Johnson & Johnson has recalled about 4 million packages of children’s Benadryl allergy tablets and about 800,000 bottles of junior-strength Motrin, citing “insufficiencies” in developing the manufacturing process.
It was the latest in a series of product recalls in the last year that have hurt the reputation and financial results of J&J. Get the full story »
U.S. banks’ declining profits and tighter profit margins will push them to close 5,000 branches nationwide within the next 18 months, bank analyst Meredith Whitney said in a research note Monday.
Whitney, CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC, said that reduced consumer and corporate appetite to borrow, mixed with new regulations, have changed what was once a key source of industry profits. Get the full story »
Sen. Al Franken, a critic of Comcast Corp.’s proposed deal for control of NBC Universal, asked the Justice Department Monday to investigate whether the giant cable company had engaged in “illegal collaboration” concerning its intended target.
Franken (D-Minn.) said that on Sept. 26 Comcast had named its chief operating officer, Steve Burke, as the prospective chief executive of NBC Universal. Last week, Comcast named several executives who would hold top jobs at NBC Universal after the cable company took control of the broadcaster and movie studio from General Electric Co. Get the full story »
Wiegel Broadcasting is taking its low-power, Baby Boomer-focused Me-TV national. Weigel started the channel almost six years ago with a reverential approach to vintage programming and morphed into a digital subchannel complementing WCIU-Ch. 26.
This time Me-TV — which ostensibly stands for Memorable Entertainment Television — is set to transform into a nationally distributed network with programming from the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ‘80. A formal announcement is set for noon Tuesday.
The Nissan Leaf, a 100 percent electric car is test driven at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. (AP/Damian Dovarganes, file)
Nissan says the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel efficiency window sticker will estimate that the electric car will get the equivalent of 106 mpg in city driving and 92 mpg on the highway. Get the full story »
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will decide whether to open a full-fledged investigation into possible acceleration problems with the Honda Accord gas-electric hybrid, according to documents posted on the federal agency’s website Monday.
A woman, who was not identified, filed a complaint seeking an investigation and recall of the 2005 Accord Hybrid after a crash in July 2005 that left her injured and a passenger dead. Several people in other cars were injured, the documents said.
Biz Stone, the co-founder of popular microblogging site Twitter, is eager to harness the vast quantities of information that it helps its users share to create a news network, he told Reuters Monday.
A Twitter news network would not necessarily be run by Twitter itself but would be in partnership with several existing news organizations, and would be open, Stone said. Get the full story »
An airline passenger under goes a full body scan at O'Hare Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
President Barack Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said the government is “desperately” trying to balance procedures that maximize security and minimize invasiveness. He says the Transportation Security Administration procedures will continue to evolve. Get the full story »
From The Washington Post | A cell phone video of four TSA agents patting down a shirtless boy at Salt Lake City’s airport is perpetuating criticism on tighter government screening of passengers.
Utah Valley University student Luke Tait shot the video Friday while waiting in a security line. Tait said the boy appeared so shy he couldn’t keep his arms raised for a pat-down, and the father removed his son’s shirt out of frustration to speed up the search. Get the full story>>
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Connecticut offices of two hedge funds, Diamondback Capital Management LLC and Level Global Investors LP, amid a massive insider-trading investigation.
“The FBI is executing court-authorized search warrants in an ongoing investigation,” said Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman, who declined to comment further.
Both hedge funds are run by former managers of Steve Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors. Get the full story »
Superhero flashlights, Shrek drinking glasses from McDonald’s, a Fisher-Price inflatable ball and a boys’ Santa suit from Macy’s all seem innocent enough. But they were among the 147 children products — some 44 million individual items — recalled so far this year in the United States for being potentially dangerous.
Because the number of recalls has become overwhelming for parents to track — about double the number from last year — the Illinois Attorney General’s office has for the fourth year compiled an annual “Play it Safe” guide of dangerous toys, jewelry, baby gear and clothing. Items in the guide have been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2010. Get the full story »
New U.S. health insurance spending rules aimed at ensuring more customer dollars go toward medical care were finalized on Monday, ending a source of uncertainty for investors in the sector.
Though the limits are mandated in the new health care law, insurers such as Aetna Inc. and WellPoint Inc. did win some concessions from the U.S. government surrounding implementation of the rules and shares of health insurers mostly rose. Get the full story »
Stocks were lower Monday at the start a holiday-shortened week, as news of progress on Ireland’s rescue package underscored concerns about other troubled European economies.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 76 points, or 0.7 percent, about 2-1/2 hours into trade. The S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq ticked down 1 point, or less than 0.1 percent. Get the full story »
Three reports issued Monday paint a grim picture of the foreclosure crisis in the Chicago area, particularly compared to the nation as a whole.
TransUnion reported that mortgage loan delinquencies in the Chicago area fell only slightly in the third quarter, to 7.79 percent of mortgage loans that are at least 60 days delinquent. That compared with 7.98 percent in second quarter, and 6.95 percent in 2010’s third quarter. Get the full story »
Health insurer Humana Inc. plans its first broad foray into health care delivery in nearly two decades with its intended purchase of Concentra Inc. in an approximately $790 million cash deal announced Monday. Get the full story »
