By Reuters
A U.S. labor economist awarded the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday said a “dysfunctional” lending environment has made it hard for small service businesses — the source of most jobs — to finance hiring.
Northwestern University professor Dale Mortensen, whose work focused on labor market inefficiencies that make it difficult for workers to match up to job openings, said employers have fewer jobs to offer and government can do only so much about it.
“To bring unemployment down we need to create service jobs,” Mortensen said, speaking to reporters from Aarhus University in Denmark, where he is a visiting faculty member. Get the full story »
Oct. 11, 2010 at 5:30 a.m.
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Markets: Bond markets closed for Columbus Day
Oct. 8, 2010 at 6:21 a.m.
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Reports: Labor Department September employment data 7:30 a.m.
Commerce Department wholesale sales and inventories 9 a.m.
IMF annual meeting begins
Earnings: Midwest Banc Holdings
Oct. 1, 2010 at 5:23 a.m.
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Reports: Personal income and consumer spending data for August, 7:30 a.m.; consumer sentiment index, 8:45 a.m.; Institute for Supply Management’s September manufacturing index, 9 a.m.; construction spending, 9 a.m.
Earnings: GM, 9:45 a.m.
Sep. 30, 2010 at 6:09 p.m.
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Franchises,
Health care,
Insurance,
Restaurants
By Bruce Japsen
A dispute between McDonald’s Corp. and the federal government over a new health care reform requirement is giving a peek into the potential complexities that the massive new law will have on companies. Get the full story »
Sep. 29, 2010 at 1:30 p.m.
Filed under:
Exchanges,
Investing
Bloomberg News | Gold futures rose to a record for the ninth time since mid-September as the slumping dollar boosted demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver reached the highest price since 1980. Get the full story »
Sep. 29, 2010 at 8:33 a.m.
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By McClatchy Tribune Newspapers
Four of 28 passengers died and 20 others were injured on a Sept. 10 Philadelphia-to-Toronto Megabus a trip that went disturbingly wrong for reasons investigators still are trying to determine.
That “horrible … tragic” crash, in which the bus slammed into a railroad bridge 3-feet too low for the bus to clear, put “a certain focus by the public on us,” said Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer of Megabus’ parent company, CoachUSA. Megabus operates several routes in and out of Chicago and Get the full story »
Sep. 29, 2010 at 6:31 a.m.
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By Reuters
Nintendo Co Ltd said on Wednesday the launch of its 3D-capable DS handheld game player will miss the busy year-end holiday shopping season, forcing Japan’s leading game machine maker to slash its full-year profit forecast by one-third. Get the full story »
Sep. 28, 2010 at 9:21 a.m.
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Real estate
By Reuters
(Reuters)
Single-family home prices dipped in July, hovering above multi-year lows absent the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April, according a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price report on Tuesday.
The home price index for the Chicago area rose a modest 1 percent in July after a 2.5 percent gain in June.
High U.S. unemployment and millions of foreclosed homes and distressed borrowers keep stalling a home price recovery, overshadowing high affordability and record low mortgage rates, economists agree. Get the full story »
Sep. 28, 2010 at 7:52 a.m.
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By Bruce Japsen
Northwestern Memorial Hospital and affiliated doctor groups are discussing a major restructuring to help its doctors and facilities better prepare for the health overhaul law and put the academic medical center in the nation’s top tier, according to sources and a document obtained by the Tribune.
Called “Northwestern Medicine,” the new structure being pursued is being designed to be more nimble when it comes to contracting with health insurance companies who pay the hospital and doctors as well as making business decisions when it comes to recruiting physicians or obtaining grant money, these sources said. Get the full story »
Sep. 28, 2010 at 6:19 a.m.
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By Dow Jones Newswires
JPMorgan Chase & Co. faces a legal challenge next month that could cast doubt on thousands of foreclosures after a mortgage executive at the bank said she didn’t verify documents used to justify home seizures. Get the full story »
Sep. 27, 2010 at 4:06 p.m.
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Problem Solver Jon Yates has received several e-mails from online readers upset that the newspaper disabled the comments section on the web version of Sunday’s column about Jennifer Fastwolf.
Why were the comments halted? Get the full story »
Sep. 24, 2010 at 1:04 p.m.
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By Reuters
A commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission questioned on Friday the value of saddling high-frequency trading firms with tighter market-making rules, a key response to the May “flash crash.” Get the full story »
Sep. 17, 2010 at 10:10 a.m.
Filed under:
Entertainment,
Retail
By Phil Rosenthal
Deerfield-based Walgreens and the syndicated “The Dr. Oz Show” from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions are teaming on a multi-platform campaign to encourage flu vaccinations.
Sep. 17, 2010 at 5:51 a.m.
Filed under:
Consumer news,
Government
By Associated Press
Elizabeth Warren, Obama's choice to head new U.S. consumer agency. (AP)
The Harvard professor President Barack Obama is putting in charge of a new consumer protection agency says people need a “tough cop on the beat” to protect them from financial industry abuses.
Obama was naming Elizabeth Warren on Friday as a special adviser to both him and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The financial regulatory bill Obama signed into law this year created the bureau to be an advocate for consumers in their dealings with banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions.
