Gap goes back to old logo after backlash

Gap's old and new logos.

The Gap is reverting to its classic logo after a new logo it debuted on its Web site ignited a customer backlash. The apparel maker, famous for its chinos and jeans, said late Monday that it would no longer be using the new logo and was going back to its original. Get the full story »

The day ahead in business

Reports: Federal Reserve releases minutes from September interest rate meeting.

Major earnings:
CSX Corp., Intel Corp.

Fed’s Yellen acknowledges risks to ultra-low rates

The Federal Reserve’s new vice chairwoman warns that record-low interest rates may give companies an incentive to take excessive risks that could be bad for the economy. Get the full story »

Chicago Spire may have been dealt a final blow

Three years after it was hired for work at the Chicago Spire site, a Des Plaines-based company’s effort to get paid $512,000 may be the final unraveling of Shelbourne Development Group’s plan to build what was supposed to be the tallest U.S. skyscraper.

Earlier this month, Anglo Irish Bank Corp., Ltd., the bank that gave Shelbourne funds to acquire the property at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Shelbourne. Anglo Irish said Shelbourne defaulted on its $77.3 million loan.

The bank is asking the court, among other things, to order a judgment of foreclosure and sale, and to put its claims ahead of all others. In the past two years, numerous firms that have worked on the project have placed liens against it, claiming they are owed more than $46 million for completed work.

Get the full story »

IBM rides market upswing to hit all-time high

IBM shares hit an all-time high Monday, with the stock riding a slight market upswing. It rose as high as $139.88 before closing at $139.66, up 81 cents for the day. The previous high was $139.19, reached during the dot-com boom on July 13, 1999. Get the full story »

Doctor: Getting into stem cells study will be tough

Only eight people will take part in the first known clinical trial testing the safety of embryonic stem cells in humans and each patient will go through a very stringent selection process, the lead researcher of the study said on Monday. Get the full story »

Nobel winner Mortensen chides ‘dysfunctional’ lenders

A U.S. labor economist awarded the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday said a “dysfunctional” lending environment has made it hard for small service businesses — the source of most jobs — to finance hiring.

Northwestern University professor Dale Mortensen, whose work focused on labor market inefficiencies that make it difficult for workers to match up to job openings, said employers have fewer jobs to offer and government can do only so much about it.

“To bring unemployment down we need to create service jobs,” Mortensen said, speaking to reporters from Aarhus University in Denmark, where he is a visiting faculty member. Get the full story »

U.S. decision on China yuan practices looms

President Barack Obama’s  administration faces a deadline on Friday on whether to formally declare for the first time that China manipulates its currency, following an election-year vote in Congress to get tough with Beijing. Get the full story »

JetBlue says traffic, capacity rose in September

JetBlue Airways Corp. said Monday that its September traffic rose 14.6 percent.

The discount airline said it flew 2.20 billion revenue passenger miles during the month, up from 1.92 billion in the same month a year earlier. A revenue passenger mile is one paying passenger flown one mile. Get the full story »

Jimmy John’s sues Halsted Street Deli

From Crain’s Chicago Business | Champaign-based Jimmy John Enterprises LLC has filed a lawsuit accusing the Chicago-based parent of Halsted Street Deli, for infringing on two of its trademarked sandwiches — Turkey Tom and Hunter’s Club.. Get the full story>>

NU professor among economics Nobel winners

Northwestern professor Dale Mortensen, center, is welcomed to a press conference at the University of Aarhus, in Aarhus, Denmark, Monday Oct. 11, 2010. (Polfoto/Andreas Szlavik)

Northwestern University professor Dale Mortensen won the Nobel Prize for economics, Monday, for demonstrating the job market is far more complicated, and irrational, than economists had believed.

Federal Reserve board nominee Peter Diamond was also honored along with Christopher Pissarides with the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.5 million) prize for their analysis of the obstacles that prevent buyers and sellers from efficiently pairing up in labor, housing and other markets. Get the full story »

Amtrak sets ridership, revenue records in U.S.

Stepped up business travel in the Northeast helped Amtrak boost ridership by nearly 6 percent to a record 28.7 million passengers in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the railroad said Monday.

Amtrak, the only long-haul passenger rail service in the United States, also said year-over-year ticket revenue rose by 9 percent to a record $1.7 billion for the period that began last Oct. 1. Get the full story »

85,000 Mercedes recalled over power steering

Daimler AG is recalling about 85,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the United States to prevent a loss of power steering fluid. Get the full story »

United begins move of operations to Willis Tower

United Airlines has started moving its operations center employees into a new home — the Willis Tower in Chicago, formerly known as the Sears Tower.

United, which formally combined with Continental on Oct. 1 to form the world’s largest airline, is moving the first 280 employees into the skyscraper on Monday. This is the first phase of the move of more than 2,500 people who currently work at the company’s operations center in the suburb of Elk Grove Village. Get the full story »

CUB: Ill. cell phone users overpay $359 a year

Mobile phone users in Illinois are paying hundreds of dollars every month for unused minutes and unnecessary services, the Citizens Utility Board said in a report released Monday.

CUB studied 4,400 cell bills entered into its online Cellphone Saver between August 2009 and July 2010 and determined that those consumers are overpaying by an average of $359 a year. Get the full story »