http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/ All Business, Auto News en-us Copyright 2009, post-gazette.com. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 12:13:44 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011698-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml NEW YORKERS maintain that Los Angeles is a city with no center. But Angelenos argue that the city of freeways has its core in the Stack, a tower of overpasses -- the first four-level connector interchange, according to the California Transportation Department -- where the Pasadena, Harbor, Hollywood and Santa Ana freeways intersect. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011699-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml FOR every smartly realized hybrid like the Toyota Prius or Ford Fusion, there has been one whose combination of price, economy and practicality doesn't quite add up. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011700-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml MY mission today is to offer my clear-eyed take on the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. But the price keeps getting in the way. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011701-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml WHEN the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, released its 2009 guide to toxic chemicals in cars in September, the results held a pleasant surprise. For the first time since the center began rating vehicle interiors in 2007, a car built in the United States by a Detroit automaker had the lowest levels of toxic chemicals among all the models evaluated. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011580-84.stm?cmpid=business.xml The national unemployment rate rose to 10.2 percent in October, surprising economists who had been predicting a more modest increase from September's 9.8 percent. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011120-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Real estate news in brief. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011494-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011498-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml The $23 billion, five-year recovery plan for Chrysler Group LLC unveiled Wednesday was nothing if not ambitious, with big increases in market shares and sales forecast for each of its brands by 2014. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09311/1011501-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml As PNC Financial Services Group converts about 80 National City branches in the region to the PNC system this weekend, customers aren't the only ones hoping things will go smoothly. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011391-407.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama signed a $24 billion economic stimulus bill into law today, giving tax incentives to prospective home buyers and additional jobless benefits to those idled by the business slump. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 15:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011393-114.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- House Democrats acknowledged they didn't yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation's health care system, and signaled they might push back the vote until Sunday or early next week. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 15:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011384-407.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- The unemployment rate has hit double digits for the first time since 1983 -- and is likely to go higher. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 14:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011354-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml First Commonwealth Financial this morning said it lost more money in the third quarter than previously reported because of another soured commercial loan and another write down on an investment. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 10:35:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011348-84.stm?cmpid=business.xml The nation's unemployment rate rose in October to 10.2 percent, as the number of those out of work increased by more than half a million people, to 15.7 million. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 09:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011330-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml BERLIN -- European lawmakers on Thursday agreed on new protections for Internet users, striking a compromise between national governments seeking to impose tough anti-piracy laws and consumer organizations that wanted to enshrine Internet access as an unassailable right. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011209-68.stm?cmpid=business.xml What do you do if someone in the family is pregnant and has no health insurance or an inadequate amount? Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011210-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Also in today's headlines: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011211-53.stm?cmpid=business.xml Two unions are seeking to organize thousands of employees at the Rivers Casino, about three months after the North Shore venue opened its doors. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011212-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml The nation's stores posted a second consecutive month of sales increases in October, the retailing industry's best performance in more than a year. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011215-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml The Philadelphia-based retail chain Five Below arrives in Western Pennsylvania through locations scheduled to open today at the Waterworks Mall, in the city near Aspinwall, as well as in shopping centers in Cranberry, Butler and Altoona. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011216-68.stm?cmpid=business.xml Wouldn't it be great if the IRS were looking for you to give you money? For nearly 108,000 taxpayers nationwide, that's exactly the case. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09310/1011239-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml After years of talking about it, Allegheny County Council this week approved a plan to collect fees from tax-exempt entities such as the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Highmark, a move expected to raise as much as $13 million annually. Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011155-407.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- Companies across the economy are finding ways to do more with fewer workers, dimming hopes that hiring will take off anytime soon. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011159-82.stm?cmpid=business.xml DETROIT -- General Motors Co.'s top executive said today that the automaker could tap some of its $50 billion in U.S. government aid to help restructure GM's European Opel unit. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011123-407.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- The White House says President Barack Obama tomorrow morning will sign a bill that expands a popular home buyers tax credit and extends unemployment benefits. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011121-68.stm?cmpid=business.xml WASHINGTON -- Thousands of borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will soon have the option of renting their homes from Fannie Mae, under a policy announced today. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011106-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml Pittsburgh-based General Nutrition Centers, Inc. today reported third-quarter earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization of $59 million, compared with $54.3 million for the same quarter of 2008. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 11:56:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011101-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml American Eagle Outfitters reported October sales started off well and then slowed significantly the second half of the month, contributing to a 5 percent drop in sales at established stores Thu, 5 Nov 2009 10:46:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011096-100.stm?cmpid=business.xml Koppers Holdings said net income fell by 36 percent in the third quarter, to $16.4 million, or 80 cents per share, from $25.5 million, or $1.24 per share in the third quarter of 2008. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 09:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011071-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml Last week, I reviewed not one, but three new phones. You'd think that would be enough for a while, but fall is peak season for new mobile devices, and another major release -- Motorola's Droid -- is upon us this week. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011072-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml By now we can probably all agree that the iPhone is the Model T, the Sputnik, the Lawrence Taylor of the mobile technology realm. We are still waiting for the offenses to adapt, the competition to catch up. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011073-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml For more than a decade, tech and media companies have wrestled with how to deliver digitized movies directly over the Internet to consumers: how do you get the copy-protected files from the computer to the big screen in the living room? Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011074-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml In 2005, Michael S. Dell's namesake company was getting pounded. His competitors were selling personal computers and servers built on cheap, popular and powerful chips from Advanced Micro Devices, while Mr. Dell had stuck loyally with slower chips from Intel. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1011075-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml BERLIN -- Three rivals of Microsoft are seeking last-minute changes to its proposed settlement with European regulators that would give buyers of computers loaded with Windows the ability to choose a default browser other than the company's Internet Explorer. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010954-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml PNC Financial Services Group's senior vice chairman, William S. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010955-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml Chrysler Group LLC unveiled a five-year plan yesterday that called for revamping the Dodge brand, a newly created Ram brand for its truck line, and a raft of new technology and cost savings. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010957-53.stm?cmpid=business.xml One of the nation's top hotel management companies will oversee operations at the Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown, as part of a proposed ownership change. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010958-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml Even as cutting costs become a top priority nationwide, businesses continue to incur the expense of free Wi-Fi. While a place like Eyetique does have a "tech-savvy" clientele (these are some dangerously hip frames), the expanding use of smart phones and laptops means even more consumers expect a business -- any business, really -- to double as a hotspot. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09309/1010981-84.stm?cmpid=business.xml First-time homebuyers who had been facing a Nov. 30 deadline to take advantage of a $8,000 tax credit offered by the federal government likely will get more time after the Senate approved an extension of the program yesterday by a 98-0 vote. Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010555-44.stm?cmpid=business.xml Can we remember a world before Google? Better yet: Do we want to? Wed, 4 Nov 2009 10:05:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010681-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml SAN FRANCISCO -- The bitter battle over the future of the Internet calling service Skype appears to be nearing an end. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010682-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml Cisco Systems took another step to expand its computer hardware businesses on Tuesday by forming a broad partnership with EMC, a maker of storage equipment and software. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010683-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml BERLIN -- Nokia Siemens Networks, the No. 2 maker of wireless network equipment, said Tuesday that it planned to cut 9 percent of its work force as it attempted to weather a double-digit sales decline and stiffer competition from Chinese manufacturers. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 02:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010554-185.stm?cmpid=business.xml Chrysler Group LLC is preparing to unveil a five-year plan today that is heavily dependent upon products and technology from its partner, Italian automaker Fiat. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010556-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml Shares of RTI International Metals slid 11 percent yesterday in heavy trading after the Moon titanium producer reported a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and painted a dreary picture of Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010559-96.stm?cmpid=business.xml There were two rules for the teams in the Building Virtual Worlds class: no shooting games and no pornography. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09308/1010589-28.stm?cmpid=business.xml A new group is close to completing a deal to buy the financially troubled Hilton Pittsburgh Downtown with plans to finish a hotel expansion stalled for months because of unpaid debts. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500