Category: Business

By: Emily McMahon Recent press reports have glossed over a number of central facts when describing how federal tax laws were applied to companies that received government assistance during the financial crisis.  These…

By Gary M. Singer, Sun Sentinel – QUESTION: My dad passed away four years ago, and my mom was scraping by working at a department store until recently, when she had to stop…

By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Drawn by unseasonably warm weather across much of the country, shoppers hit the malls in February with their wallets open and handed retailers…

MCT FORUM, By Barry Goldman – I mediated a case some years ago between a small general contractor and a carpenter. The carpenter had done some work for the contractor, and the contractor…

George C. Ford, CR Gazette – CORALVILLE — Costco Wholesale, the world’s largest wholesale membership club, has set a June 29 opening date for its Coralville location in a former Amana refrigerator…

By Steve Johnson, San Jose Mercury News – SAN JOSE, Calif. — Smartphone owners can surf the Web, pay bills, watch videos, enjoy music and send email. But while their gadgets have been…

By Brier Dudley, The Seattle Times – SEATTLE — Step into Amazon.com’s gleaming new headquarters in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood, and you may wonder if the place is still under construction. The…

By Corilyn Shropshire, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — A new survey of mid-sized nonprofits with revenues ranging between $1 million and $5 million found that they lag in financial knowledge and cash reserves….

By Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — U.S. banks ended 2011 on a roll, a government regulator reported Tuesday, with profits up sharply from a year earlier and over the entire…

By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — A Wall Street rally that few expected has carried the Dow Jones index above 13,000 for the first time in nearly four years,…

By Don Lee, Tribune Washington Bureau – WASHINGTON — The recent acceleration in hiring may have brightened consumers’ spirits and the recovery’s outlook, but professional forecasters still see just moderate growth ahead for…

By Lesley Clark and Renee Schoof, McClatchy Newspapers – WASHINGTON — With President Barack Obama under fire from Republicans over the rising cost of gasoline, the White House moved quickly Monday to trumpet…

By John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — If you want a lens through which to view Tuesday’s primary election in the state, it could be this one: How real is Michigan’s…

By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times – CHONGQING, China — Ford Motor Co.’s new factory in this smog-shrouded boomtown is the size of 17 football fields and cost nearly half a billion dollars….

By Scott Wilson, Los Angeles Times – Take a close look at your phone bill and you’ll find a list of taxes, fees and surcharges going by obscure and slightly mysterious names. Some…

By Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press – It is not often that I want to write Dear Abby a letter. But I sure wanted to jump into the conversation when I read an…

Kelli Lageson, Albert Lea Tribune, Minn. – Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin and Albert Lea will now share a chief executive officer, a decision made by both hospitals’ board of trustees. Dr….

By Andria Cheng, MarketWatch – NEW YORK — As crude oil prices reached a nine-month high on concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia has increased its crude exports, and the U.S. is…

By Andrea Sosa Cabrios – MEXICO CITY — The United States and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) called Saturday in Mexico City for higher firewalls as part of a…

DES MOINES – Iowa Workforce Development’s (IWD) job bank at www.iowajobs.org has doubled in the last year thanks to a unique partnership with the Direct Employer’s Association. IWD is able to use state of…

By Eileen Ambrose, The Baltimore Sun – Stef Gray recently delivered a petition to Sallie Mae’s Washington office, asking the giant private lender to eliminate a fee that unemployed college graduates must pay…

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Samsung Electronics Co. is spinning off its LCD display manufacturing business and merging with its smaller LED display unit in a move that…

By Andria Cheng, MarketWatch – NEW YORK — As crude oil prices reached a nine-month high on concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, Saudi Arabia has increased its crude exports, and the U.S. is…

DAVENPORT, Iowa (February 21, 2012) – Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE: LEE has received notification that it has returned to compliance with the New York Stock Exchange’s share price standard. In a letter…

By Alan J. Heavens, The Philadelphia Inquirer – PHILADELPHIA — Americans are graduating from college today with mountains of debt that will take years to dig out from under. Two-thirds of 2011…

President Obama visited Miami this week to talk about why rising gas prices are yet another painful reminder of why developing new energy sources is so critical to our future. As he…

By Chuck Myers, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – A Qualified Tuition Plan, commonly known as a 529 college savings plan, can help families to put money away for a child’s future college education. A…

By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — Santa Monica, Calif., precious metals dealer Goldline International Inc., one of the nation’s largest gold retailers, has resolved a criminal prosecution by agreeing…

By Jim Puzzanghera and Kathleen Hennessey, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 35 percent shows a growing consensus in…

Dave DeWitte, CR Gazette – Sears appears to be on its way out at Coral Ridge Mall after the retailer sold its Coral Ridge store – and 10 other Sears spaces at…

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch – NEW YORK — U.S. stocks on Wednesday retreated after a three-session winning run, with equities taking a break from an advance that sent the S&P 500 Index up…

By Gary M. Singer, Sun Sentinel – For the first few months that I wrote this column, I would consistently hear from my editor that a bank is not a “they” but rather…

By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel – FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Finding a bank-owned home for sale these days is hard enough. Actually buying one is an even bigger problem. Last year the supply…

By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune – CHICAGO — When Tracey and Todd Fine were engaged, they purchased a two-bedroom condo in Chicago’s East Ukrainian Village. The price was high, but given the…

By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch – HONG KONG — A closely watched gauge of Chinese factory activity rose to a four-month high in February but remained at levels that indicate modest contraction, while underlying…

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac wants to shrink the seized housing-finance giants gradually and create a new market for mortgage-backed securities…

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Europe’s ailing currency union approved its second bailout for Greece in less than two years, signing off on a $170 billion rescue package early…

By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — The Food and Drug Administration has moved to increase the supplies of two needed cancer-treatment drugs and on Tuesday issued a draft guidance…

By Hugo Martin, Los Angeles Times – The latest federal statistics that measure the performance of the nation’s airlines offered some good news for passengers and some bad. First the good news: In…

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – LOS ANGELES — AeroShot Pure Energy, the inhalable caffeine product that went on sale last month, will be investigated by Food and Drug Administration officials concerned…