Dec. 7, 2010 at 4:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
M&A,
Updated
By Julie Wernau
Nicor's Naperville headquarters. (Tribune file photo)
Tuesday’s announcement that AGL Resources would acquire Naperville-based Nicor Inc. for $2.4 billion would put AGL in an envious position if energy policy moves to replace coal with natural gas — with a natural gas distribution system that would stretch from Chicago to the east coast and a bevy of natural gas storage facilities around the country.
The deal — which is subject to several layers of regulatory approval — would create the natural gas industry’s largest public company by market cap. Together, the companies would have annual revenues of $5.1 billion, according to a statement and carry a market cap that is nearly twice the size of its nearest peer in a deal expected to close in the second half of 2011. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 3:55 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Investigations,
Updated
By Becky Yerak
First Security Trust & Savings Bank loan officer Jeffrey Gonsiewski, pleaded guilty in August to one count of federal bank fraud, was sentenced to 63 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo on Tuesday.
The U.S. Government last summer had accused the 56-year-old high school graduate of changing loan terms or arranging loans to be made in a scheme that ultimately caused the Elmwood Park-based lender, part of the Wirtz family empire, to lose more than $5.5 million. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 3:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Development,
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
A view of the uncompleted Spire development's foundation, Sep. 17, 2010. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)
Irish developer Garrett Kelleher’s company has lost control of the site on which he expected to build the Chicago Spire.
A Cook County Circuit Court judge has granted a request by Anglo Irish Bank Corp. Ltd., the lender to Kelleher’s Shelbourne North Water Street L.P., and appointed a receiver for the infamous hole in the ground that was supposed to become a twisting skyscraper addition to the city’s skyline.
Meanwhile, two local firms have purchased the delinquent property taxes on the stalled development site at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, setting up a process for the bank or others to redeem the taxes. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 3:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers,
Internet,
Technology,
Updated
By Reuters
The first laptops powered by Google Inc’s Chrome system will hit store shelves later than expected, as the Internet company works out bugs in a family of Web-centric computers intended to take on Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc . Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 2:56 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet
By Reuters
Comcast has no plans to start charging customers based on how much broadband is consumed by online video and other content, a top executive said on Tuesday. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 2:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Exchanges,
M&A
By Reuters
CBOE CEO William J. Brodsky (center), facing camera, kicks off CBOE's first day as a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ on June 15, 2010. (José M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune)
CBOE Holdings Inc. CEO William Brodsky said he is open to growth by acquisition, but added that the exchange operator’s tendency to build its own systems rather than buy them has saved shareholders money.
Asked at a conference hosted by Goldman Sachs if he would consider making acquisitions, Brodsky said, “We are certainly open to that. We are looking at things strategically in ways we couldn’t have six months ago.” Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 2:12 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers,
Internet,
Privacy issues
By Reuters
Microsoft plans to introduce a new “tracking protection” feature in the next version of its Internet Explorer browser, which will let users filter out sites they don’t want to share information with. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 1:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Entertainment,
Video
By Associated Press
The company that runs Blockbuster Express kiosks is testing whether people will pay more to rent DVDs and Blu-ray discs of new movies 28 days before they are available from other vending machines. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 12:53 p.m.
Filed under:
Media,
TV
By Tower Ticker
Oprah Winfrey’s visit to Sydney — or “Operation Oprah,” as they’re calling it — sounds a bit like a bio-hazard, rather than a visiting TV show from Chicago. But maybe that’s because of the way Australia’s Ten News correspondent reports it.
There is to be a maritime exclusion zone, a no-fly zone, road closures and re-routed public transport in the “operational footprint.”
Dec. 7, 2010 at 12:47 p.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Nearly half of consumer say they are comfortable with the idea of walking away from homes with underwater mortgages — an ominous sign if the expected rise in foreclosures next year puts additional pressure on home prices.
Some 48 percent of homeowners with a mortgage said they’d consider a strategic default if the amount they owned on their mortgage was higher than the value of the property. Six months ago, just 41 percent of consumers said they’d consider it, according to a survey released Tuesday by realty Web sites Trulia and RealtyTrac. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 12:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Litigation,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Abbott Laboratories and two other drugmakers will pay $421 million to settle allegations that they falsely inflated product prices to gain larger government reimbursement payments, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
Abbott’s share of the settlement is $126.5 million for violations of the False Claims Act involving pricing of two antibiotics and agents used to facilitate intravenous infusions of other drugs, the Justice Department said. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 12:21 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers
From the Huffington Post | Multiple reports and rumors are trickling out of Apple’s manufacturing base in China about its planned next-generation iPad, informally known as the “iPad 2.” On Tuesday, DigiTimes released a report stating that Chinese manufacturing plants located in Shenzen and owned by Foxconn Electronics will build between 400,000 and 600,000 iPad 2 units, to be shipped out “within the next 100 days.”
The Huffington Post rounds up this and other rumors, so far:Get the full story>>
Dec. 7, 2010 at 11:14 a.m.
Filed under:
Jobs/employment
By Associated Press
Employers posted a sharp increase in job openings in October, raising hopes that hiring could pick up in the coming months.
Businesses and government advertised nearly 3.4 million jobs at the end of October, up about 12 percent from the previous month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That reverses two months of declines and is the highest total since August 2008, just before the financial crisis intensified.
Dec. 7, 2010 at 10:48 a.m.
Filed under:
Entertainment,
Media,
TV
By Dow Jones Newswires
The Oprah Winfrey cable network, set to launch in a few weeks, is still trying to line-up subscriber fees from cable and satellite operators, David Zaslav, chief executive of the network’s part-owner Discovery Communications Inc., said Monday.
The new network — which is a 50-50 joint venture between Discovery and Winfrey, is set to replace Discovery Health network in about 80 million homes on Jan 1. Discovery Health, which is not widely watched, receives no per-household subscription fee in the “majority of cases,” said Zaslav during remarks at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference in Manhattan. Get the full story »
Dec. 7, 2010 at 10:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Transportation,
Travel
By Associated Press
The government says October was the first month when no airplanes were stuck on the ground for more than three hours.
It’s the first month without tarmac delays since the government started collected data in 2008. Get the full story »
