Boeing Co. has finalized a $5.3 billion four-year agreement with the U.S. Navy to build 124 F/A-18 fighter jets and electronic attack planes, a deal that will generate savings of over $600 million. Get the full story »
Boston Blackie’s closing some locations
Chicago-area restaurant chain Boston Blackie’s is closing some of its locations almost a year after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
An employee who answered the phone at the chain’s River East location said it was closing effective immediately. He declined to comment further. The Boston Blackie’s next to the Doubletree Hotel in Skokie also closed on Sunday, according to a hotel employee. Phone numbers listed on the company’s Web site for locations in Lincoln Park, Glencoe and Naperville were disconnected or out of service on Tuesday afternoon. Get the full story »
Sep. 29, 2010 at 8:33 a.m.
Filed under: Fatal crash raises questions about Megabus safety
Four of 28 passengers died and 20 others were injured on a Sept. 10 Philadelphia-to-Toronto Megabus a trip that went disturbingly wrong for reasons investigators still are trying to determine.
That “horrible … tragic” crash, in which the bus slammed into a railroad bridge 3-feet too low for the bus to clear, put “a certain focus by the public on us,” said Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer of Megabus’ parent company, CoachUSA. Megabus operates several routes in and out of Chicago and Get the full story »
BP to create new safety unit
BP says it will create a new safety division in the aftermath of this summer’s oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The “powerful“ new unit “will have authority to intervene in all aspects of BP’s technical activities,“ the company said in a statement Wednesday. Get the full story »
Report detailing May 6 ‘market failure’ expected this week
As the Securities and Exchange Commission finalizes its report on the May 6 “flash crash,” it is being forced to confront the fallout of its own decisions — which Wall Street sought and cheered — that ushered in an era of fast trading dispersed across dozens of venues.
As recently as this spring, many were applauding the speed, lower costs and competitive nature of the U.S. stock market that largely grew out of a series of policy and technology changes over a decade. “Who could argue that competition was a bad thing . . . and that faster trades would be a bad thing?” asks Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of trading at broker Themis Trading.
But the flash crash, he says, shows there have been “huge, unintended consequences.” Get the full story »
Sep. 29, 2010 at 6:31 a.m.
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Filed under: Nintendo 3DS handheld to miss holidays
Nintendo Co Ltd said on Wednesday the launch of its 3D-capable DS handheld game player will miss the busy year-end holiday shopping season, forcing Japan’s leading game machine maker to slash its full-year profit forecast by one-third. Get the full story »
Caterpillar to build new assembly plant in China
Caterpillar Inc. said it will build a new assembly plant in China to produce small hydraulic excavators as the company continues to expand its production capacity in developing regions.
Construction of the plant in Wujiang is expected to begin by the end of the year, with excavator production scheduled to start in 2012. Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment by sales, has supplied the Chinese market with excavators weighing less than eight tons from plants in Xuzhou, China, and Sagami, Japan. Get the full story »
Madigan warns about timeshare scam
From WBBM-Ch. 2 | Illinois residents being warned of scam artists preying on owners of vacation timeshares, posing as timeshare resellers to deceive consumers out of thousands of dollars. The Attorney General’s office has received dozens of complaints since January from timeshare owners targeted by the scam, according to a release. Get the full story >>
Conrad Black’s attorneys in appeals court today
From Canada’s National Post | Attorney’s for former Sun-Times publisher and media mogul Conrad Black will appear in Chicago’s 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to argue that Black’s fraud convictions should be tossed. Black was released from prison after serving two years of a 6.5-year sentence for breaking the so-called “honest services” law.
Get the full story >>
CEOs less willing to hire; sales a worry
U.S. chief executive officers’ view of the economy darkened in the third quarter, with top executives saying they were less willing to hire new workers as they fear sales growth will slow. Get the full story »
United, Continental defeat effort to block merger
From BusinessWeek | UAL Corp.’s merger with Continental Airlines Inc. won’t create a monopoly and shouldn’t be blocked on antitrust grounds, a federal judge ruled, helping to clear the way for the deal’s completion.
Carson’s, Calvin Klein plan River North pop-up shop
Carson Pirie Scott and Calvin Klein plan to open a pop-up shop in River North on Friday, a first for both companies.
The 1,600 square-foot store, at 116 W. Hubbard St., will remain open for seven days and showcase Calvin Klein’s fall collection of sportswear, dresses, jeans, underwear and accessories. The companies are taking over unfinished retail space on the first floor of Hub 116, a newly constructed office and gallery building. Get the full story »
Gold shoots to all-time high
Gold surged to a new record peak on Tuesday as several reports heightened prospects that central banks would stimulate the economy with new liquidity, driving the euro to a fresh five-month high against the dollar and triggering a series of automatic buy orders.
Quinn to use state cash to keep jobs program
Despite the state’s financial woes, Gov. Pat Quinn today said he would pump about $75 million into a jobs program to keep it alive through the end of November.
Motorola to sell R2-D2-themed Droid 2 devices
The R2-D2 Droid. (Motorola)
A limited-edition version of Motorola’s Droid 2 phone resembling lovable Star Wars droid R2-D2 will go on sale Thursday at one Verizon Wireless store in downtown Chicago.
Verizon, the exclusive carrier for the phone, said its store at 36 S. State St. will open at 12:01 am on Thursday. It has 100 of the devices in stock. The phone runs Google’s Android operating system and costs $249 with a rebate and two-year contract. Get the full story »
