PNC Financial Services Group Inc said it would raise its quarterly dividend 250 percent and would repurchase up to $500 million of common stock this year. Get the full story »
Airlines may be easing up on fare hikes
Travelers check in at at O'Hare International Airport, Sept. 14, 2010. (William DeShazer/Chicago Tribune)
There are some signs that airlines are starting to take their foot off the pedal after pushing through more than six major fare increases in the first three months of the year.
March may have been a turning point. A $10 fare increase launched March 9 by American Airlines and two other $10 round-trip fare hikes launched by United Airlines were rolled back after some competitors declined to push their prices higher. And some ticket prices showed sharp price drops in the second half of the month. Get the full story »
Ford resisting push to expand F-150 recall
From the Detroit News | Ford Motor Co. and federal regulators remain in talks over whether the automaker should expand a recall of F-150 pickups over dozens of reports that air bags have deployed without warning. Get the full story »
GE to build nation’s largest solar power plant
General Electric says it’s going to build the nation’s largest solar panel factory, part of a $600 million dollar bet on the future of solar power in the United States. The new plant will employ 400 people and produce enough solar panels to power 80,000 homes per year, GE said Thursday. The company isn’t saying where the plant will be located, but it does say that there are multiple locations being scouted. Get the full story »
Clearwire to launch prepaid 4G wireless broadband
Clearwire said Thursday it has signed a wholesale agreement with New Jersey-based Locus Telecommunications to provide prepaid 4G mobile broadband service. Get the full story »
Advocate to partner with CVS MinuteClinics in Ill.
A nurse practitioner checks a patient at the Minute Clinic on N. Southport in Chicago. (Nuccio DiNuzzo /Chicago Tribune)
Advocate Health Care, the state’s largest provider of medical care, has signed with CVS Caremark Corp. to provide medical directors and related clinical expertise to the pharmacy giant’s nearly two dozen retail clinics in Illinois.
The agreement calls for CVS’ 23 MinuteClinic brand clinics in the Chicago area and Bloomington, and Advocate, which operates 10 hospitals in Illinois, to work together on a variety of protocols in a more robust relationship between the traditional provider of inpatient and outpatient medical care and a retail clinic. Financial terms were not disclosed. Get the full story »
‘Repo Games’ let contestants try to win back cars
“Repo Games,“ a reality television show from Spike TV that allows debtors a chance to win back their repossessed cars, will hit the airwaves later this month. Get the full story »
YouTube aims for living rooms in overhaul
Google Inc. is working on a major overhaul of YouTube as it tries to position itself for the rise of televisions that let people watch online video in their living rooms, according to people familiar with the matter. Get the full story »
McDonald’s puts Ronald back to work
Ronald McDonald slaps first graders' hands as they head to lunch at Dawes Elementary School in Evanston in 2008. (Heather Stone/Chicago Tribune)
McDonald’s Corp. is putting its long-time character Ronald McDonald back on television and bolstering his web presence, resetting its sights on younger consumers after its recent push to target adults with specialty coffee and smoothies.
The new commercials starting Wednesday, starring McDonald’s mascot of 48 years, encourage kids to go to HappyMeal.com, with parents’ permission, to play games and create photos with Ronald. Get the full story »
Court upholds Jeff Skilling conviction
Former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling was unsuccessful in his latest bid to overturn his criminal conviction as a U.S. appeals court called any errors in his trial “harmless.” Get the full story »
Officials doubted nuclear safety plans: Watchdog
A private U.S. nuclear safety group disclosed a batch of internal emails from the nation’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it said undercuts officials’ recent assertions that U.S. nuclear reactors are prepared for a Fukushima-scale disaster. Get the full story »
American Apparel says it’s not looking for buyer
American Apparel denied a report by a private equity and deals news website that the clothing chain was looking for a buyer. Get the full story »
Chicago students to show 3D films at Tribeca fest
A group of students from Chicago’s Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, a two-year digital media vocational school in the Loop, will be showing off 3D short films at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month as part of a new partnership with LG Electronics USA. Get the full story »
NYSE unswayed by Nasdaq bid
NYSE Euronext believes that any kind of merger with Nasdaq OMX — whether the Big Board were the buyer or the seller — makes little strategic sense, and antitrust regulators would block it, according to a source close to the company.
