U.S. producer prices rose 0.8 percent in January in line with expectations on an increase in energy prices, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday. Get the full story »
Housing starts rise, building permits drop
Partially completed townhouses in Des Plaines, Ill., in March of 2010. (Tim Boyle/Bloomberg)
U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in January to their highest rate in four months but permits for future home construction dropped sharply after hefty gains the prior month, according to a government report on Wednesday that showed the housing market still bouncing along the bottom.
The Commerce Department said housing starts jumped 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 596,000 units, the highest since September. December’s starts were revised down to a 520,000-unit pace from the previously reported rate of 530,000 units. Get the full story »
Orbitz losses widen in 4Q
Chicago-based Orbitz Worldwide Inc.’s fourth-quarter loss widened as revenue increased but the company booked $79.5 million of impairments.
The company also forecast current-quarter revenue of $177 million to $184 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect $194 million. Get the full story »
OfficeMax 4Q profit beats expectations
Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit Wednesday as tight cost controls offset weak sales. Get the full story »
Deere raises forecast as fiscal 1Q profit doubles
Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. reported a doubling of quarterly profit Wednesday amid strong North American sales of large, high-margin machines and price increases, and lifted its full-year profit forecast.
The world’s largest maker of tractors and combines earned $513 million, or $1.20 per share, in the first quarter ended Jan. 31, up from $243.2 million, or 57 cents per share a year earlier. Get the full story »
Mortgage applications fall to 18-month low
The volume of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week fell a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday, as higher interest rates versus late last year discouraged recent activity.
Refinance activity was down 11 percent to its lowest reading since the week ending July 3, 2009, according to the MBA’s weekly survey, which covers more than half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. Purchasing activity fell 0.9 percent in the week ended Friday. Get the full story »
Dominick’s shelf tags to help with healthy choices
Dominick’s parent Safeway is launching a labeling system Wednesday that highlights certain foods based on a 22 ingredients including whole grains or nutritional benefits such as reduced sodium.
Dubbed SimpleNutrition, the program uses green shelf tags to highlight 15 to 20 percent of a store’s food products, based on a variety of criteria. Get the full story »
United grounds 757s to check air-data software
United Airlines has grounded its fleet of 96 Boeing 757s after determining that the planes’ air data computer software did not comply with a Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directive.
United began testing its 757s late Tuesday afternoon and may delay or cancel flights until the process is completed in 12 to 24 hours, said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy. The software checks take approximately 60 to 90 minutes per plane.
“We apologize for any inconvenience and ask customers to check their flights status on United.com before going to the airport,” McCarthy said. As of 6 p.m. Central time, United had canceled only seven flights on its Tuesday schedule, according to FlightStats.com.
United is scrambling to comply with a 2004 FAA airworthiness directive that spelled out software and hardware changes for air-data computer systems in Boeing 757, 767 and 747 aircraft. “This action is necessary to ensure that the flight crew is able to silence an erroneous overspeed or stall aural warning,” the directive stated.
On a routine maintenance check Tuesday, United discovered that it hadn’t followed all of the steps mandated by the FAA to address safety concerns with the 757 flight computers that measure air speed and monitor atmospheric conditions.
United installed the software required by federal regulators in 2004 but hadn’t performed all of the necessary checks. The 757s’ air data computer systems have been “fully functional,” McCarthy said.
Chicago-based United acted voluntarily and not at the behest of federal regulators, said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory.
The action does not affect Boeing 757 aircraft flown by Continental Airlines, which merged with United in October. The two continue to operate separately and won’t combine fleets, flight crews and maintenance stations until they gain a single operating certificate from the FAA.
United’s action is not related to electrical shorts that have caused some 757 windshields to crack, said FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown, referring to another issue that has made headlines in the last year.
jjohnsson@tribune.com
Lampert, hedge fund take 5.8% Gap stake
Wall Street Journal | ESL Partners, the hedge fund run by Sears Holdings Chairman Edward Lampert, has taken a 5.8 percent stake in Gap Inc., according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Dell leaves fiscal 4Q forecasts in dust
Dell Inc.’s quarterly earnings and margins blew past Wall Street’s expectations as component costs slid and corporations replaced aging technology, propelling its shares 6 percent higher.
Dell, which is trying to shed a reputation for specializing in low-margin computers, still pulls in most of its revenue from personal computers. It has benefited from a surge in spending as businesses of all sizes buy equipment after two years of recession. Get the full story »
Feb. 15 at 3:54 p.m.
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Filed under: Bankruptcy, Media, Newspapers, Philanthropy, Radio, TV Tribune Co. reorganization plans draw new fire
Bloomberg News | The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, onetime one of the largest shareholders in Tribune Co., opposes the remaining two reorganization plans for the media giant, because neither would end lawsuits against shareholders, including the foundation, that made billions of dollars in the company’s leveraged buyout.
Freezing weather knocks ‘T’ out of BLTs
Freezing weather across the South and Mexico recently damaged such crops as tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers, leading to shortages and price increases. It’s left some restaurants scrambling to revamp such staples as sandwiches and salads.
“It’s sort of like the perfect storm — Florida, Texas and Mexico all get hit with unseasonably cold weather, which decreased the yields of tomatoes and cucumbers,” said Gary Karp, executive vice president for Technomic, a food market-research firm. “It’s going to take about 60 days or so before new tomatoes and other replacement products can come to market.” Get the full story »
Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas ask for rate hikes
Chicago natural gas customers could see their bills go up by more than $100 a year in 2012 under a rate hike proposal that Peoples Gas filed Tuesday with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, subsidiaries of the Integrys Energy Group, said they are asking for higher rates to offset increased delivery costs. Peoples Gas is asking for a hike that would tack on about $9 per month to a typical small residential customer’s bill, adding up to $108 a year. The increase applies only to the delivery charge, with the cost of natural gas and taxes remaining the same, the utility said in a statement.
In the case of North Shore Gas, the utility is seeking a rate adjustment that would mean a $3 monthly increase for the typical customer, or roughly $36 a year. Get the full story »
Target to open in old Carson’s building
Outside the former Carson Pirie Scott building on State Street. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
Target Corp. announced on Tuesday long-anticipated plans to open a store in Chicago’s Loop.
The store, called City Target, will lease space in the Sullivan Center at 1 S. State St., which has been empty since Carson Pirie Scott closed its flagship department store in 2007.
Target plans to open the store next year. The urban format, smaller than the typical Target store, will offer fresh food, apartment essentials and clothing. It will mark the Minneapolis-based discount chain’s 10th store in Chicago and create about 200 jobs.
Get the full story »
