Chicago Business News

Memorial Day kicks tourism season into higher gear

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Hotel bookings are up 10 percent from 2011, even as one survey demotes Chicago to second place among top destinations this holiday weekend.

Crown family member in middle of JPMorgan firestorm

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Changes are in the offing for the JPMorgan Chase board committee, chaired by prominent Chicagoan James Crown, that's responsible for overseeing the New York-based giant's risk policies.

Old Navy moving to smaller State Street digs: report

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — The retailer will find a new home in the former Borders store at Randolph and State streets, a block from its current location, the Tribune reports.

Madison Dearborn adds retailer to its mix

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Chicago's biggest private equity firm purchased Things Remembered for $295 million, bagging the Ohio company for its relatively small consumer portfolio.

Groupon testing credit card reader

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — It's the latest move to provide more to merchants than just daily deals, and it will put Groupon in competition with new foes.

Carrying on? Do it with the right kind of bag

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:45:00 -0400

The right piece of carry-on luggage—durable, spacious and stylish—can go a long way toward making a business trip less stressful.

CME declares 5-for-1 stock split to attract new investors

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — The U.S. exchange operator is battling to shore up trading volumes amid new competition.

Typical CEO made $9.6M last year, AP study finds

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 -0400

(AP) — Among the Chicago-area CEOs on the top-50 list: chiefs of Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, Abbott and Boeing.

Illinois lawmakers slash Medicaid

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00:00 -0400

(AP) — It's part of a package meant to fill a Medicaid shortfall of $2.7 billion, or nearly $1 in every $5 the program spends.

Aurora OKs electricity contract with Ohio company

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — West suburban Aurora, Illinois' second-largest city, Thursday approved a two-year deal with an Akron, Ohio-based company to provide electricity to its nearly 200,000 residents.

Caterpillar snags $776 million construction equipment deal

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Caterpillar Inc. won a six-year federal contract worth up to $776 million for commercial construction equipment, the Pentagon announced late Thursday.

Theravance licenses antibiotic tech to Hospira

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — Biopharmaceutical company Theravance Inc said it licensed its technology to manufacture antibiotic Vibativ to specialty medicines maker Hospira Inc.

CFTC sues ex-Chicago broker, alleging Ponzi scheme

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sued a former Chicago floor broker, claiming he ran a four-year Ponzi scheme and fraudulently solicited at least $7.8 million to trade commodity futures contracts.

Citadel lost $30 million in Facebook fiasco: source

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — Citadel Securities' market-making business lost around $30 million due to Facebook Inc's botched initial public offering on Nasdaq OMX Group Inc's U.S. stock exchange, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.

Sun-Times owner: 'We're not buying the Trib'

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — The Chicago Sun-Times plans to beef up sports coverage, carry new columns written by celebrities and add a Monday business section in an effort to attract 100,000 new subscribers over the next two years.

10 Things to do this weekend

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:30:00 -0400

REMINISCE. The Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's run of "TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE" at the MAC at College of DuPage comes to an end this weekend.

Anti-obesity proposal fails again at McDonald's

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — McDonald's Corp investors soundly rejected a shareholder proposal that would have required the world's biggest fast-food chain to assess its impact on childhood obesity.

Microsoft wins ruling against Motorola over texting

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:00 -0400

(Reuters) — A German regional court ruled in a hearing on Thursday that Motorola Mobility infringed Microsoft patents by offering the option on its mobile phones to send a longer text in a batch of several messages.

Dental implant groups fight over name as business grows

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — A Chicago-based association for implant dentists sues a Florida upstart group in a case that highlights the booming specialty.

News briefs: Advocate operating income takes hit from expenses

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Also, a study finds that half of individual health insurance plans wouldn't meet new standards coming with the 2014 federal reforms, and Fresenius Medical Care is planning a new dialysis clinic in the southwest suburbs.

Sportscaster Mike North to write Daily Herald column

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:45:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Chicago radio personality Mike North will start writing a column twice a week for the Daily Herald.

Beware the 'bubblish' valuations of social-media startups

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — Groupon investor Peter Barris isn't worried about Facebook's wobbly IPO, but he sees a social-media investment bubble.

Is the tech-stock market deflating?

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 -0400

Is there a lesson for tech investors in Facebook's IPO? Perhaps we already learned what we needed to know months earlier during Groupon's public offering. But, instead, the market keeps taking investors back to school.

Columbia College considers selective admissions policy

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 -0400

(Crain's) — The school contemplates changing its long-standing "generous admissions policy" as it considers how it should operate in the future.