March 25 at 6:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Transportation
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
(Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)
The U.S. Postal Service will cut 7,500 managers and shut the Carol Stream and six other district offices, responding to record losses and declining mail volume as more people communicate by e-mail and texts and pay bills online. The reduction in postmasters, supervisors and other employees represents a 20 percent cut in middle-management jobs — people not involved in actual physical moving of mail.
The cuts come as part of the agency’s previously disclosed plan to close as many as 2,000 post offices and consolidate regional mail-processing centers in the next 12 months. Get the full story »
March 25 at 6:01 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
M&A
By Dow Jones Newswires
Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. has agreed to buy hedge fund manager Citadel LLC’s fund administration business, Omnium LLC, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday. The value of the deal was not known. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Hundreds of customers formed long lines outside Apple stores on Friday for the international launch of the iPad 2, which has flown off the shelves in the United States and left the company struggling to meet demand. Get the full story »
March 24 at 5:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos
By Dow Jones Newswires
Ford Motor Co. is limiting the production of certain colors of some trucks and other models because the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have disrupted the supply of pigments used in automobile paints, the auto maker told U.S. dealers on Thursday. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Research In Motion’s net profit jumped 32 percent in quarterly profit, but it issued a weaker-than-expected outlook as it pumped money into the launch of its PlayBook tablet computer. Get the full story »
March 24 at 3:59 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals,
Retail,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Customers at a Walgreens in Vernon Hills, Ill. (Lane Christiansen/Chicago Tribune)
Expanding further into the fast-growing business of online retail, Walgreen Co. said Thursday it will buy Drugstore.com for more than $400 million.
The deal comes just weeks after the Deerfield-based drugstore giant said it would shed its pharmacy benefit management business for more than $500 million. That deal, Walgreens said, would help it better focus on its primary business of serving customers’ daily health and living needs. Get the full story »
March 24 at 3:34 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports
By Julie Johnsson
Fatigued from working his fourth straight night-shift, an control tower supervisor nodded off on the job early Wednesday morning, leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport without anybody to monitor traffic for nearly half an hour.
As details of the incident emerged Thursday, federal officials suspended the controller and debate heated up over staffing of the lonely, late-night shifts when air traffic dwindles to a trickle. Get the full story »
March 24 at 3:31 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
International
By Reuters
The U.S. nuclear industry will see a “significant” increase in operating and regulatory costs following the Japanese nuclear emergency, but the magnitude won’t be known for several months, the head of the largest fleet of U.S. nuclear reactors said on Thursday. Get the full story »
March 24 at 3:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods,
Updated
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A shopper outside a Jewel at Roosevelt and State Street, April 29, 2008. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Jewel-Osco parent Supervalu Inc. hopes to save millions of dollars a year by training workers to avoid double-bagging, putting more items in each bag or skipping the bag altogether.
“We’re in a very competitive industry. Anything we can do to lower our expenses will help us keep our prices as fair as possible,” says Supervalu spokesman Mike Siemienas. Get the full story »
March 24 at 2:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Economy,
Government
By Reuters
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will start holding regular media briefings on monetary policy next month, a historic shift to greater openness at the traditionally secretive U.S. central bank. Get the full story »
March 24 at 1:48 p.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
Litigation,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Abbott Laboratories improperly hiked the price of one drug to help it preserve sales growth of one of its other HIV blockbusters, an attorney for GlaxoSmithKline told a jury. Get the full story »
March 24 at 1:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Exchanges
By Reuters
The benchmark measure of U.S. stock options headed for its biggest six-day drop since November 2008 as concern that this month’s Japanese earthquake will curb the global economy eased. Get the full story »
March 24 at 1:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
Abbott Laboratories and its top selling rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira are strong enough to withstand looming competition from a new pill developed by Pfizer Inc., analysts say, despite investor fears that have hobbled Abbott’s shares. Get the full story »
March 24 at 11:59 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Retail
By Reuters
Safeway Select cookies at a Dominick's. (Terry Harris/Tribune)
Grocery retailers’ store-brand products are expected to double their share of the global packaged food market over the next 15 years to make up half the market, according to a report issued on Thursday.
The report by Sebastiaan Schreijen, associate director of processed food and retail at Rabobank, said growth of private-label brands will be fueled by retail consolidation in developed markets, adoption of modern retail in developing markets, and increased consumer acceptance of private-label brands following the recession, among other factors.
March 24 at 11:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes
By Reuters
Boeing Co. said it took 10 new orders for commercial planes in the week that ended on Tuesday, including four 737s for El Al Israel Airlines, two 747s for Korean Air, and four 777s for an unidentified customer. Get the full story »
