ChicagoBusiness.com Breaking News

SuperComm hangs up McCormick Place show

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:01:00 EST

(Crain’s) – The SuperComm telecommunications trade show scheduled for later this year at McCormick Place has been called off. The telecommunications and digital-technology trade show, which had been slated to be held Oct. 26-28, was canceled after the show sponsors and manager — ...

Playboy shareholder sues founder Hefner for holding company back

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:47:00 EST

(Crain's) — A Playboy Enterprises Inc. shareholder has sued Hugh Hefner, claiming the Playboy founder’s lavish lifestyle is standing in the way of the ailing media company’s rescue. David Brown of Los Angeles filed his suit Monday in Superior Court of California. He is seeking class ...

Ill. teachers' fund gets $1.22B from state

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:04:00 EST

(Crain's) — Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, Springfield, received a $1.22 billion contribution from the state, part of the proceeds of a $3.466 billion pension obligation bond sale, said Stan Rupnik, acting executive director and chief investment officer of the $30 billion fund. About ...

Kraft, ADM and Sara Lee CEOs join Michelle Obama's campaign to fight childhood obesity

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:41:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Irene Rosenfeld, Brenda Barnes and Patricia Woertz are among the food industry CEOs who have pledged to support first lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity. On Tuesday, Ms. Obama launched the “Let’s Move” campaign, and the heads of Illinois-based ...

Q Interactive CEO Wise departs for Detroit

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:40:00 EST

(Crain's) — Matt Wise, CEO of Chicago-based Q Interactive LLC, has been hired to lead ePrize LLC, a Detroit area online promotions and sweepstakes giant. Mr. Wise is replacing founder Josh Linkner effective March 1. Mr. Linkner, who founded the Pleasant Ridge-based company in 1999, will ...

United fuels surge in airline stocks

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:17:00 EST

(Reuters) — Shares of U.S. airlines surged 6.4 percent on Tuesday, in the biggest one-day percentage jump since September 10, after United Airlines reported unit revenue in January that blew past Wall Street estimates, suggesting the sector's long-awaited recovery is gaining steam. "The ...

Kraft closing Cadbury plant that was slated to shutter

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:48:00 EST

(AP) — Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday that it will close Cadbury's Somerdale plant in the United Kingdom as the British candy company originally planned, saying the plans were too far advanced to reverse. Kraft, which got final approval this month to acquire Cadbury, previously said it hoped ...

Allstate opening Texas call center

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:41:00 EST

(AP) — Allstate Insurance Co. is opening an $11.6 million customer call center in San Antonio. The complex, announced Tuesday, is expected to generate 600 jobs and help expand Allstate's operations in English and Spanish. Gov. Rick Perry says the state will invest $1.1 million through the ...

Caterpillar helps lift Dow 150 points

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:25:00 EST

(Crain's) — Caterpillar Inc., along with talk of help for Greece, gave the Dow Jones industrial average a much-needed boost Tuesday after a three-day trading slump that brought the index down. Shares in the Peoria-based manufacturer rose nearly 6% Tuesday trading after Morgan Stanley raised ...

Pat Ryan returns to insurance with launch of new firm

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:59:00 EST

BY STEVE DANIELS (Crain’s) — After leading Chicago’s unsuccessful effort to land the Olympics, Patrick Ryan is jumping into something he knows a lot better than the Byzantine politics of the International Olympics Committee — the insurance business. Mr. Ryan on Tuesday announced that ...

MillerCoors sees 4Q profit despite lower sales

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:38:00 EST

(AP) — The joint venture of SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing turned a fourth-quarter profit through cost savings, though the shaky economy cut into revenue from beer. "It's tough out there, and we saw the effect of ongoing economic pressure and unemployment on beer sales, especially in the ...

Zebra Technologies falls despite swing to profit in 4Q

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:14:00 EST

(Reuters) — Specialty business printers maker Zebra Technologies Corp. posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations helped by stronger customer demand across all geographies, and forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue. The company expects first-quarter earnings ...

Southwest stops flying during storm

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:24:00 EST

(AP) — Southwest Airlines has stopped all flights at Chicago's Midway International Airport as forecasters say a winter storm is expected to bring up to a foot of snow to parts of Illinois. As of 3:30 p.m., more than 600 flights have been canceled at the city's O'Hare International Airport ...

Morningstar buys SEC filing researcher

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST

(Crain’s) — Morningstar Inc. said Tuesday that it bought a business that looks for information in SEC filings that can signal serious problems at companies. Chicago-based Morningstar did not disclose terms of its acquisition of Footnoted.org and Footnoted Pro, which had been part of ...

City gets title to cemetery for O'Hare runway

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:39:00 EST

(Crain’s) — The city of Chicago was given title Monday to St. Johannes Cemetery, which sits in the middle of a long-delayed O'Hare International Airport runway project. DuPage County Circuit Court gave the city a quick-take order, allowing it to become the sole owner of the cemetery in ...

McDonald's same-store sales fall in U.S. in January, rise overall

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:18:00 EST

(Crain’s) — McDonald’s Corp.’s U.S. comparable sales fell in January despite the introduction of a new snack wrap and breakfast Dollar Menu. The Oak Brook-based chain’s U.S. sales fell 0.7%, its third decline in the past four months. McDonald’s global comparable sales increased 2.6% ...

United Airlines sees January traffic rise

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

(AP) — United Airlines said Monday that January traffic rose, and it collected more revenue from each passenger. United said it collected 9.5 percent to 11.5 percent more for each passenger flown one mile in January compared with January 2009. Throughout last year airlines struggled to ...

State Farm claims it warned feds of Toyota problem in '07

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:45:00 EST

(Reuters) — Private insurer State Farm informed a U.S. government regulator of a worrying trend of vehicle-caused accidents involving Toyota Motor Corp. as far back as late 2007, an official at the company said. "When you start to see significant claims activity that indicates that there may ...

Feds eye traffic restrictions through Chicago locks to keep out Asian carp

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:12:00 EST

(Crain's) — The federal government is weighing a decision to restrict opening of Chicago navigational locks to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan. Barge traffic would be limited to specific times when fish poison or other treatment could be applied at the same time to stop the invasive fish ...

Derivatives banned from Ill. public pension funds under proposed bill

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:22:00 EST

(Crain's) — An Illinois bill would ban the state's public pension funds from any investments that trade derivatives in non-public markets and would require divestment of any such existing derivative investment within one year of the bill's effective date. The bill, introduced by state Rep. ...