Ford Motor Co. has settled a lawsuit in which it accused Italian automaker Ferrari of infringing its trademark for the popular F-150 truck.
Ford dropped the case Thursday, according to a filing with the U.S. district court in Detroit. Terms were unclear from the filing. Get the full story »
Microsoft has launched a daily deals service, integrating offers from industry leaders such as Groupon and LivingSocial into its Bing search engine for the desktop and mobile devices.
The move puts Microsoft into the daily deals space, but as an aggregator rather than a direct provider of discounts. Yahoo! launched an aggregation service, Local Offers, in November. Get the full story »
Pfizer Inc. said Friday that its experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug met the main goals of a late-stage clinical trial, a welcome boost for the world’s largest drugmaker as it seeks new products to offset those losing patent protection.
The drug, tofacitinib, is one of the most important in Pfizer’s pipeline. The company said the safety profile of the drug was consistent with that seen in the clinical program, and no new safety signals were seen. Get the full story »
Lundbeck Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will review its experimental drug for a rare epilepsy disorder.
Deerfield-based Lundbeck, the U.S. subsidiary of Denmark’s H. Lundbeck SA, said the drug, clobazam, is a therapy used to treat “seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients two years and older.” Known as “LGS,” the disease is typically diagnosed in childhood, the company said. Lundbeck hopes to eventually market the drug here under the trade name Onfi. Get the full story »
Job seekers in Chicago speak with recruiters at a career fair at Malcolm X College last summer. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The U.S. jobs market rebounded in February and unemployment fell below 9 percent for the first time in nearly two years, the latest signs of a steadily improving economy.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 192,000 last month as private-sector employers added 222,000 jobs, the Labor Dept. said Friday in its survey of employers. The January number was revised to show an increase of 63,000 jobs, from a previous estimate of 36,000.
In Illinois, the unemployment rate fell to 9.0 percent in January, the Illinois Department of Employment Security reported Thursday.
The unemployment rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, fell to 8.9 percent last month, the first time it dipped below 9 percent since April 2009. About 13.67 million people who would like to work can’t get a job. Get the full story »
From Bloomberg News | Chicago-based Exelon Corp. slowed its 1,134-megawatt Limerick 1 reactor located 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia to 90 percent of capacity from full power yesterday, with the 1,134-megawatt Limerick 2 now at 99 percent of capacity. The move came as total U.S. nuclear-power output fell 1.1 percent after PPL Corp. slowed its Susquehanna 1 reactor in Pennsylvania on Thursday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
Crude oil rose by more than $1 on Friday, with Brent hovering around $116, as fighting in Libya intensified with fresh reports of air strikes, and on protests in Saudi Arabia’s oil-producing Eastern Province.
U.S. researchers have coaxed stem cells into becoming a type of brain cell that dies off early in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The new technology would provide a ready supply of cells for use in testing new drugs or even transplants to help restore lost memory, the team reported on Friday in the journal Stem Cell.
While most Alzheimer’s research is done in genetically modified mice, the new technique would allow researchers to study a key aspect of the disease in human cells. “These are cells that are critically important for memory functions,” said Dr. Jack Kessler of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, who worked on the study. Get the full story »
HNA Group, China’s fourth-largest airline group and parent of Hainan Airlines Co., said it will sign aircraft purchase orders on Tuesday with leading aircraft manufacturers, including Chicago-based Boeing Co. and Airbus.
HNA was planning to sign an aircraft purchase agreement and a memorandum of understanding with leading aircraft makers, also including Dassault Aviation SA and Gulfstream Aerospace at the event, it said in a media invitation for the signing ceremony.
There has been speculation that the HNA orders could include Airbus’ A380s as the Chinese government is calling for the purchase of more wide body planes to help ease air traffic congestion. Get the full story »
Four Hyatt hotels in California and Indiana are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board to allow employees to vote by secret ballot on whether to unionize, a move that goes against the wishes of Unite Here, the hotel workers union.
The union has been pushing for a “card check” vote, in which employees sign cards stating that they wish to be represented by a union. Hyatt has opposed the method, citing concerns that employees could be pressured into pledging support. Get the full story »
Monroe Capital Corp., a Chicago-based investment firm, plans to sell shares in an initial public offering of $150 million.
The firm, which makes debt and equity investments in companies with revenues from $20 million and $500 million, said it plans to use the proceeds to repay debt and to take additional stakes in portfolio companies. Get the full story »
Sears Holdings Corp. on Thursday invited sales affiliates worried about losing Amazon business to direct their online traffic to Sears.com. The Hoffman Estates-based company joins a growing chorus of other retailers looking to cash in on Amazon’s battle with state governments over collecting sales tax.
In an open letter written Thursday, Sears eCommerce President Imran Jooma said he wanted affiliates “around the country to know that you have a place with us.”
Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, relies on a fleet of deal sites and other online portals to direct customers to Amazon.com. The affiliate websites typically send potential customers to Amazon’s website in exchange for a cut of sales. Get the full story »
Chicago-based Urban Partnership Bank, the successor to failed ShoreBank, is closing its Bellwood branch at 219 Mannheim Road in May, and opening a new one in the neighborhood this fall at 4310 St. Charles Road. Get the full story »
The Obama administration was expected soon to name an Illinois state insurance regulator to head the new Federal Insurance Office, said sources familiar with the matter on Thursday.
Michael McRaith, seen as the front-runner for the job, is now head of the Illinois Department of Insurance. Get the full story »
A U.S. Federal court judge on Thursday said he would approve the bankruptcy plan for “Old GM”, paving the way for General Motors to begin distributing stock and warrants to some unsecured creditors, a spokesman said. Get the full story »
