Category: Business

By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times – WASHINGTON — Fitch Ratings said that there would be “no fiscal honeymoon” for President Barack Obama, warning early Wednesday that the U.S. probably would lose its

By Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press – It’s now a little easier to believe Ford’s promise to turn Lincoln into a legitimate luxury brand. Lincoln will launch the new 2013 MKZ sedan next

By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times – Bargains on bank-owned homes are quickly vanishing in the country’s most competitive markets. Since the start of the mortgage meltdown, repossessed homes have been considered the

By Everdeen Mason, Dayton Daily News – Honda has rebounded from the Great Recession and natural disasters, investing more heavily in North American operations than ever, but the company’s latest earnings report indicates

By Heather Somerville, San Jose Mercury News – The comeback story is rare in the dot-com world, but eBay is poised for a resurgence. As part of its reboot strategy, the company

By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times – If you’re wondering what happened to cheap U.S. fuel, look to Mexico, Canada and even OPEC member Venezuela. U.S. refiners are selling diesel and

By Gregory Karp, Chicago Tribune – ABOARD UA1116 — In a trip that was years in the making, United Airlines passengers Sunday got their first chance to experience the Boeing 787 Dreamliner,

By Salvador Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times – Apple Inc. kicked off sales of its new iPad mini and fourth-generation iPad tablets by moving 3 million units, combined, in the first weekend. The

By Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press – Everything changed Nov. 3, 1982, when the first U.S.-built Accord rolled off Honda’s brand-new assembly line in Ohio. It was a hugely disruptive moment, though no

By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times – Netflix Inc. adopted a stockholder rights plan to thwart hostile takeovers a week after activist investor Carl Icahn announced that he had

By Jeremy C. Owens, San Jose Mercury News – Apple’s share of the tablet market dropped dramatically in the most recent quarter as a new Kindle offering from Amazon.com and advanced adoption

By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times – American Suzuki Motor Corp. said Monday that it will file for bankruptcy protection and will stop selling cars in the U.S. The Brea, Calif.-based company plans

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – According to one gauge, Americans say their personal financial health is the best it’s been in years, even as the uncertainty of the presidential election looms

By Chuck Myers, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – Internet security should be a top concern for anyone who shops online, particularly during the holiday season. A simple mistake or assumption about a retail

By Claudia Buck, The Sacramento Bee – What happens when siblings don’t agree on dividing up their parents’ estate? That issue is addressed this week by Sacramento, Calif., estate planning attorney Kay

By Alisa Priddle, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Mark Fields has a higher probability of becoming Ford’s next CEO with his promotion to chief operating officer next month, but he will

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – Sharp Corp., once a titan among Japanese electronics manufacturers, now isn’t sure it will be able to crawl out of a financial pit made deeper

By Tom Hudson, The Miami Herald – In a week with millions of Americans coming to grips with a too-close-to-call election and the long road to recovery after Superstorm Sandy, a giant

By Gail MarksJarvis, Chicago Tribune – QUESTION: We are age 79 and 76, retired, in good health, and are fortunate to have enough money to live out long lives and probably leave

By Claudia Buck, The Sacramento Bee – Worried about how to protect your investments against inflation? That topic is addressed this week by investment adviser Tony Bell of Bell & Co. Private Wealth

By Dawn C. Chmielewski, Los Angeles Times – Teri Osborn vividly remembers the first time she appeared on television. “I was freaking out,” Osborn said. “I was calling my husband into the living

By Jennie Wong, The Charlotte Observer – You know that in order for your business to grow, you have to get the word out. You likely have business cards, print materials and a

By Liz Reyer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – QUESTION: I feel like I’m running on empty, with increasing expectations and not enough support. It’s getting hard to stay positive and motivate my team. What

By Ely Portillo, The Charlotte Observer – Holiday shopping is already upon us, with retailers gearing up for the crucial sprint from Halloween to Christmas, and Americans are expected to spend more on

By Chuck Myers, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – When financing a new car purchase through a dealer or a lending institution, a buyer should know all the ins and outs of securing an auto

By Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press – People talk and talk about the latte factor when it comes to saving money, believing that if you skip the $3.50 a day on fancy coffee,

By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Chrysler earned $381 million in the third quarter, an 80 percent improvement from a year earlier, the company said Monday, as both sales and

By Troy Wolverton, San Jose Mercury News – SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft on Monday attempted to jump-start its flagging smartphone efforts, launching a new version of its mobile operating system along with a

By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times – Shopping giant United Parcel Service Inc. said holiday shipping will jump 10 percent as consumers increasingly turn online to buy gifts for the season. The company

By Bill Ward, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — For years, we couldn’t get away from them, or at least get them unstuck from our craniums. They were mm-mm-good, the best part of

By Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times – “Rachel from Cardholder Services” may not be calling you anymore. A federal court order Thursday morning temporarily halted operations at five telemarketing firms that

By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press – DETROIT — Hurricane Sandy forced thousands of auto dealers in the Northeast to close, cutting industry sales by about 30,000 in the final days of

By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times – Shoppers handed retailers a healthy sales gain in October before Sandy pummeled the East Coast, but questions remain about how recovery efforts after the storm

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – Uncooperative weather has damaged grapes worldwide, causing global wine production to shrivel 6.1 percent to its lowest point since 1975, according to a Paris trade group.

By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times – One of the most popular new shows of the fall television season is NBC’s “Revolution,” a drama about post-apocalyptic America. But the real revolution is how

By Cindy Krischer Goodman, The Miami Herald – Ashley Maddox boards a bus and heads to work at a restaurant in Miami’s South Beach, a chore that can take up to 1 1/2

By Mark Davis, The Kansas City Star – Working up a holiday shopping list? New cellphone, iPad Mini, Netflix subscription — check, check, check. Now don’t forget the wireless plan that makes all

By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – QUESTION: My Internet Explorer browser recently started opening a new window for advertisements from “servads.com.” I have enabled the pop-up advertising blocker, but it doesn’t seem

By Noah Matthews, McClatchy-Tribune News Service – Sometimes I think software developers stay up nights dreaming of ways to flummox the trusting masses. Free software programs have their share of bugs, even when

Jim Spencer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – WASHINGTON – In his first 30 years as a labor lawyer, Harold Weinrich rarely advised corporate clients to lock unionized workers out of their jobs. In the