Saving Techniques

How are your fellow Chicagoans saving money? Jeniece Pettitt talked to people in Daley Plaza to find out.

Image via Jmtimages/Flickr.com

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

When we asked you to grade President Obama’s fiscal strategy so far, an overwhelming number — nearly two-thirds — voted for a grade of “F.” A sample of 39 people isn’t a lot to draw conclusive answers from, but with [...]

President Obama's Aug. 5, 2009 Wakarusa, Ind. speech — in Wordle format.

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL REPORTS

Shares of Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar International Corp. jumped Thursday following a Wednesday visit by President Obama to the company’s Wakarusa, Ind. Monaco RV manufacturing plant.

Navistar shares [[NAV]] were up more than 2 percent [...]

Roadsidepictures/Flickr.com

BY KATIE ROGERS– MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

By attracting weary, worried customers with dirt-cheap food options, there’s no doubt that McDonald’s Corp. became a corporate anomaly amid the severe recession.

But after such a rapid period of growth in the first quarter, some analysts think the fast food giant might not have anywhere [...]

Unemployment self-portrait by Diego Cupolo/Flickr.com

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

On the heels of Tuesday reports indicating green shoots in the Chicago area housing market, and the Fed’s Beige Book Wednesday suggesting a slightly more optimistic economic outlook, The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a bleaker [...]

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

The annual shopping spree synonymous with the start of the school year will be a little less grand this year. Parents worried about their finances in the recession plan to spend less this fall when jaunting off to GapKids, Kohl’s or Walgreens to [...]

The Fed predicts unemployment will stay above 8 percent through 2011

BY JORDAN MELNICK — MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Here’s a variation on an old favorite: If an economy climbs out of recession and nobody gets a job, does it make a difference? This spin of Berkeley’s enigmatic query arises from the Fed’s [...]

Flickr.com/Nathan Rein

BY MEGAN MOLLMANN – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Every American dreams of one day owning a multimillion dollar estate, but following the nation’s housing crisis, even Chicago’s ritziest real estate properties are struggling to find a buyer.

A few have even [...]

Flickr.com/Darren Hester

BY KATIE ROGERS – MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

In an age of economic uncertainty, what we know for sure is Americans are still willing to stretch their budgets when it comes to electronics.

Because of our obsession with computers, phones and other gadgets that put life’s essentials at our fingertips (quite [...]

This week on Money Talks, your jovial hosts Siddhartha Vaidyanathan and Joseph Freeman speak with our seasoned jobs correspondent, Leslie Patton.  Because of the recession, stories about unemployment have filled the pages and Web sites of news outlets for months.

Leslie’s stories have taken her all over Chicago and into the lives of many of its [...]