Facebook, the world’s No. 1 Internet social network, experienced technical difficulties Thursday that made its website slow or inaccessible to some of its 500 million users. Get the full story »
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U. of C. law professor stops blogging after outcry
Todd Henderson. (University of Chicago photo)
A law professor at the University of Chicago, where President Barack Obama once taught, is sorry he ever complained about the president’s tax policies.
Todd Henderson last week wrote on a blog about the effect the expiring Bush tax cuts would have on his family. He said his family, whose household income is north of $250,000, could not afford higher taxes. His wife is a doctor at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
“A quick look at our family budget, which I will happily share with the White House, will show him that like many Americans, we are just getting by despite seeming to be rich. We aren’t,” Henderson wrote on the blog “Truth on the Market.” Get the full story »
Dominick’s to introduce online coupon program
Dominick’s is rolling out an online coupon program today that sorts, organizes and personalizes offers for its loyalty-card members.
The program, called “Just For U,” is designed to create a centralized location for customers to store coupons. Members will receive personalized offers based on purchase history, gleaned use of Dominick’s Fresh Values Card. Get the full story »
Chicago home sales rise 1.3% in August
The local home sales market failed to regain its momentum in August after tumbling in July, according to new data released Thursday by the Illinois Association of Realtors.
Sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in the Chicago area rose a scant 1.3 percent in August to 5,561 homes sold, but were still down 19.6 percent from the 7,008 homes sold in August 2009. Get the full story »
Potash Corp sues BHP to block takeover bid
Potash Corp. said Wednesday it filed a lawsuit against BHP Billiton that seeks to block the mining giant’s $39 billion hostile bid for the Canadian fertilizer producer.
The lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court alleges that BHP misrepresented and failed to inform investors about material facts, and it accuses BHP of engaging in fraudulent, deceptive and manipulative behavior related to its offer. Get the full story »
Sep. 21, 2010 at 3:34 p.m.
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Filed under: Credit Cards, Credit repair, Litigation, Updated Shareholder sues to bar Discover’s Citi deal
A Student Loan Corp. shareholder has sued to block the sale of the company by majority owner Citigroup Inc. because it benefits the Wall Street bank at the expense of minority investors, according to a lawsuit.
Citigroup, which owns 80 percent of the Stamford, Connecticut-based student lender, agreed last week to sell it to Discover Financial Services for $600 million. Get the full story »
Sep. 21, 2010 at 9:52 a.m.
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Filed under: Jobs/employment, Layoffs, M&A, Pharmaceuticals, Updated Abbott to cut 3,000 jobs globally, none in Lake Co.
Drug and medical product giant Abbott Laboratories said this morning it would cut about 3,000 jobs worldwide. But there will be no reductions in Lake County, home to the company’s sprawling Abbott Park headquarters.
The cuts, which amount to about 3 percent of its global workforce, come in the wake of its acquisition earlier this year of Solvay SA’s drug business. Abbott has 93,000 employees worldwide, including 13,000 in Illinois that are largely at its campus just east of the Tri-State Tollway. Get the full story »
Fish or frankenfish? U.S. weighs altered salmon
AquaBounty salmon, rear, have an added growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon to a normal Atlantic salmon, front, that results in a transeni salmon that grown to market size in about half the time as a normal salmon. (AquaBounty/MCT)
Genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as the conventional fish appears to be safe, an advisory committee told the Food and Drug Administration Monday. But they argued that more testing may be needed before it is served on the nation’s dinner tables.
Sep. 20, 2010 at 5:15 p.m.
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Filed under: Agriculture/Farming, Government, M&A, Manufacturing, Updated BHP CEO fails to win premier’s support on Potash
BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers visited the home city of Potash Corp. on Monday but failed to win the support of the provincial premier for its $39 billion offer to take over the world’s largest fertilizer supplier.
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said he still has concerns about BHP’s proposal after meeting with Kloppers, who sought to bolster the chances that Canada would approve the bid by winning the province’s support. Get the full story »
Sep. 20, 2010 at 4:49 p.m.
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Filed under: Economy, Housing, Mortgages, Real estate, Updated U.S. homebuilder sentiment stays in doldrums
U.S. home-builder sentiment remained stuck at a 1-1/2-year low in September, the latest suggestion the sector is in for a painful and prolonged climb back to health.
The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo said Monday that their Housing Market Index for single family homes held for the second straight month at 13 — the lowest level since March 2009. Economists had expected the index to edge up to 14.
A reading above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor. The index has not been above 50 since April 2006. Get the full story »
Bridgeport couple sued for housing discrimination
Radio personality and comedian George Willborn arriving at a press conference to talk about the discrimination suit on Aug. 26, 2010. (Heather Charles/Chicago Tribune)
The federal government filed a civil lawsuit Monday against a couple living in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood and their real estate agent, for allegedly refusing to sell their home to an African-American family.
The filing, made in U.S. District Court in Chicago, names as defendants Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia; their real estate agent, Jeffrey Lowe; and Midwest Realty Ventures, which does business as Prudential Rubloff Properties.
The lawsuit was expected. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development originally filed a federal housing discrimination complaint last month against the parties after it determined that Chicago radio personality George Willborn’s failed efforts to buy the Sabbias’ home was the result of housing discrimination. The case was moved to the Justice Department in late August. Get the full story »
Sep. 20, 2010 at 10:42 a.m.
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Filed under: Personnel moves, Technology, Telecommunications, Updated, Wireless Verizon names McAdam COO, likely next CEO
Lowell C. McAdam. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Verizon Communications said on Monday it named Lowell McAdam its president and chief operating officer, setting the veteran executive up as the successor to Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg.
McAdam, currently chief executive of Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon and Vodafone Group Plc, will take up his new role October 1. Get the full story »
Economic panel says recession ended in June 2009
Michigan residents at a job fair in Southfield, Mich., Aug. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The Great Recession ended in June 2009, according to the body charged with dating when economic downturns begin and end. But the news comes amid rising fears of a double-dip recession.
The National Bureau of Economic Research, an independent group of economists, released a statement Monday saying economic data now clearly points to the economy turning higher last summer. That makes the 18-month recession that started in December 2007 the longest and deepest downturn for the U.S. economy since the Great Depression. Get the full story »
Sep. 17, 2010 at 5:38 p.m.
Filed under: Bankruptcy, Litigation, Media, Newspapers, Radio, TV, Updated Two Tribune creditors file own reorganization plan
Two of the largest senior creditors in Tribune Co.’s bankruptcy case filed a plan of reorganization in Delaware bankruptcy court Friday, providing an alternative solution to the management plan that has been in place since earlier this year.
The move makes allies out of two distressed debt hedge funds, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Oaktree Capital Management, that had until recently been at odds with each other. And it comes in advance of a court-ordered mediation that is scheduled to begin Sept. 26. Get the full story »
Obama chooses Warren to launch consumer bureau
President Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren on Sept. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, appointed Friday to launch the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, likely won’t be the agency’s first official director, but she will have a major say in who gets the powerful job.
Warren also will have a broader portfolio of duties, advising President Obama on “policies and programs that are designed to protect the financial interests of middle-class families,” the White House said.
