The main U.S. oil contract breached $110 a barrel for the first time in 2 1/2 years Thursday, lifted by fighting in Libya and signs of an economic recovery in the U.S.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled up $1.47, or 1.4 percent, at $110.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since September 2008. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 37 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $122.67, the highest settlement since August 2008. Get the full story »
Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it is shedding about 1,900 jobs, or less than 1 percent of its total workforce, as mortgage refinancings slow. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. is closing a St. Charles store and laying off workers, making the retailer one of six Illinois companies planning a total of 505 job cuts in coming months. Meanwhile, J.C. Penney Co. said it will close its store at Springhill Mall in West Dundee in June, leaving 139 employees without jobs.
Jamie Dimon, center, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Tim Boyle/Bloomberg News)
Jamie Dimon, Chief Executive Officer of the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, saw his total compensation rise to $20.8 million in 2010, according to a regulatory filing by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
He received only $1.3 million in total compensation in 2009, according to the filing. Get the full story »
Satellite television company Dish Network Corp can go ahead with its $320 million purchase of Blockbuster Inc, a bankruptcy judge ruled on Thursday. Get the full story »
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Thursday high oil prices posed a threat to the global economy. “The oil producer countries and the oil consuming countries are concerned because it does have an impact on a very fragile economic recovery. There is great concern,” Chu told a news conference while attending a clean energy conference. Get the full story »
Social Security statements mailed each year. (Tribune)
Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out — here’s what you’d get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 — will soon stop arriving in workers’ mailboxes. It’s an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency’s website. Get the full story »
Illinois Rep. John Bradley. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
The Illinois House is considering a plan to scrap the state’s much-criticized workers’ compensation system. That means workers and employers would have to battle in court over each injury and whether the worker should be compensated.
Legislation ending the system was given tentative approval Thursday. Rep. John Bradley says he plans to hold a final vote as soon as possible. Get the full story »
Boeing Co.’s first-quarter commercial aircraft deliveries declined 3.7 percent from a year earlier and were also down from the previous period. The aerospace giant said it delivered 104 commercial airplanes in the latest period, compared with the 108 it had reported for the year-earlier period and 116 in the fourth quarter. Get the full story »
Oil prices jumped above $110 a barrel after Japan was hit with another major earthquake. April oil futures rose $1.32, or 1.3 percent, to $110.15 a barrel. Prices had jumped as high as $110.44 – a level not seen since September 2008. Get the full story »
The efficient Mini was the car with highest percentage of women buyers. (Timothy Clary/AFP/Getty)
Men prefer their cars beefy or fast, while women go for lower price tags and higher miles per gallon, according to a survey released Thursday. TrueCar.com, which studied data from 8 million purchases in the United States last year, found BMW AG’s Mini had the highest percentage of female buyers at 48 percent, while 93 percent of buyers for Fiat SpA’s Ferrari were men.
“The study shows that women car buyers are more cost-conscious and purchased fuel-efficient vehicles while male buyers were completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny, like a large truck, or chose a high-priced, high-performance vehicle,” TrueCar analyst Jesse Toprak said in a statement. Get the full story »
U.S. regulators on Thursday adopted data roaming rules that would allow smartphones to access the Internet in areas across the country not covered by their wireless carrier. The rules set by the Federal Communications Commission in a 3-2 vote would force wireless carriers like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless to offer “reasonable” roaming rates. Get the full story »
Another read on home price came out Thursday, and it offers a glimmer of hope about Chicago-area home prices.
The good news? In February, local home values on single-family homes were relatively flat, down only 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data provider CoreLogic. Get the full story »
A Parkway Bank at 4800 N. Harlem in Chicago. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)
Another midsized bank in the Chicago area is showing serious signs of wear and tear.
Parkway Bank & Trust Co., a $2.59 billion-asset lender based in Harwood Heights, has been ordered by state and federal regulators to raise its capital levels. Get the full story »
