Insurers must stop setting prices based on gender, an EU court ruled, in a move that could raise costs for women drivers, cut male pensions and invite more legal challenges to pricing practices. “Taking the gender of the insured individual into account as a risk factor in insurance contracts constitutes discrimination,” the the European Court of Justice said on Tuesday. Get the full story »
Caterpillar, UAW reach tentative agreement
From the Rockford Register-Star | United Auto Workers representatives said the union has reached a tentative labor agreement with Caterpillar Inc., averting a possible walkout. The UAW says the new, six-year tentative agreement was reached Monday night and will be presented for a ratification vote next weekend.
The agreement would cover some 9,500 hourly production and maintenance workers in Peoria, Aurora, Decatur and Pontiac in Illinois as well as in York, Pa.; Denver; and Memphis, Tenn. | Get the full story>>
Sears CEO to get $7.2M, plus commuting costs
From Chain Store Age | Sears Holdings Corp. in a regulatory filing reported that its newly named CEO Louis J. D’Ambrosio will be compensated $7.2 million and a charter airplane for his commute from Pennsylvania to Illinois. Get the full story>>
Magazine: Chicago ‘tops’ for corp. investment
Corporate expansion last year “from Groupon to U.S. Steel” has landed Chicago as the top metro area for corporate investment by Site Selection magazine, World Business Chicago said today. Get the full story »
Glaxo: Abbott has illegal monopoly in AIDS drugs
From Bloomberg News | GlaxoSmithKline Plc lawyers, in a trial seeking at least $1.5 billion in damages, told jurors that Abbott Laboratories had an illegal monopoly over HIV drugs. Get the full story>>
PNC vows to keep checking free
PNC Financial Services Group Inc., bucking a trend that is sweeping the banking industry, is vowing to keep its most-basic checking accounts free of fees. Get the full story »
Workers sue New Lenox staffing agency
Warehouse workers in New Lenox accused a staffing agency of shorting their wages, denying them overtime pay and, in some cases, paying them below $8.25 an hour, the state’s minimum wage. Get the full story »
Morningstar switches accounting firms
Morningstar Inc., a leading fund and investment research firm, switched accounting firms, according to a securities filing on Monday.
Chicago-based Morningstar said it dismissed Ernst & Young LLP and hired KPMG LLP effective on Feb. 28, 2011. Get the full story »
Morgan County chosen as FutureGen CO2 site
The FutureGen Alliance announced Monday that it has selected Morgan County to sequester carbon dioxide emissions that would come from a coal-fired power plant 32 miles from the site.
The long-stalled $1.3 billion project, which includes CO2 storage, a visitor center, research and training facilities, is backed by $1 billion in federal funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and $300 million in private investment. Approximately 30 communities competed in the site selection process in the second try to get the project off the ground. Get the full story »
GAO finds problems in 401(k) account management
The U.S. General Accountability Office has told regulators that companies managing retirement plans should disclose more about fees they are paid for investments they recommend.
It was the second time in a week that the GAO has looked into 401(k) plan administration and found cause for concern. It warned last week of confusion that could result from the use of target date funds. Get the full story »
China’s holdings of U.S. debt jump 30%
The United States owes considerably more money to China than previously reported, the Treasury Department said on Monday as it revised Beijing’s holdings of U.S. Treasury debt sharply upward to $1.160 trillion.
The $268.4 billion increase over figures reported on February 15 was contained in a survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities released on Monday. The report attributed Treasuries holdings to China that were previously counted in other countries where broker-dealers made purchases.
The United Kingdom has typically been a country where brokers have purchased Treasuries for central banks and investors elsewhere, including China. Get the full story »
Consumer Reports: GM Volt falls short on range
A Chevrolet Volt sits plugged into a newly installed electric charging station outside General Motors' world headquarters in Detroit, Oct. 12, 2010. (Reuters/Rebecca Cook)
General Motors’ mostly electric Chevy Volt turned in a lackluster performance for efficiency in its first series of road tests by product raters at Consumer Reports.
“We would have really liked to have loved it,” David Champion, director of Consumer Reports auto test center told Reuters on Monday after announcing the organization’s top picks for 2011.
“It was fun to drive and the ride quality was pretty good. But when you look at the finances, for us it doesn’t make any sense,” Champion said. Get the full story »
U.S. gasoline price jump is biggest since Katrina
The average price U.S. drivers paid for gasoline soared 19.4 cents over the last week to $3.38 a gallon, the biggest jump in pump prices since Hurricane Katrina disrupted petroleum supplies in September 2005, the Energy Department said on Monday.
Sherman Hospital says it rejected Centegra offer
Sherman Hospital confirmed Monday that it has rejected an offer from nearby Centegra Health System to merge into the two-hospital system.
Sherman said executives from Centegra, which owns hospitals in Woodstock and McHenry, was interested in a deal. The talks ended last month, Sherman spokeswoman Christine Priester said. Centegra could not be reached for comment early Monday afternoon. Get the full story »
