Nicor Inc. is seeking a buyer and has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. to run the auction, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Get the full story »
Mortgage rates rise for 3rd consecutive week
After falling to jaw-dropping lows, home mortgage rates rose this week for the third week in a row, according to a new report today.
The rates on 30-year, fixed rate home loans rose to an average 4.46 percent with 0.8 point this week, up from 4.40 percent a week ago, according to the weekly survey by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The increase comes after the 30-year, fixed-rate loan fell to a record low of 4.17 percent in early November. Get the full story »
Former CBOT boss named president of Sun Holdings
Bernard Dan, the former head of the Chicago Board of Trade and brokerage company MF Global Holdings, has joined the proprietary trading firm Sun Holdings LLC as president.
The move sees Dan, a major figure in listed derivatives markets, rejoin the financial services industry eight months after departing MF Global for personal reasons. Get the full story »
MGM studio bankruptcy plan gets OK
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. entered the final act of its reorganization when it won court approval, clearing the way for the storied Hollywood studio to emerge from bankruptcy with new owners.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein approved the restructuring plan at a hearing Thursday in Manhattan. Jay Goffman, a lawyer for MGM, said the company expects to emerge from bankruptcy in a few weeks. Get the full story »
J&J recalling 12 million bottles of Mylanta
Johnson & Johnson is adding 12 million bottles of Mylanta — the stomach discomfort treatment — to its ongoing list of recalled products, due to the presence of alcohol that’s not listed on the label.
J&J said it is recalling more than 12.3 million bottles of Mylanta and more than 84,000 bottles of AlternaGel, which is used for heartburn relief.
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Madoff victims’ trustee sues JP Morgan for $6.4B
The trustee seeking money for victims of Bernard Madoff’s scheme sued JP Morgan Chase & Co. for more than $6 billion on Thursday, claiming the bank enabled his massive fraud.
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SEC mulls 3-month extension of flash crash plan
U.S. regulators are considering a three-month extension to their pilot program that gives stocks a reprieve when they are in freefall, people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s circuit breaker program expires Dec. 10 and the regulator is under pressure to find permanent solutions to bolster market integrity after the May “flash crash.” Get the full story »
Merger to make new No. 2 snack giant
The peanut butter and cheese crackers of Lance Inc. are just one vote away from being combined with the pretzels of Snyder’s of Hanover Inc. as the companies aim to form the country’s No. 2 producer of salty snacks after PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay division.
Shareholders of Charlotte-based Lance cast 96 percent of their votes Thursday in favor of issuing the stock needed to merge with privately-held Snyder’s of Hanover, Pa. Snyder’s shareholders will vote on the merger Friday, and if they approve, the companies could complete the move Monday. The new company would be called Snyder’s-Lance.
California Dish fight could affect Blackhawks fans
Chicago sports fans who subscribe to Dish Network better keep an eye on a West Coast carriage dispute in which Dish customers have not had Comcast SportsNet California since Nov. 24.
Potentially at stake is the access of roughly 360,000 Chicago-area homes — about 10 percent of the market — to Blackhawks hockey, Bulls basketball and Cubs and White Sox baseball.
No quick decision in Boeing 737 engine debate
The waiting game is about to go into extra innings for the aviation world as Boeing Co. grapples with a tough decision on how to update its hot-selling single-aisle airplane, the 737.
Experts say an announcement on Wednesday by Boeing’s rival Airbus that it would update its competing A320 jetliner with a new engine starting in 2016 gives Boeing plenty of time to assess market needs and its own engineering capabilities. Get the full story »
Deficit reduction plan gets 2nd ‘no’ vote
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Thursday he will vote against a presidential commission plan to reduce the U.S. deficit, saying it does too little to tackle health care costs and relies too much on tax increases. Get the full story »
Chicago movers have stakes in Fed crisis programs
Chicago’s Arie and Ida Crown Memorial, the Crown Investment Fund, the Edgar D. Jannotta Jr. Revocable Trust and Allstate were among the “material investors” in various trusts and funds that borrowed under Federal Reserve programs aimed at easing the financial crisis, newly released records show.
The Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF, was set up by the Fed in November 2008 and began lending in March 2009. Get the full story »
Nissan sees electric car envy in criticism of the Leaf
(Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)
From The International Herald Tribune | Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn says criticism of the company’s Leaf car is due to electric car envy. “They don’t have one, so it’s not a surprise,” Mr. Ghosn said in an interview this week at Nissan headquarters. “People who are challenged by innovation are going to fight it in the beginning,” he said. “Get ready to see a lot of converts.”
White House: Jobless aid lapse may cost 600K jobs
The White House urged Congress Thursday to extend unemployment aid and warned that failure to act would inflict a heavy toll on millions of Americans that could put the U.S. economic recovery at risk.
“Without an extension, employment would be about 600,000 lower…in December 2011 than if a year-long extension were passed,” according to a new report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
U.S. unemployment insurance for those on long-term aid, which Congress had already extended to up to 99 weeks from a traditional 26 weeks of support, expired on Wednesday. Get the full story »
U.S. judge closes part of Goldman secrets trial
A U.S. judge closed to the public parts of testimony in the trial of a former computer programmer accused of stealing secret high-frequency trading code from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said from the bench on Thursday that she was granting a government application to seal parts of testimony of three witnesses, all of them employees at Wall Street’s most influential bank.
Prosecutors allege that programmer Sergey Aleynikov stole critical parts of Goldman’s top-secret high-frequency trading program in June 2009 before going to a new job with Teza Technologies LLC, a speed-trading start-up firm in Chicago. Get the full story »
