Saskatchewan lined up more support for its attempt to overturn a hostile bid for provincial crown jewel Potash Corp. on Friday, increasing political pressure on the Canadian government to reject the deal.
Industry Minister Tony Clement must decide by midnight November 3 whether to approve the $39 billion bid from Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton. Get the full story »
Oil prices fell on Friday after data showing tepid U.S. economic growth in the third quarter left investors cautious ahead of expected monetary easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Get the full story »
Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. appears to have bowed to shareholder pressure and is changing its shareholder rights plan to limit further stakes by Chairman Leonard Riggio and his family, the company said Wednesday.
Ford Motor Co.’s emergence as Detroit’s darling may have fueled jealousy at General Motors Co headquarters, but the archrival’s rising shares could help GM as it readies its landmark return to public markets. Get the full story »
A Loehmann's store on State Street in Chicago. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)
Loehmann’s said it is exploring a pre-negotiated bankruptcy reorganization, among other options, after defaulting on a loan.
The off-price women’s clothing retailer failed to consummate an exchange of a series of old notes for a series of new notes, the retailer said in a press release Friday. The company received valid tenders representing 92.4 percent of the outstanding principal amount of the old notes, less than the 97 percent required.
As a result, Loehmann’s missed an October interest payment, resulting in default on its revolving credit agreement with Crystal Financial LLC. Get the full story »
Business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew more than expected this month, a report showed on Friday.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer unexpectedly rose to 60.6 in October. The reading was 60.4 in September, and economists had forecast an October reading of 58.0. Get the full story »
A Caterpillar worker ties down a machine part to a flatbed rail car with steel banding. (David Klobucar/Chicago Tribune)
Caterpillar Inc., a U.S. heavy equipment maker that has been moving aggressively into the rail business, will announce plans on Friday to open a railcar facility in Indiana, the (Muncie) Star Press newspaper reported on Friday.
Citing unnamed sources, the paper said Caterpillar’s Progress Rail unit would take over a huge vacant factory in Muncie that has doors in the rear that allow trains to enter and exit.
The report did not say whether the plant would be used to service locomotives and other railroad rolling stock or to manufacture new equipment. It said the facility, in east-central Indiana, would eventually employ 650 workers. Get the full story »
Pfizer Inc. is recalling two more lots of its widely-used Lipitor cholesterol drug after chemicals from wooden pallets contaminated some bottles with an “uncharacteristic odor.” Get the full story »
Business Insider | Lee Abrams tells online video studio My Damn Channel that the stories of the “frat boy” atmosphere at Tribune Co., which ultimately cost him his job as chief innovation officer at the media giant, were “blown out of proportion.”
Crain’s Chicago Business | A Nebraska discount retailer is set to enter the Chicago area next year. Gordsmans Stores will be taking a 47,500 square-foot space in Algonquin Commons, according to mall owner Inland Real Estate.
The head of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said on Friday he does not expect any new obligations or privileges for U.S. “market-makers” until 2012 at the earliest, calling any regulatory change “a slippery slope.” Get the full story »
By Don Lee | The U.S. economy continued to plod along at sluggish pace in the third quarter, not enough to generate momentum or bring down the nation’s high jobless rate. The nation’s gross domestic product, or the value of all goods and services produced inside U.S. borders, grew at an annualized rate of 2 percent in the July-to-September quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Aon Corp. reported a 28 percent gain in third-quarter earnings from continuing operations, attributing part of it to a 4 percent revenue increase in its consulting unit, but its earnings missed estimates.
The company’s net income attributable to shareholders totaled $144 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with $120 million, or 41 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Total revenue of $1.8 billion was flat with the year-ago quarter. Get the full story »
Employment costs posted another modest gain in the July-to-September quarter, with compensation for state and local government employees turning in the weakest performance in nearly three decades.
