Oct. 12, 2010 at 2:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Computers,
Privacy issues,
Software,
Technology
By Reuters
Microsoft Corp. issued its biggest-ever security fix Tuesday, including repairs to its ubiquitous Windows operating system for flaws that could let hackers take control of a user’s personal computer.
Microsoft released 16 security patches to address 49 problems it identified in its products.
It said four of the patches were high priority and should be deployed immediately to protect users from potential criminal attacks on the Windows operating systems. The patches are software updates that write over glitches. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 1:18 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airports
By Chicago Breaking News
A higher rate of airline flights departed late from Midway Airport than at any other major U.S. airport over the first eight months of the year, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported Tuesday.
Three flights out of 10 departed Midway at least 15 minutes after their scheduled time to push back from the gate, according to the department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The 71 percent on-time departure record over the period was only slightly better in August, when 74 percent of flights departed Midway on time.
Oct. 12, 2010 at 1:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By Associated Press
A new program to pump up the U.S. economy through the purchase of government debt dominated Federal Reserve officials’ discussions at their September meeting.
Minutes of the closed-door deliberations, released Tuesday, suggest Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues were closing in on a consensus to launch such a program. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 12:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Crime,
Fraud
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
The next time you pull up to an ATM, take a closer look at the machine. Does it look a little clunkier than usual?
Look too at what’s around you: Are there mirrors? Is there a brochure-holder over your shoulder? Does it look like there might be a false panel or an extra light bar attached to the machine? Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 12:00 p.m.
Filed under:
Consumer electronics,
Consumer news,
Retail,
Updated
By Reuters
Wal-Mart Stores will start selling Apple’s iPad tablet computer this Friday.
Wal-Mart said the iPad will be available in hundreds of its stores in the United States to start, expanding to more than 2,300 outlets by mid-November.
Wal-Mart rivals Best Buy and Target are already selling the iPad, which Apple launched in April. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 11:42 a.m.
Filed under:
Policy,
Politics,
Retirement,
Updated
By Reuters
The pension benefits that U.S. cities and counties are unable to cover could total as much as $574 billion, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The study, conducted by academics at Northwestern University and the University of Rochester, looked at how long the assets for 77 defined pension plans sponsored by 50 major U.S. cities and counties will last.
It found that six major cities — Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and St. Paul — can only cover promised benefits through 2020. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 11:18 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Labor,
Management
By Reuters
Few bosses need worry that their employees want their jobs as most workers are just happy to be employed, and one fifth would even have a fling with their boss if it helped their career, according to a U.S. survey.
The U.S. recession has driven bosses and their employees closer together and only 30 percent of employees want their boss’s stressful job, recruitment firm Adecco Staffing U.S. found in a poll tied to National Boss Day in mid-October.
But the survey found that some people are willing to go to greater lengths to keep their jobs in a tough market. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 11:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Media,
TV
By Michael Oneal
Tribune Co. and several of its most important creditor groups announced a broad new settlement Tuesday that brings the company closer to resolving its nearly two-year-old bankruptcy case.
The new pact includes a group of senior lenders who had been holding out on a compromise, the company said, as well as the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the case, which represents junior creditors.
Still absent from the settlement, however, are several key junior creditor groups including major bondholder Aurelius Capital Management, a litigious New York hedge fund known for disrupting large bankruptcy cases. Sources close to Aurelius have said the fund plans to file its own plan by the court imposed Oct. 15 deadline. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 10:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Investing,
Sports
By Associated Press
The city of Glendale, Ariz., says a prospective buyer of the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team has deposited $25 million in an escrow account “in a show of good faith.”
Glendale, in a news release Friday, said the buyer has asked for confidentiality because negotiations are ongoing, but there have been multiple reports the city has been in talks with Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer.
The figure is equal to the amount of city funds Glendale had deposited, at the NHL’s insistence, to cover potential losses for the coming season while a local buyer was sought. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 10:11 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Green
By CNN
The Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, the world's largest, located off the Kent coast in southern England. Google plans to invest in a wind farm off the coast of the U.S. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)
Google is investing in a new wind farm power grid to be located off the East Coast of the United States.
“We just signed an agreement to invest in the development of a backbone transmission project off the Mid-Atlantic coast, that offers a solid financial return while helping to accelerate offshore wind development — so it’s both good business and good for the environment,” announced the search engine company in a blog on Monday night.
Google said the Atlantic Wind Connection will be located at least 10 miles offshore and will stretch 350 miles from New Jersey to Virginia. The wind farm will be capable of producing 6,000 megawatts, enough to power nearly 2 million homes. The wind-generated power will be delivered to the land-based transmission system via subsea cables, the company said.
Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 9:43 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Policy,
Politics,
Real estate
By Reuters
The White House on Tuesday expressed opposition to a broad moratorium on home foreclosures, warning there could be some unintended consequences for the housing market. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 9:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment
By Associated Press
The head of Royal Dutch Shell says that his company would never have made the mistakes that led to BP’s devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 7:30 a.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals
By Associated Press
Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenue, said Tuesday it will buy pain drug maker King Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $3.6 billion in cash.
Oct. 12, 2010 at 6:28 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
International,
Retirement
By Reuters
Arcelor Mittal steel workers protest pension reforms that would delay retirement until age 62, in Marseille, France. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)
French trade unions began a fresh wave of strikes against pension reform on Tuesday, testing the resolve of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government as the unpopular bill edges closer to becoming law.
Rail services, flights and sea ports ran below capacity as the unions kept up their battle against a plan to make people work longer for their pensions, including raising the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60. Get the full story »
Oct. 12, 2010 at 6:17 a.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A coalition of as many as 40 state attorneys general is expected Wednesday to announce an investigation into the mortgage-servicing industry, an effort some of them hope will pressure financial institutions to re-write large numbers of troubled loans.
The move come amid recent allegations that mortgage-servicers, which include units of major banks such as Bank Of America Corp., submitted fraudulent documents in thousands of foreclosure proceedings nationwide. Get the full story »
