From the Chicago Sun-Times | Groupon CEO Andrew Mason reminded everyone that he was a music major in college during an improv charity event late Tuesday at Second City. Accompanied by a singer, guitarist and saxophonist, the Northwestern alumnus, who was once part of a Billy Joel tribute band, sat at a grand piano and played “Movin’ Out” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” Get the full story>>
Foreclosures drop because of document flaws
The number of U.S. homes taken back by lenders dropped to the lowest level in 18 months in November, the result of foreclosure freezes enacted by several banks following allegations that evictions were handled improperly.
Home repossessions dropped 28 percent from October and 12 percent from November last year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
Mesirow Financial sells River North tower for loss
From Globe St. | Tishman Speyer has completed its purchase of a 1.2 million-square-foot office tower at 353 N. Clark for $385 million, about $35 million less than it cost seller Mesirow Financial to build the tower completed in October 2009. Mesirow had owed roughly $374 million from construction loans that were coming due. Get the full story>>
Ambassador East update to lead hotelier’s ‘fresh start’
Storied New York hotelier Ian Schrager says he is about to launch his next “fresh start,” kicking it off with an update of Chicago’s Ambassador East hotel.
The 64-year-old founder of the hip Morgans Hotel Group Co. and a co-owner of the former Studio 54 disco in Manhattan, plans to start two trendy hotel chains. One will cater to the luxury lifestyle and the other will be a more affordable take on hip, large-scale urban hotels. Get the full story »
New Bing draws on Facebook to take on Google
Microsoft Corp. is hoping its Bing search engine can gain more ground on Google with a little more help from Facebook and its other Internet friends. As part of an extensive upgrade, Bing will feature more recommendations and other information from people’s social circles on Facebook to help distinguish its results from Google’s. Get the full story »
Strike today at Palmer House Hilton
Workers picket outside the Palmer House Hilton Thursday. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Tribune)
In the second such demonstration at a Hilton property in two months, workers at the Palmer House Hilton are on temporary strike today.
The strike at the property at 17 E. Monroe St. is joined by similar strikes at Hiltons in Honolulu and San Francisco and follows a 3-day strike two months ago at Hilton Chicago.
Unite Here Local 1 union spokeswoman Annemarie Strassel said workers are “outraged that Hilton finagled $180 million in bailout funds” while their expired contracts lingered. Get the full story »
Dec. 16, 2010 at 5:30 a.m.
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Filed under: The day ahead in business
Reports: Weekly jobless claims, 7:30 a.m.; Housing starts for November, 7:30 a.m.; Current account trade deficit for third quarter, 7:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac releases weekly mortgage rates.
Hearings: House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Espionage Act and the legal and constitutional questions raised by WikiLeaks.
Major earnings: FedEx Corp., General Mills Inc., Oracle Corp., Research in Motion Ltd.
Boeing missile defense system fails 2nd test in row
A test of the sole U.S. defense against long-range ballistic missiles failed again Wednesday, the second failure in a row involving the system managed by Boeing Co., the Defense Department said.
“The Missile Defense Agency was unable to achieve a planned intercept of a ballistic missile target during a test over the Pacific Ocean (Wednesday),” Richard Lehner, an agency spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. No preliminary explanation of the failure was provided. Get the full story »
Panel to FDA: Issue warnings on dental fillings
Enough uncertainty surrounds silver-colored metal dental fillings with mercury that U.S. regulators should add more cautions for dentists and patients, a U.S. advisory panel said Wednesday.
While past data have backed the cavity treatment, the fillings should be accompanied by warnings about unknown risks for vulnerable people such as children and pregnant women, the Food and Drug Administration’s panel of outside advisers said. Get the full story »
BofA in mortgage settlement talks
Bank of America Corp. is in talks with a group of six investors to settle charges that it mishandled $16.5 billion in mortgages packaged into bonds, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The investor group, which includes Freddie Mac, PIMCO, BlackRock Inc. and Allianz SE, told the bank in October that it had 60 days to respond to allegations that it did not properly service 115 bond deals comprising mortgages. The deadline for the bank’s response was Thursday, the Journal said. Get the full story »
Builders Bank parent files for Chapter 11
Crain’s Chicago Business | The parent of Builders Bank has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to deal with a debt load it says it cannot handle.
Note: An earlier headline incorrectly stated that Builders Bank had filed Chapter 11. It has not; nor has CEO Mitchell Saywitz. Its parent, Builders Financial Corp., filed the petition.
Vanguard Health to buy Holy Cross Hospital
Nashville-based hospital operator Vanguard Health Systems said it will purchase Holy Cross Hospital near Chicago’s Marquette Park for an undisclosed sum.
The 331-bed hospital is the latest acquisition by the for-profit hospital operator in the Chicago area, which has become one of its fastest-growing markets. Vanguard last year purchased Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park from Resurrection Health Care, a Catholic operator of hospitals in the Chicago area. Get the full story »
Google to delay ultra-high-speed broadband test
Google Inc. said it is not quite ready to decide where it will build an experimental, ultra-high-speed broadband network that will provide Internet connections that are 100 times faster than the connections most Americans get from their phone and cable companies. Get the full story »
Production of Think electric cars starts in Indiana
Think, the Norwegian electric vehicle maker, has started production of the City at its plant in Elkhart, Ind.
The company plans to build 300 Think City electric cars there by year-end and some 2,500 in 2011. Get the full story »
