Toyota says it will recall nearly 100,000 Sienna minivans from the 2011 model year to replace a switch bracket on the brake lamp.
The Japanese automaker says a driver’s foot could hit the switch bracket and deform it while applying the parking brake pedal. Toyota says there have been no accidents or injuries related to this issue. Get the full story »
From Forbes | A New York Times article this weekend about how a “secretive banking elite,” as the headline put it, rules the derivatives trade. The story details how a secret cabal of bankers meet regularly with and control the risk committee at ICE Trust, part of the IntercontinentalExchange.
That came as no surprise to Forbes investment writer Emily Lambert. But what was even more interesting to her was the story’s description of the influence the dealers have at CME Group, the exchange company run by Chairman Terrence Duffy and Chief Executive Craig Donohue — indicating that in the long-running derivatives power struggle between New Yorkers and Chicagoans, the New Yorkers have won. Get the full story>>
R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC, the Chicago derivatives brokerage, is back in the hands of its founders after two private equity firms opted to sell back the control acquired in 2007 at the height of a flurry of deal-making in the sector.
The firm is one of the largest independent U.S. futures brokers, started in 1914 as a cash butter and egg specialist called John V. McCarthy & Co., and part of a coterie that developed Chicago’s role as the self-styled risk-management capital of the world. Get the full story »
Deutsche Lufthansa AG says it will start operating flights between Frankfurt and New York City with its expanding fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos early next year.
The airline said Monday it will start flying twice a week to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport from February 18th onward, with daily A380 flights planned by April. Get the full story »
The parent of Loyola University Medical Center in west suburban Maywood wants to partner with another Catholic-owned medical-care provider, the large academic medical center confirmed this morning.
Dr. Paul Whelton told Loyola University Health System employees in a memo Friday that Loyola would “explore options .. from a position of strength” and Catholic medical-care providers would be part of its partnership discussions. The Tribune last week confirmed Loyola was evaluating whether to merge with another health care system. Get the full story »
The U.S. government on Monday welcomed a World Trade Organization ruling that upheld President Barack Obama’s controversial decision last year to slap duties on Chinese-made tires to protect U.S. workers from a market-disrupting surge in imports.
“This is a major victory for the United States and particularly for American workers and businesses,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement. Get the full story »
AFP | Continental Airlines on Monday lodged an appeal against a conviction by a French court, which found it criminally responsible for the 2000 Concorde air disaster in which 113 people were killed.
Olivier Metzner, lawyer for the U.S. airline, said he had lodged the papers with the appellate court in Versailles, west of Paris. Get the full story »
Outgoing White House economic adviser Larry Summers said Monday that it was crucial to ensure that the economic recovery is as rapid as possible.
In a speech to the Economic Policy Institute think tank, Summers also said lack of demand was a main constraint facing the economy and that government must help counteract that.
An index that measures how many homeowners are underwater on their mortgages fell for the third consecutive quarter but the decrease was more attributed to completed foreclosures than any gain in home values.
About 10.8 million U.S. homes, or 22.5 percent of all homes with mortgages had negative equity, meaning the homeowner owed more on the mortgage than the home was worth at the end of the third quarter, data provider CoreLogic said Monday. That compares with 11 million properties, or 23 percent of all homes in the second quarter. Get the full story »
Federal prosecutors in southwestern Illinois say they’re planning to take legal action against a telemarketer who sold extended auto-service contracts. The U.S. attorney’s office in southern Illinois says it’ll detail the move during a court hearing Monday afternoon in East St. Louis. Get the full story »
McDonald’s Corp. has informed an undisclosed number of customers that certain information such as phone numbers and ages has been obtained by an “unauthorized third party” via information collected from its Web sites.
McDonald’s described the information as customer information as “limited information” provided to McDonald’s that included “information required to confirm your age, a method to contact you (such as name, mobile phone number, and postal address and/or email address).” Get the full story »
William Hamman watches data on a computer as he supervises doctors during a cardiology simulation. (AP/Gregory Smith)
He seemed like Superman, able to guide jumbo jets through perilous skies and tiny tubes through blocked arteries. As a cardiologist and United Airlines captain, William Hamman taught doctors and pilots ways to keep hearts and planes from crashing.
He shared millions in grants, had university and hospital posts, and bragged of work for prestigious medical groups. An Associated Press story featured him leading a teamwork training session at an American College of Cardiology convention last spring.
But it turns out Hamman isn’t a cardiologist or even a doctor. The AP found he had no medical residency, fellowship, doctoral degree or the 15 years of clinical experience he claimed. He attended medical school for a few years but withdrew and didn’t graduate. Get the full story »
Illinoisans can often dodge sales taxes by shopping online, but the state of Illinois is hoping to collect on those taxes next year by offering a sales tax amnesty.
A new law allows people who didn’t pay sales tax on items bought online, through the mail or over the phone between June 20, 2004, and the end of 2010 to pay what they owe without penalty. The tax amnesty runs from Jan. 1 through Oct. 15. Get the full story »
