Boeing was surprised when a section of a Southwest jetliner’s fuselage ripped open in flight because the plane wasn’t old enough to be worrisome, a company official said Tuesday, as the airline cleared most of its older 737 planes to return to the skies. Get the full story »
New York may restrict Happy Meals, kids meals
A child eating fries from a McDonald's Happy Meal at Navy Pier, July 7, 2010. (William DeShazer/Chicago Tribune)
A New York City councilman is planning to introduce legislation to ban McDonald’s fast food meals unless they meet certain nutritional standards.
Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens plans to announce the legislation at a press event at 11 a.m. CST, according to his chief of staff. The proposed bill would make it illegal to distribute toys, games, trading cards or admission tickets along with any meal for children unless they have less than 500 calories, 600 mg of sodium and 35 percent of calories from fat, excluding nuts, seeds and nut butters. Get the full story »
JPMorgan CEO: Wealthy should carry tax burden
The wealthy should pay the largest portion of U.S. taxes, JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Tuesday, injecting himself into the budget debate as the threat of a government shutdown looms. Get the full story »
U.S. gasoline demand drops for 5th straight week
A BP station at the corner of LaSalle Blvd. and Clark Street in Chicago, March 7, 2011. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
U.S. retail gasoline demand fell last week in all regions of the country as prices rose, MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report showed Tuesday.
Average gasoline demand dropped 1.2 percent week-over-week, to 9.19 million barrels per day, MasterCard said. Demand dipped 3.6 percent from a year earlier, the fifth consecutive weekly decline. Get the full story »
Fed officials split on easy money, minutes show
Some Federal Reserve officials last month believed they would have to hold to an easy monetary policy course beyond this year while a few said the central bank should move to tighter conditions before year-end. Get the full story »
Southwest grounds 5 planes for repairs
A photographer next to the fuselage skin which was torn from a Southwest Boeing 737-300 aircraft last week. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Southwest Airlines Co. said it was making repairs on five older Boeing 737-300 planes after inspections found fuselage cracks, and added that flight operations were returning to normal on Tuesday.
The inspections of 79 planes followed an April 1 emergency landing in Arizona of a jet with a hole in its fuselage. Flight 812 was heading from Phoenix to Sacramento, Calif., when a 5-foot tear opened up 20 minutes after takeoff. Get the full story »
Merck snaps up eye-drug maker Inspire
Merck & Co. said Tuesday that it would acquire eye treatment maker Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $430 million to expand its ophthalmology business. Get the full story »
Diamond Foods buying Pringles in $1.5B deal
Cans of Pringles on display in New York, April 5, 2011. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)
Diamond Foods Inc. is buying Procter & Gamble Co.’s Pringles chips business in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.
Analysts have been speculating for years that Procter & Gamble might shed Pringles, as the world’s biggest consumer products maker had indicated in the past that the food business didn’t fit in with the rest of its portfolio. Get the full story »
NYSE board to meet on Nasdaq by April 14
NYSE Euronext’s board of directors plans to meet by April 14 to consider Nasdaq OMX Group’s unsolicited takeover bid, though no firm date has been set, a person familiar with the plan said on Tuesday. Get the full story »
Consumer Reports: AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS tops
A new Consumer Reports survey rates AT&T U-verse and Verizon FiOS as the top choices for customers looking to buy bundled telecom services. Get the full story »
NIPSCO CEO gets 31% pay raise
From the Times of Northwest Indiana | NIPSCO’s chief executive Jimmy Staton received a 31 percent pay raise to $1.9 million last year while telling state regulators the utility needs more money from customers to cover increased costs.Get the full story>>
Duane Reade boosts Walgreen’s March sales 7%
Walgreen Co. said today its March sales rose 7.6 percent in March, helped in part by its acquisition last year of New York pharmacy chain Duane Reade. Get the full story »
U.S. gas prices rise 9 cents, hitting April record
Chicago gas prices jumped 18 cents last week. (Joe Raedle/Getty)
U.S. gasoline prices soared nearly 9 cents over the last week to $3.68 a gallon, the highest pump price on record for April, the Energy Department said on Monday.
The national price for regular unleaded gasoline is up 86 cents from a year ago, based on the department’s weekly survey of fuel prices at service stations. Cleveland and Chicago had the biggest weekly gasoline price increases, rising 19 and 18 cents a gallon, respectively. Get the full story »
Personal bankruptcy filings fall 6% in first quarter
The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy dropped 6 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the previous year, two industry groups said Monday. Get the full story »
