Bank of Montreal will acquire Marshall & Ilsley Corp. in a stock-for-stock deal valued at about $4.1 billion, further strengthening the Canadian bank’s position in the Midwest.
Bank of Montreal said Friday that, under the definitive agreement, it’s offering 0.1257 of a share for each M&I share. Based on Bank of Montreal’s closing stock price in Toronto Thursday, the deal values M&I at $7.75 a share. Get the full story »
No TV for a week, the time-honored punishment for misbehaving children, has been enhanced. Now, parents are also withholding Internet access to punish their kids, further sign that the Web has become as important to families as television.
As the two mediums converge, parents are quickly coming to see TV and the Internet in similar ways and are seeking to limit their kids’ access to both, according to a report out this week from researchers at the University of Southern California. Get the full story »
Shoppers who are looking for something sparkly to put under the Christmas tree can skip the jewelry and go straight to the source: an ATM that dispenses shiny 24-carat gold bars and coins. A German company planned to install the machine Friday at an upscale mall in Boca Raton, a South Florida paradise of palm trees, pink buildings and wealthy retirees. Get the full story »
Could the Dow set a record high next year? That question would have seemed crazy early last year when fear and panic enveloped the stock market and the Dow Jones industrial average plunged to 6,547 on March 9. Many investors thought it would take a decade or longer to get back to the record of 14,165, set on Oct. 9, 2007.
Now we could be on the verge. The Dow has soared 76 percent the past 21 months, and it would have to climb just 23 percent from Thursday’s close of 11,499 to set a record.
That’s a big jump, but the Dow has risen 23 percent or more six times since 1985, or roughly 1 in 4 years. Many analysts don’t expect quite that strong a run in 2011, but they agree conditions are in place for the rally to continue. Get the full story »
The European Medicines Agency said on Friday that current stocks of Baxter International’s peritoneal dialysis solutions should be replaced because of the possibility of contamination. The regulator was informed by Baxter of the potential presence of endotoxins in Dianeal, Extraneal and Nutrineal — three sterile solutions used in patients who have to undergo dialysis because of kidney failure. Get the full story »
Reports: Leading indicators for November, 9 a.m.
Notable earnings: Carnival Corp.
Motorola Inc. isn’t officially breaking into two companies until Jan. 4, but shares of the two successor companies will start trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange on a “when issued” basis.
The company is splitting into Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which will take the cell-phone and set-top-box manufacturing businesses, and Motorola Solutions Inc., which contains the more government- and corporate-facing parts of the company. It makes things such as police radios and bar-code scanners. Get the full story »
John Byrne | Clout Street | Mayor Richard Daley has put together a group of business leaders and university officials to advise the city on turning the vacant Michael Reese Hospital site into a technology park for businesses.
Daley has discussed the possibility of a tech park on the Near South Side lakefront parcel since shortly after the city’s 2016 Olympics bid failed. The Michael Reese site had been tapped to be the Olympic Village for athletes, and the city paid $91 million to acquire it.
United Auto Workers members at Mitsubishi Motors North America’s plant in Downstate Normal ratified a new contract Thursday that includes wage cuts the union has said could determine the fate of the facility and its 1,300 jobs.
Seventy-seven percent of the union workers who voted on the deal approved it, UAW local President Ralph Timan said. He declined further comment, including providing any details about the deal. Get the full story »
Research In Motion reported results that mostly beat expectations Thursday, and the BlackBerry maker forecast strong profits for the current quarter, pushing its shares higher in after-hours trade.
RIM said net profit jumped 45 percent in its third quarter, which ended Nov. 27. It said results were boosted by strong sales of its flagship Torch smartphone, a new product that combines a touch screen like Apple’s iPhone with RIM’s trademark mini keyboard. Get the full story »
In a blow to the banking industry, U.S. Federal Reserve officials Thursday agreed to advance a proposal that would prevent banks from charging merchants “swipe fees” from debit cards that are higher than 12 cents per transaction.
“It’s going to be painful,” said Consumer Bankers Association President Richard Hunt. “If adopted, this will result in a significant reduction in revenue and efficiencies and have major negative implications for consumers.” Get the full story »
Chicago’s push to revive its trade show business got another boost Thursday with the announcement that the American Society of Nephrology will bring its annual meeting to McCormick Place in 2016.
The meeting, which draws doctors, scientists and health professionals who specialize in kidney disease, is expected to bring 14,000 attendees and to trigger $342 million in spending locally and statewide. Get the full story »
Bloomberg News | Starting Jan. 6, Macintosh users will be able to purchase and download software from an online store much like they do music apps for their smart phones, Apple announced Thursday. Available in 90 countries, the Mac App Store will offer paid and free applications in education, games and design.
The unemployment rate in Illinois fell to 9.6 percent in November, the eighth consecutive month of improvement. The jobless figure is a smidge below the October rate of 9.8 percent. Get the full story »
