Category: Business

By Jane M. Von Bergen, The Philadelphia Inquirer – PHILADELPHIA — Given the growth of China’s robust economy, the Chinese clearly know how to make money. They aren’t quite as good at giving…

George C. Ford, CR Gazette – “The one thing we seem to have in abundance out here is wind,” said Tim Bradshaw, Eastern Iowa Airport director. And with that gift from Mother Nature comes…

By Paul Brand, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – QUESTION: I purchased a new 2012 V-6 Ford Escape. The vehicle is just over halfway to the 5,000-mile oil and filter change recommended by the dealer…

By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Dish Network subscribers who love AMC’s “Breaking Bad” may be out of luck if a feud between the satellite broadcaster and the cable…

By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times – SAN FRANCISCO — California has a friend who’s about to write a hefty personal check that could help ease the state budget crunch. Mark Zuckerberg, the…

By Alfonso Chardy, McClatchy Newspapers – MIAMI — A report that Swedish furniture and housewares company IKEA employed Cuban prisoners to build tables and sofas in the 1980s has provoked a strong reaction…

By Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — Will the world be tapping methane hydrates deep in the permafrost and off the edges of continents decades from now? Part of the answer will…

By Wendy Lee, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — Sure, you can “like” a store on Facebook, but you can’t easily tell all your friends you “want” that new pair of jeans, “love”…

By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — Bil MacLeslie can’t get his own company’s Internet service at home anymore. In March, MacLeslie got a notice from telephone company CenturyLink. It said…

By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times – SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. and other big tech firms may operate thousands of miles from the nation’s capital but they’re not beyond the reach of…

By Jeffrey Tomich, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – ST. LOUIS — From oil fields to wind turbines to coal mines, size and scale rule the economics of energy. But the nuclear industry is thinking…

Tom Webb, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. – Target Corp. says it will no longer sell electronic gear made by archrival Amazon.com, including the popular e-reader, Kindle. The Minneapolis-based discounter cited a “conflict…

By Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — Racing to branch out from traditional personal computers where most of its chips are used, Intel Corp. is making a huge…

By Rita Giordano, The Philadelphia Inquirer – PHILADELPHIA — The community college is being asked to save America. But like a small-town fire department straining to contain a big-city blaze, community colleges…

By Cindy Krischer Goodman, McClatchy Newspapers – Overwhelmed with school exams, Tiffany Fernandez picked up her cellphone and did what any teen might do to let her boss know she can’t make…

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — Officials at mortgage giant Fannie Mae supported principal reductions for some struggling homeowners in 2009 and believed they would save taxpayer money, according…

By Claudia Buck, McClatchy Newspapers – Choosing a financial planner is a big decision. Here with some advice on what to consider is Kevin Young, a certified financial planner in Davis, Calif.,…

By David Sarno, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — The Kindle Fire appears to be burning up its competition — on the Android side, anyway. Amazon.com Inc.’s tablet computer is catching…

By Walter Hamilton, Jim Puzzanghera and Andrew Tangel, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Lawmakers and others say disclosure at financial institutions should be beefed up. Calls for reforming Wall Street…

By Betty Lin-Fisher, Akron Beacon Journal – AKRON, Ohio — Charles and Helen Williams have seen the rapidly falling prices of natural gas. But the couple heat their rural Copley Township, Ohio,…

By Andrew Dunn, McClatchy Newspapers – CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Pue family business lives by its line of credit. Air compressors need to be bought and sold, stacks of metal wires and springs…

By Larry Printz, The Virginian-Pilot – You might call Nissan’s newest trucklet, the 2012 Nissan Juke, ugly. Or the Nissan Joke. Really. As I first sized up the Juke, thoughts flooded my head,…

By Tom Hudson, McClatchy Newspapers – Baseball fans know not to get too excited if their team wins a lot of games in the spring. Athletes are healed and fresh out of…

By Andrew Dunn, McClatchy Newspapers – CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the time came late last year for David Settle to refinance a loan on his heating and air conditioning company’s building, he had…

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Vehicles are fetching record average prices of $30,748, up 6.9 percent from a year ago, but don’t blame the automakers. This is not a…

By Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – YORK, Pa. — For a look at what’s to come for Harley-Davidson Inc., the best place to start is the company’s largest motorcycle factory, where change…

George C. Ford, CR Gazette – Principal Financial Group, with operations in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, on Friday reported higher first-quarter net income and operating revenues. The Des Moines-based insurance and financial…

By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times – SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. fired back Thursday at the Federal Communications Commission, saying it did not obstruct an investigation into its Street View service…

By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times – BEIJING — Fuel-efficient vehicles are the rage in the United States, but in China gas-guzzling SUVs are looming large. Automakers including Ford Motor Co., Chrysler…

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — It could still be a while before Chrysler builds Jeeps or any other vehicle in China. Fiat, which manages Chrysler, has a new…

By David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times – American Airlines has spent the week trying to persuade a bankruptcy judge to allow it to chuck all its labor contracts and put the squeeze…

By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Chrysler Group LLC reported its third consecutive quarterly profit and logged its best financial performance in more than a decade, a turbulent…

By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve upgraded its outlook for the economy, predicting the unemployment rate would fall to as low as 7.8 percent in the…

By Jessica Guynn, Los Angeles Times – SAN FRANCISCO — As it closes in on 1 billion users, Facebook Inc. has formed partnerships with five security software outfits to crack down on…

By Mike Swift, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — Google is taking the wraps off a long-anticipated product that it views as one of its most important launches of…

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press – BEIJING — Ford Motor Co.’s China strategy centers on four new SUVs as that segment gains traction in the world’s largest auto market, and it…