Oct. 1, 2010 at 1:18 p.m.
Filed under:
Insurance
Bloomberg News | Senator Jay Rockefeller opened a probe into the limited benefit “mini-med” plans that McDonald’s Corp., the world’s largest restaurant chain, offers to employees.
Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, asked Scott Beacham, chief executive officer of BCS Financial Corp., whether the company’s health offerings amount to a good deal for many of McDonald’s low-wage and hourly employees. Closely held BCS Financial, based in Oakbrook Terrace, offers limited- benefit plans that cover 30,000 employees of McDonald’s, based about a mile away in Oak Brook Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 1:13 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet
By Reuters
Facebook, the world’s No.1 Internet social network, is splitting shares in the privately held company. A Facebook spokesman told Reuters on Friday that Facebook will enact a 5-for-1 split of the company’s shares, marking the third time Facebook has split its shares in its six-year history. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 1:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Real estate
By Reuters
GMAC Mortgage was sanctioned by a Maine state court judge, who concluded that an affidavit filed by a company official to support a mortgage foreclosure was submitted “in bad faith.”
The ruling came in a case that last month revealed that GMAC, now part of Ally Financial Inc, had been filing affidavits falsely attesting that officials had reviewed mortgage documents and that they justified foreclosure. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 11:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Exchanges,
Investigations,
Investing
Bloomberg News | A mutual fund’s routine effort to hedge against losses helped set off a chain of events that turned an orderly selloff on May 6 into a crash that erased $862 billion in U.S. equity value in less than 20 minutes, according to two people with direct knowledge of regulators’ findings. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 11:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
M&A,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
Continental Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek walks through Terminal C of Houston Intercontinental Airport to catch a flight to Chicago on Sept. 23, 2010. (Tribune)
United Airlines closed its merger with Continental Airlines Friday to create the world’s largest airline, called United Airlines. The stock begins trading this morning under the symbol UAL. The holding company formed from the all-stock merger will be called United Continental Holdings Inc.
The two airlines will begin marketing as one company in the spring. In the meantime, travelers will see United employees at United kiosks and Continental employees at Continental kiosks, depending on which carrier is handling the flight.
The company is working to combine frequent flyer programs. In a call with reporters, Smisek underscored, “your miles are safe.” Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 11:14 a.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Retail,
Updated
By Reuters
General Growth Properties Inc. is expected next week to name the members of the board who will take command when the No. 2 U.S. mall owner emerges from bankruptcy protection, and its chairman John Bucksbaum, son of one of the co-founders, will not be on it, a source close to the company said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 10:56 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Policy,
Politics
By Reuters
The Federal Reserve should take further action to stimulate the economy, or risk letting it fall into a vicious cycle of joblessness and deflationary pressures, top Fed official said on Friday. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 10:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Manufacturing
By Reuters
The pace of growth in the manufacturing sector slowed in September, an industry report on Friday showed, and employment in the sector also declined. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 10:29 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Bankruptcy,
Consumer news,
Earnings,
Economy
By Reuters
General Motors Co. posted an annual sales gain of 10.5 percent in September amid evidence that the U.S. auto market remained stuck in a slow-moving recovery at the start of the fourth quarter.
GM was the first of the major U.S. automakers to report sales for the month. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 10:01 a.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Recalls,
Updated
A Rolls Royce car at a showroom in London, Oct. 1, 2010. BMW is recalling some of its own brand and Rolls-Royce cars because of a potential braking problem. (Reuters/Paul Hackett)
Bloomberg News | BMW, the world’s biggest maker of luxury cars, said it’s recalling almost 350,800 BMW-brand and Rolls-Royce models worldwide to repair a power-brake system fault.
The voluntary recall involves fixing brake-pressure pumps on 345,000 BMW 5-, 6- and 7-Series models and 5,800 Rolls-Royce cars built from 2002 until 2010, Frank Strebe, a BMW spokesman, said today in a phone interview from the Paris Motor Show. The new version of the 5-Series sedan isn’t affected, he said.
The fault was detected when drivers complained that they needed to push harder on the brake pedal on cars with high mileage, Strebe said. The Munich-based carmaker is telling customers to bring in their vehicles as a “pro-active” measure, and that the fault poses no safety issue, he said, adding that he doesn’t have an estimate of the cost to BMW. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 9:49 a.m.
Filed under:
Exchanges,
Regulations
By Reuters
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed new limits on Friday on the control banks and other large firms can exert over venues where over-the-counter swaps will soon have to trade and clear.
The futures regulator, rolling out some of the sweeping Wall Street reforms authorized by Congress, is trying to strike a tricky balance between opening up the opaque $615 trillion OTC swaps market without exposing clearinghouses, exchanges and swap execution facilities to undue risk. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 9:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Health care
By Tribune staff report
NorthShore University HealthSystem, which operates four hospitals in the north Chicago suburbs, said the dozen heart doctors from North Shore Cardiologists will join its medical group.
Effective in January, 12 North Shore Cardiologists will become a part of NorthShore Medical Group. “The clinical expertise of this group will be integrated with the superior technology of NorthShore, including our electronic medical record system and advanced imaging technology,” said Dr. Janardan Khandekar, chairman of NorthShore’s department of medicine. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 8:17 a.m.
Filed under:
Personnel moves,
Technology
By Reuters
Hewlett-Packard Co. will pay its new chief executive Leo Apotheker an annual salary of $1.2 million, plus a signing bonus of $4 million, to lead the technology powerhouse after a scandal toppled its last chief executive. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 7:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Economy,
Retail
By Reuters
Consumer spending rose slightly more than expected in August, but inflation remained subdued, leaving the door open for the Federal Reserve to launch a fresh round of monetary policy easing. Get the full story »
Oct. 1, 2010 at 7:09 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Stock activity
By Reuters
Further quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve could push oil prices to an average of $83 next year even if demand remains weak, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Friday. Get the full story »
