From Bloomberg | Goldman Sachs analysts named a group of companies Friday that they said have at least a 30 percent chance of being sold in the next 12 months. The list includes Downers Grove-based Sara Lee Corp., Glenview-based Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. and Allergan Inc.
Death of Tyree ruled an accident
The death of Sun-Times owner James Tyree has been ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner.
An autopsy on Tyree found that he died of an air embolism following a dialysis catheter removal, the office said. It also listed pneumonia and metastatic cancer of the stomach as secondary causes, but ruled his death an accident.
Job fair for veterans coming to Chicago next week
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching an initiative called “Hiring our Heroes” next Thursday with a job fair in Chicago — the first of 100 job fairs for veterans across the country. Get the full story »
Starbucks raises grocery packaged coffee prices
(Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Starbucks raised its price for grocery packaged coffee on Friday by 12 percent, on average, due to still climbing coffee commodity prices.
The increase affects both Starbucks and Seattle’s Best Coffee brands and is the company’s first price increase on grocery packaged coffee since March 2008. Get the full story »
3M settles McNerney-era age discrimination suit
3M Co. has offered to pay up to $12 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the diversified industrial company of discriminating against older workers in performance evaluations, promotions and layoffs. Get the full story »
Mesirow names Price chairman and CEO
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. has named President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Price, 63, its new chairman and CEO following the death of Jim Tyree, who had held the roles for 17 years. Get the full story>>
Unemployment rises in nearly all metro areas
Unemployment rose in nearly all of the 372 largest U.S. cities in January compared to the previous month, mostly because of seasonal changes such as the layoff of temporary retail employees hired for the holidays.
In the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, the unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in January represented a 0.8 percentage point increase from the month before. Unemployment was down 2.2 percentage points from a year ago. Get the full story »
Caterpillar February sales up 59%
(AP Photo/Toby Talbot, file)
Caterpillar says February was another strong month for sales of its mining and construction equipment, and global sales grew 59 percent over last year.
The Peoria-based company reported sales figures Friday in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Get the full story »
Nike price hike drives shares down
Nike shares took a drubbing in early trading Friday after the athletic wear maker’s executives said they would raise prices across the board in response to increased costs. Get the full story »
Tires on Ford F-250s, F-350s being recalled
Continental AG’s North American unit is recalling about 391,000 tires, most of which were put on new Ford Motor Co F-250 and F-350 heavy duty pickup trucks, U.S. regulators said on Friday.
About 330,000 were put on the new trucks, and some were sold as replacements, Continental said of the tires made in Mexico from May 2007 to September 2008.
Airlines face ‘major slowdown’ due to Japan: IATA
The nuclear and earthquake crises in Japan will cause a “major slowdown” for airlines in Japanese markets, and a rebound is unlikely before the second half of 2011, a leading airline industry trade group said on Friday. Get the full story »
Angry Birds developer plans IPO in U.S.
Rovio, the developer of the Angry Birds mobile game, said it would seek an initial public offering in the United States. “The plan is to seek an IPO in New York, but the specific timing and details are still open,” said Rovio spokesman Ville Heijari in an email on Friday. Get the full story »
Borders outlines 28 additional store closings
A Borders bookstore at North and Halsted in Chicago in February. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Borders Group Inc. plans to close an additional 28 stores, bringing the total closings to 228, as it tries to reorganize in bankruptcy protection.
The updated list includes a store in Wilmette. Get the full story »
Banks plan to hike dividends after stress tests
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co. and other major U.S. banks plan to boost their dividend payments after passing stress tests evaluated by the Federal Reserve.
The share buybacks signal that regulators view banks as being healthy enough to withstand the remaining uncertainties in the economy, after the banking system has been profitable for a year. Get the full story »
Goldman cuts 5% of trading desk
Goldman Sachs Group laid off 5 percent of its trading desk staff on Tuesday as part of its annual review process, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Get the full story »
