allowed to air during its highly watched games. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson, already under fire for a string of product recalls, has another public relations issue on its hands after its o.b. tampons temporarily disappeared from stores and little was said about what happened. Get the full story »
Jerold Solovy, a distinguished Chicago trial lawyer and former chairman Jenner & Block, has died. He was 80 years old.
Solovy started practicing law at Jenner & Block in 1955 after graduating from Harvard Law School. Throughout his career, he balanced a commitment to public interest work with a practice for paying clients. Get the full story »
The Food and Drug Administration unveiled steps aimed at streamlining the approval process used for most medical devices and deferred decisions on the most contentious issues.
The FDA said Wednesday that it would ask the Institute of Medicine for input on seven proposals, including creation of a new class of devices that would require more data to win approval. Get the full story »
A federal judge has limited the damages that can be awarded to financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald as part of its lawsuit against American Airlines stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks, according to court documents released Wednesday.
Cantor Fitzgerald was housed on the top five floors of the first of the twin towers to be struck, in this case by American Airlines Flight 11 after it was hijacked in 2001. The company lost 658 of nearly 1,000 local employees in the attack. Get the full story »
Chrysler Group LLC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that they are working together to commercialize an unusual type of hybrid-vehicle technology aimed at reducing fuel consumption.
Under the partnership, Chrysler will work to produce vehicles using a hydraulic hybrid system developed by the EPA. The system recovers energy as a vehicle brakes and uses the resulting hydraulic pressure to help power the vehicle. Get the full story »
American Express Co. said Wednesday that it will cut about 550 jobs as part of restructuring efforts. At the same time, the company also projected fourth-quarter earnings that slightly missed Wall Street estimates.
Shares recently fell 2.5 percent, to $45.21. Get the full story »
Wall Street Journal | Creditor Aurelius Capital Management has amped up its opposition to the Tribune Co.’s Chapter 11 plan, demanding a full accounting of the media holdings of JP Morgan’s media holdings.
Fourth-quarter profits at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell 53 percent as trading revenue tumbled, dashing hopes that the Wall Street bank had bucked a tough market climate that hurt its rivals.
Bond trading revenue, including commodities and currencies, slid 39 percent from the third quarter as worries about European sovereign debt and rising U.S. Treasury yields kept investors on the sidelines. Get the full story »
(AP)
Promising to usher in a new era in 3-D entertainment, Nintendo says its glasses-free handheld 3DS will go on sale on March 27 in the U.S. for $250.
That’s the same price that the Wii console cost when it went on sale in 2006.
The president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, said Wednesday the 3DS is a “truly unique experience that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
The gadget features a touch screen on the bottom and a 3-D screen on top. It has three cameras, one facing the user and two facing outward. The latter two let you take 3-D photos, which can be instantly displayed on the screen. Nintendo Co. says more than 30 games will be available for the 3DS by June.
