Gov. Quinn has announced spending cuts and a tax increase to fix the budget crisis, but has failed to mention immediate pension reform.
Given all the contention with the Google vs. China war, there’s a lot to be lost: Google can lose an estimated $300 million to $600 million if it pulls out of the country, China’s image can be further tarnished on the human-rights front. At least one company will benefit tremendously from this conflict, and it is the search-engine giant in China: Baidu Inc.
With bank earnings season just passed, we now have a wealth of information to gauge the financial health of banks for the fourth-quarter of 2009. So pulling information from the income and cash-flow statements, we can see see how several bank holding companies in the Chicago area stack up. We’ll focus on JP Morgan Chase & Co., which is a New York-based megabank with a large Chicago presence; Lake Forest-based Wintrust Financial Corp.; Itasca-based First Midwest Banc Holdings Inc; and Melrose Park-based Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. (The reason Chase is thrown in the mix is to see how the smaller- and medium-sized bank holding companies compare.)
Click here to listen to Suzanne Bodlovic, once the only female futures trader in the Russell pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, describe her transition from floor-trading to electronic trading – and how she did it during some of the most wild economic conditions.
BY GRAYDON GORDIAN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE
Once upon a time it was considered nearly impossible to get the Securities and Exchange Commission to grant a new exchange license. Nowadays, it only takes a few months.
BY ALICE TRUONG – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE
Is money from Bank of America or Goldman Sachs Group Inc., likely to blur Sen. Christopher Dodd’s judgment as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee?