CME Group Inc. Executive Chairman Terry Duffy said a plan to allow U.S. futures regulators to charge user fees would harm U.S. exchanges trying to compete globally.
The proposal “could put us at the biggest disadvantage we’ve ever seen,” Duffy told reporters after a hearing in Washington. Get the full story »
Discover Card customers started off the year doing better at paying their bill.
Discover Financial Services said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it wrote off $90.3 million, or 5.75 percent of balances at an annualized rate, as uncollectible in January. That was down from $95.2 million, or 5.94 percent annualized, in December. Get the full story »
It’s Fifth Third in, Bank of America out, at CTA stops around Chicago.
Fifth Third Bank said it has been awarded the opportunity to install 63 automated teller machines in local CTA stops, giving the Cincinnati-based bank the biggest presence on the Chicago area’s train system. Installation of nearly all of the 63 have been completed in the past two months, Fifth Third said.
The number of ATMs at CTA stops has grown steadily since they were introduced in the system in 2003. Get the full story »
Starbucks announced Tuesday that it will partner with St. Louis-based Courtesy Products to provide its ground coffee in 500,000 hotel rooms in the U.S. and promised that more single-serve news to come.
The announcement follows rampant speculation as to which partner the Seattle-based coffee giant would select for its push into the single-serve coffee market, following a Chicago Tribune report on Sunday. Get the full story »
Retailers logged slight increases in store sales last month as consumers focused primarily on paying for groceries and gasoline, the government reported Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said total retail sales rose 0.3 percent last month. Get the full story »
Elite Street | By Bob Goldsborough | Former Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Scott Linebrink has listed his 11-room house in Hinsdale for $825,000.
The Sox traded Linebrink, 34, on Dec. 3 to the Atlanta Braves. Now, the middle reliever has decided to sell his home, which he bought in 2008 for $815,000. Get the full story »
Sanofi-Aventis SA and Genzyme Corp. have reached an agreement in principle under which Sanofi will acquire Genzyme for $74 a share in cash plus a right to future payments based on the performance of Genzyme’s experimental multiple sclerosis drug, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.
The deal is expected to be announced by Wednesday morning, the source said.
Drug and medical device maker Baxter International Inc. said Tuesday that its board declared a quarterly dividend of 31 cents per share.
The Deerfield-based company said the dividend is payable April 1 to shareholders of record as of the close of business March 10. Get the full story »
Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday that it is eliminating the expiration of miles accumulated under its SkyMiles loyalty program.
Previously, accrued miles under the program lapsed 24 months after a traveler’s last qualifying activity. Get the full story »
Warrenville-based truck and bus manufacturer Navistar International Corp. has named retired Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to its board. Get the full story »
Consumer credit default rates dropped in Chicago in January on a monthly and year-over-year basis, according to data released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s and Experian.
The two firms track default rates across lines of consumer credit such as first and second mortgages, bank cards and auto loans. Chicago is one of five major cities that the S&P/Experian index breaks out separately. In Chicago, the January default rate was 2.74 percent, a decline of 42 percent from January 2010 and down 12 percent from December 2010. Get the full story »
Tower Ticker | The Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago’s WGN Channel 9 said Tuesday that they have extended their broadcast partnership through the 2015-16 season.
The value of the deal was not announced.
The news comes a day after pro basketball’s Los Angeles Lakers announced a new 20-year local TV deal with Time Warner Cable that will take the franchise off over-the-air television beginning with the 2012-13 season, except for national network broadcasts.
Family photo of Chico, the 4-pound Chihuahua attacked by an owl. (AP Photo/Kalomiris family photo)
Little winter jackets for dogs aren’t just frivolous fashion accessories. They can save canines from, say, attacks by huge owls.
In the case of Chico, a 3-year-old chihuahua belonging to George and Dana Kalomiris of Crystal Lake, Ill., a winter jacket proved to be a lifesaver when a great horned owl tried to snatch the dog during a routine bathroom break.
According to the couple’s pet health insurance provider, Brea, Calif.-based Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the owl got tangled in the dog’s leash and eventually gave up its prey, but not before dragging Chico through the snow and piercing the dog’s side with one of its talons. The dog’s winter jacket protected him from a deeper wound by a second talon. Get the full story »
Apple is launching a long-awaited subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos and music bought through its iTunes App Store.
The plan calls for publishers to set the price and length of subscription, marking a break from the previous practice of “newsstand sales” under which each issue of a magazine, for instance, would be bought separately. Get the full story »
