U.S. stocks plunged at Tuesday’s open, with the Dow industrials sinking nearly 300 points within the first minutes of trading. The sharp sell-off follows an 11 percent drop in Japan’s leading index in the wake of a nuclear crisis caused by last week’s earthquake.
The Dow Jones industrial tumbled 216 points or 1.8 percent in the first two minutes of trading. The S&P 500 fell 25 points or 1.9 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 70 points or 2.6 percent. Get the full story »
PepsiCo Inc has developed a bottle made from plant-based, renewable resources that is fully recyclable, and will start using it in a test program next year.
The company’s new “green” bottle is currently being made from materials such as switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. In the future, components for the bottle may include orange and potato peels, oat hulls and other byproducts left over from the company’s food business. Get the full story »
Network equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks is seeking to renegotiate its $1.2 billion acquisition of network equipment assets from Motorola Solutions Inc., Bloomberg news agency says Tuesday citing “two people close to the situation”. Get the full story »
Oil prices fell more than $3 per barrel on Tuesday as investors worried about the impact of the Japanese crisis on the global economy. U.S. crude for April delivery slid $3.52 to $97.67 a barrel in electronic trading. The contract was down as much as $4.48 before rebounding. Get the full story »
Japan’s Nikkei share average plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday, posting the worst two-day rout since 1987, as hedge funds bailed out after reports of rising radiation near Tokyo. Many mutual funds were left on the sidelines, leaving them poised to dump shares into any rebound. Get the full story »
Renters beware: Double-digit rent hikes may be coming soon amid rental vacancy rates that have dipped below the 10 percent mark, where they had been lodged for most of the past three years.
“Young people are starting to get rid of their roommates and move out of their parent’s basements,” said Peggy Alford, president of Rent.com, predicting the vacancy rate will hover at a mere 5 percent by 2012. With fewer units on the market, prices will explode. Get the full story »
Ryan Gavin, senior director of Internet Explorer for Microsoft, shows IE9 last month in in San Francisco. (Reuters)
A new version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer to be released Tuesday will be the first major Web browser to include a do-not-track tool that helps people keep their online habits from being monitored. Get the full story »
U.S. real estate companies said on Monday they were trying to assess the damage that last week’s earthquake and tsunami may have inflicted on the hotels, warehouses and outlet centers they own in Japan.
The companies, including four real estate investment trusts (REITs), are expected to incur some property damage from the disaster. With a highly dense population in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, Japan is a favorite among U.S. real estate investors. Get the full story »
Chicago-based metals distributor Ryerson Inc. said Monday that it has acquired Ohio-based steel processor Singer Steel Company, which provides steel slitting, sheet processing, and laser cutting services. The acquisition is the fourth one made by Ryerson in the past 14 months. Get the full story »
In vetoing two bills Monday that would have paved the way for two coal-to-gas plants to be built in the state, Gov. Pat Quinn signaled his support for cleaner uses of Illinois coal but said he would not support the technology at the expense of consumers.
The bills would have forced state utilities to buy synthetic natural gas, which was expected to be more expensive than natural gas for the next two decades, from a $3 billion plant on Chicago’s Southeast Side proposed by New York-based Leucadia National Corp. and a $1 billion southern Illinois plant proposed by Power Holdings of Illinois. Get the full story »
Silicon Valley Bank has hired John Hoesley, a board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association, to run its Midwest private equity and venture capital services group in Chicago. Get the full story »
Timothy McLevish. (Kraft)
Kraft Foods Inc. announced Monday that its chief financial officer Timothy McLevish will leave the company mid-year “to pursue opportunities in general management.”
David Brearton, currently serving as executive vice president of operations, will step up as CFO at the Northfield-based packaged foods giant. Get the full story »
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc is preparing an offer for NYSE Euronext and the bid could come as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
