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Abbott's diet drug's risks have FDA's attention

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:14:00 EST

(Reuters) — U.S. regulators are reviewing preliminary data suggesting patients taking Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s weight loss drug Meridia may have a higher risk of cardiovascular problems, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. "The analysis of these data is ongoing and FDA is ...

Sun-Times Media names John Barron group publisher

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:53:00 EST

(AP) — Sun-Times Media Group Inc., which was recently sold out of bankruptcy to an investor group, said Friday it named John Barron to the newly created group publisher position. He was also named senior vice president of news and editorial operations. The owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and ...

Allstate outsources stock investing

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:20:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Allstate Corp. is getting out of the stock-picking business. The Northbrook-based insurance giant confirmed that it has hired Goldman Sachs Asset Management to handle its $4.6-billion portfolio of public equities. About 15 jobs — 5% of Allstate Investments’ workforce — ...

Kraft's Cadbury bid would be smothered by Hershey trust offer

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:47:00 EST

(Reuters) — U.S. chocolate maker Hershey Co. is considering launching a bid of at least $17 billion for British chocolatier Cadbury Plc as it seeks to trump a hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc., a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Hershey has lined up deal funding from Bank of ...

Will move to cable dampen 'Oprah effect'?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:24:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Oprah Winfrey's decision to end her long-running syndicated program is a bet on the future of TV — that niche cable channels, with their dual revenue streams from advertising and subscriptions, will be a more stable media base, and that technology will allow any content provider ...

De La Costa investor sues former partner for $3M

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:22:00 EST

(Crain’s) — An investor in the now-defunct De La Costa Restaurant is seeking nearly $3 million from his former partner, who recently pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. Michael Demnicki claims in a lawsuit that principal investors in De La Costa deliberately hid the restaurant’s ...

Oprah ends her show: '25 years feels right'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:41:00 EST

(AP) — Holding back tears, Oprah Winfrey told her studio audience Friday that she would end her show in 2011 after a quarter-century on the air, saying prayer and careful thought led her to her decision. Winfrey told the audience that she loved "The Oprah Winfrey Show," that it had been ...

Aon's Devine departs Risk Services unit

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:19:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Aon Corp. on Friday announced the sudden departure of Ted Devine, one of CEO Gregory C. Case’s key lieutenants. Effective immediately, Mr. Devine, 46, is leaving as president of Aon Risk Services, the Chicago firm’s core insurance brokerage unit, to launch a non-profit ...

Sun-Times' old stock ticker revived by new owner

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:09:00 EST

(AP) — Here's hoping this SVN has better luck. Less than a month after the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. was sold out of bankruptcy to a group of investors, a small part of the struggling media company is being reincarnated on the New York Stock Exchange. The owner of the Chicago ...

Burris admonished, but not punished by Senate ethics panel

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:59:00 EST

(AP) — The Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the seat once held by Barack Obama. The committee didn't recommend any punishment. ...

Motorola buys wireless tech unit from RadioFrame Networks

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:34:00 EST

(Reuters) - Motorola Inc. said on Friday it is buying privately held RadioFrame Networks' iDen wireless technology business to combine it into its own network equipment unit. Motorola, which invented the iDen mobile phone network technology, said RadioFrame's business would expand its portfolio ...

Oprah quitting her show in 2011

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:38:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Oprah Winfrey is tuning out of broadcast television. The host of her namesake show is calling it quits after its 25th season after her current contract ends, according to her Chicago-based production company. Harpo Inc. said Ms. Winfrey will make the announcement during ...

Banking veteran leading buyers toward Baytree

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST

(Crain’s) — A group led by a former senior vice-president at American Chartered Bank has applied to purchase troubled Lake Forest lender Baytree National Bank & Trust Co. Hinsdale-based EB Financial Group Inc., led by former commercial banker Michael Flynn, is pledging to pump at least ...

Kraft-Cadbury outcome could shuffle confectionary world order

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:10:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Cadbury is the chess piece that could determine who leads the world's confectionery market, depending on whose hands the company ends up in. If it lands in the portfolio of Kraft Foods Inc., that marketer would topple Mars from its perch as the globe's leading confectioner, a ...

TribCo.-owned Conn. paper sued for plagiarism

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:27:00 EST

(AP) — A small, family-owned Connecticut newspaper sued the state's largest newspaper Thursday, saying it repeatedly plagiarized stories after cutting its own reporting staff to save money. The Journal Inquirer of Manchester accuses the Hartford Courant of "pirating" at least 11 local news ...

Illinois unemployment hits 11%

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:25:00 EST

(AP) — Illinois' unemployment rate has hit its highest level since August 1983. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 11 percent in October. That's up from 10.5 percent in September, and it compares to a rate of 6.8 ...

MLB owners welcome Ricketts to the club

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:44:00 EST

(AP) — Major League Baseball owners, meeting in Chicago this week, welcomed new Chicago Cubs owner Thomas Ricketts. "It was very interesting. Once again, just learning," Ricketts said after emerging from the meeting. The Cubs, who drew over 3 million fans again last season, had the ...

Argonne lands $8.8M to research better electric car battery

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:33:00 EST

(AP) — A Chicago-area laboratory will get $8.8 million in federal stimulus cash to help find ways to make batteries more efficient for use in cars and other vehicles. The Argonne National Laboratory will use the funds to construct three battery research and development facilities. The ...

Boeing faces ultimatum from Ryanair over 200-jet order

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:28:00 EST

(Reuters) — Ryanair will wait until the end of November or very early in December to reach a deal with Boeing Co. on a fresh batch of aircraft orders, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said on Thursday. If no preliminary agreement is reached around the end of the month, ...

Majority of CF Industries' shareholders tender to Agrium bid; but takeover not over

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:33:00 EST

(Reuters) - Canadian fertilizer maker Agrium Inc. said on Thursday that 62 percent of CF Industries' shares have been tendered in favor of its nearly $5 billion hostile bid, but a different vote later in the week is more likely to determine the outcome of the drawn-out takeover battle. Terra ...