Chrysler Group LLC will invest $600 million in its Belvidere assembly plant to build new cars starting in 2012, the company announced Thursday.
The investment won’t create any new jobs, but the company said it will retain the 2,349 jobs at the plant and a nearby parts stamping plant. Get the full story »
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer at Thursday's software developers conference. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer pumped up unique features in the company’s new Web browser and smart phone software at a software developer conference Thursday, the company’s annual pep rally for people who will build programs for the Web, Windows computers and phones.
Ballmer is known for his onstage enthusiasm. This year, he joked with the crowd that he wouldn’t repeat the memorable “developer prance” of years past, when he loped around hollering, “Developers! Developers!”
During the keynote address, Ballmer and Dean Hachamovitch, a top executive in Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer division, showed off how developers can program websites to take advantage of new features. Internet Explorer 9, which is in beta test form, uses more of a PC’s hardware to make pages load and run faster. A new version of the underlying code is being released for developers Thursday. Get the full story »
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. said Thursday it expects to win over new customers and bring lower fares to unserved cities should its purchase of AirTran Holdings Inc. be completed.
“This really has the opportunity financially to be a hone run for our shareholders, our employees and customers,” Southwest Executive Vice President of Strategy and Planning Bob Jordan told a media briefing at company headquarters in Dallas. Get the full story »
At Sara Lee’s annual meeting Thursday morning, the Downers Grove-based company offered no update on its search for a chief executive and declined to comment on the possible sale of its bread business.
The company did declare a regular quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, up 4.5 percent, bringing the annual dividend to 46 cents. Get the full story »
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel | Jones Lang LaSalle is completing a deal to become the property management firm for Milwaukee’s Shops of Grand Avenue. The downtown mall is owned by Bank of America.
General Motors Co. has announced plans to spend $190 million to build a new Cadillac small car at its Lansing Grand River plant. Get the full story »
Bloomberg News | “Stable” third-quarter earnings and a forecast for a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter sent shares of Navigant Consulting tumbling in late morning trading. The stock is down 22 percent, to $9.47.
Some of Fortune Brands' products. (Candice C. Cusic/Chicago Tribune)
Fortune Brands touted the “value proposition” of remaining a diversified company Thursday but said it’s open to meeting with all its investors, including hedge fund manager William Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, which has taken a 10.9 percent stake in the company.
“We’re open to constructive discussion with all our shareholders and that includes Pershing Square,” Chief Executive Bruce Carbonari said. “Our board is very engaged and very involved and along, along with management, at looking at how our business is structured.”
Added Craig Omtvedt, chief financial officer, “We’re pretty relaxed. We look forward to having a dialogue with Ackman and his team as much as we do anybody else.” Get the full story »
Corn Products International Inc.’s third-quarter profit dropped 30 percent on acquisition costs, but the company reported strong volume growth across all regions and said earnings are soaring at its new specialty starches business.
The Westchester-based grain processor also raised its current-year earnings forecast to $2.75 to $2.85 a share from $2.55 to $2.75 a share, citing its strong performance. Get the full story »
Shoppers at a Target in Falls Church, Va., May 28, 2010. (Reuters)
By Gregory Karp | Target Corp., the mass merchandiser with about 1,750 stores nationwide, for months has been shortchanging its customers who use certain manufacturers’ coupons by crediting them for a fraction of their face value.
Target is calling it a computer glitch. Avid coupon users are calling it an outrage. Get the full story »
Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the second drop in a row and a hopeful sign the job market could be improving.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000 in the week that ended Oct. 23.
Agricultural processor Bunge Ltd’s third-quarter net profit slipped on charges but it said it was on track to meet or exceed its full-year target amid rising revenue and improving oilseed processing margins. Get the full story »
Automobile-parts recycler LKQ Corp. posted third-quarter results that beat market estimates, partly helped by a rise in its parts and services revenue, and raised its full-year 2010 adjusted earnings outlook.
LKQ, with a market value of about $3.14 billion, buys wrecked cars at auctions and salvages reusable parts like engines and doors, and distributes them to mechanical repair shops or directly to customers. Get the full story »
CME Group Inc., the world’s biggest futures exchange operator, said third-quarter profit rose in line with Wall Street expectations, as an increase in trading helped buoy the bottom line.
Net income jumped 21 percent to $244 million, or $3.66 per share, from $202 million, or $3.04 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 13 percent to $733 million, as trading increased 14 percent. Get the full story »
The foreclosure crisis intensified across a majority of large U.S. metropolitan areas this summer, with Chicago and Seattle — cities outside of the states that have shouldered the worst of the housing downturn — seeing a sharp increase in foreclosure warnings.
