Chicago Economic & Finance News - Page 86

the urban politician · #**1701** Posted: **Aug 13, 2012, 11:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

Youll care about IL when its completely bankrupt and infrastructure projects can no longer be financed and social services no longer exist. When taxes skyrocket and we receive even less in return.

Its this appalling lack of unity in the Chicago metro region, the state, and the Midwest at large which will continue to hold the region back.

IL is basically already bankrupt, infrastructure projects are hardly being financed, and social services are living on borrowed time.

But that is despite Chicagoland, not because of it. If the Chicago region simply had to support itself, instead of diverting tax dollars up to Washington, which then funnels down to Springfield, which in turn disperses those dollars all over the State, the Chicago region would be better off.

City and suburbs. I see them as one, united, interstate region. I could care less about the State of Illinois.

Kngkyle · #**1702** Posted: **Aug 14, 2012, 12:49 AM**

United Airlines moving HQ to Willis Tower, extends lease to 2028

United Airlines is doing what it promised for downtown Chicago and more, moving its headquarters into 200,000 square feet at the Willis Tower and extending its lease for 625,000 square feet it already occupies there for an additional two years. In an announcement being made this morning by the company and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the air carrier's top executives, who now call 77 W. Wacker Drive...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...-lease-to-2028

-----------------
United Tower someday perhaps? Sounds better than Willis tower and at least United is a local company with their HQ in the building.

ardecila · #**1703** Posted: **Aug 14, 2012, 1:55 AM**

Meh... I'm getting tired of the "Tower" moniker. Maybe United Spire?

No, wait, I've got it... the United Center.

Kngkyle · #**1704** Posted: **Aug 14, 2012, 6:24 PM**

Qatar Airways to start O'Hare flights next year

Qatar Airways said Tuesday that it will expand its U.S. route network next year with daily flights to Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The non-stop service from Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, will begin April 10. It will be the carrier's fourth U.S. gateway. It already operates flights to New York, Washington, D.C., and Houston.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,3380828.story

F1 Tommy · #**1705** Posted: **Aug 14, 2012, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

Qatar Airways to start O'Hare flights next year

Qatar Airways said Tuesday that it will expand its U.S. route network next year with daily flights to Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The non-stop service from Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, will begin April 10. It will be the carrier's fourth U.S. gateway. It already operates flights to New York, Washington, D.C., and Houston.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,3380828.story

Good to see the new service. They already have freighter 747/777's coming in almost every day. Should be a busy 2013 at the international terminal.

jpIllInoIs · #**1706** Posted: **Aug 15, 2012, 12:00 PM**

Interesting link with map of top Chicago Digital Companies locations. Great visual on the cluster of digital tech industry in Chicago.

http://www.builtinchicago.org/compan...ital-companies

Be nice to have someone repost with the graphics.

HowardL · #**1707** Posted: **Aug 20, 2012, 11:40 PM**

Coverage of this has been interesting to me in that article titles have referred to "CME" and not "CME, an exchange based in Chicago" or "a Chicago exchange". That and NY Times coverage was not their usual dismissive "hicks in the pits" type schtick.

Following the LME bid, CME Europe is really a massive step in CME's going global in a big, big way.

CME muscles into Europe with new futures exchange

the urban politician · #**1708** Posted: **Aug 21, 2012, 1:43 AM**

^ Well, its kind of hard to look down your nose at one of the world's largest exchanges, especially one that bought out one of the premiere exchanges (NyMex) in your hometown just a few years ago

the urban politician · #**1709** Posted: **Aug 23, 2012, 8:34 PM**

Aerospace firm Woodward to build plant near Rockford
6:58 a.m. CDT, August 23, 2012

Aerospace and energy firm Woodward Inc. will invest more than $200 million to build a new manufacturing plant and offices near Rockford, which it says will create 660 jobs over the next five years.

jboy560 · #**1710** Posted: **Aug 28, 2012, 3:30 PM**

Here's some good signs for the local economy:

"Chicago-area home prices soar in June"

August 28, 2012

(Crain's) — A key index of local homes prices surged for the second month in a row, the latest in a series of statistics indicating that a recovery in the local housing market is well under way.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of Chicago-area single-family home prices rose 4.6 percent from May to June, according to a report released this morning. The index jumped 4.5 percent the previous month, but it is still 1.7 percent below year-earlier levels.

A 20-city composite price index increased 2.3 percent from May to June and was up 0.5 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to the report.

“We seem to be witnessing exactly what we needed for a sustained recovery; monthly increases coupled with improving annual rates of change,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement. “The market may have finally turned around.”

In June, prices rose for the second consecutive month in all 20 metro areas the indices track. Chicago posted the third-biggest monthly gain, after Detroit, where prices rose 6 percent, and Minneapolis, 4.8 percent.

Read more: http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...#ixzz24r4mSUEZ
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"A new dawn for architecture firms"

The opening of three design firms downtown is raising expectations that Chicago's architecture community may be starting to revive from the torpor of the last few years.
St. Louis-based Forum Studio, Indianapolis-based Ratio Architects Inc. and Dallas-based HKS Architects have leased high-profile space and are recruiting some of the area's top professionals to work on local, national and international projects. All see Chicago as key to realizing their goals.
Chicago's architecture community—the second-largest in the nation after New York—was hit hard by the recession. Large firms cut their staffs to the bone and there were several high-profile bankruptcies and closings.

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...#ixzz24r53L6ad
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sukwoo · #**1711** Posted: **Aug 28, 2012, 8:22 PM**

Maybe I'll finally be able to sell my house.

mind field · #**1712** Posted: **Sep 13, 2012, 5:14 PM**

nothing to report in over two weeks? Us Chicago boosters are getting hungry for news!

migueltorres · #**1713** Posted: **Sep 13, 2012, 9:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mind field

nothing to report in over two weeks? Us Chicago boosters are getting hungry for news!

Here you go

Quote:

Chicago area exports rise 17% in 2011
At $39M, region ranks 7th nationally in sending goods abroad

Exports from the Chicago area rose 17.4 percent last year, to $39.5 billion, making the area one of seven nationally where exports surpassed $25 billion, according to new data....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,0,46604.story

HowardL · #**1714** Posted: **Sep 16, 2012, 2:26 AM**

Hopefully this article remains un-be-paywalled. It's a fine read. Not entirely sure about the CBOT to London in 79ms example. Trades happen in Chicago not London and 79ms is mind numbingly slow. Still, it's a fine, fine read.

How Chicago became one of the nation's most digital cities

the urban politician · #**1715** Posted: **Sep 16, 2012, 12:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mind field

nothing to report in over two weeks? Us Chicago boosters are getting hungry for news!

To be honest, there really has been little to report, and that's why a lot of us haven't posted.

News about a small tech company moving into the west loop and bringing 200 jobs over 5 years really starts getting old. Is that even news? I'll let you all decide that.

Besides, I think the Obama reelection bid as well as the recent CTU strike have tended to occupy the news (and Rahm's schedule) of late.

bnk · #**1716** Posted: **Sep 16, 2012, 2:52 PM**

How Chicago became one of the nation's most digital cities

By John Pletz September 17, 2012

...

Server Farm Realty Inc., based in El Segundo, Calif., is spending more than $200 million to turn this former General Electric Co. motor factory into a state-of-the-art data center, housing thousands of servers that will connect traders, corporations or telecommunications companies to the rest of the world.

"It's got great bones," says Avner Papouchado, the firm's president. It turns out that data centers, like factories, need lots of power, beefy concrete floors to hold heavy equipment and easy access to transportation. Where factories required rail to move huge quantities of goods from coast to coast, data centers use the fiber optic cables that run along railroad right-of-ways to sling massive amounts of data at the speed of light.

What's happening at 840 S. Canal St. is more than just a quirk. Chicago is one of the half-dozen key vertebrae in the nation's digital backbone because it lies at the center of many of the fiber optic cables that stretch between New York and California, the country's major connection points to the rest of the world via cables under the oceans. Chicago has the third-biggest fiber optic capacity of any metro area in the country, behind New York and Washington. And three of the world's largest data centers are in Chicago or its suburbs.

...

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...#ixzz26e1ZBM1U

jboy560 · #**1717** Posted: **Sep 19, 2012, 5:51 PM**

More positive news regarding the housing market and Accounting jobs:

Chicago-area home sales post best month in 5 years

September 19, 2012

(Crain's) — Chicago-area home sales hit their highest level in five years last month, capping a strong summer selling season.

In August, 9,240 single-family homes and condominiums sold in the nine-county Chicago area, up 28.5 percent from 7,188 sales in August 2011, the Illinois Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

The Realtors' report marks the 14th consecutive month that area home sales rose over the same month the previous year.

It was the strongest month for home sales since August 2007, when 9,733 local homes changed hands, the Realtors said.

Read more: http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...#ixzz26wHxYbex
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KPMG to add 500 jobs here over five years

September 19, 2012

KPMG has agreed to continue a rapid expansion of its Chicago office, committing to adding 500 new jobs over the next five years, company officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel are announcing today.
The new positions at the big professional services firm will expand its Chicago staff by about a third. The firm now has 1,800 partners and employees here -- the second largest KPMG office in the country, and up more than 400 since 2010.

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...#ixzz26wIL3Ry1
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Ch.G, Ch.G · #**1718** Posted: **Sep 24, 2012, 5:19 AM**

http://www.suntimes.com/news/1529547...o-chicago.html

Ryder Cup draws international tourists, big spending to Chicago

BY DAVID ROEDER | Business Reporter | Last Modified: Sep 23, 2012 09:39PM

The Ryder Cup is coming this week to the Chicago suburbs, and if that doesn’t impress you, consider these facts:

♦ With 1,800 credentialed media, its press horde is bigger than the one at the NCAA Final Four...

♦ Its estimated economic impact of around $130 million puts it on par with the promised benefit from last May’s NATO summit downtown. The difference is that massive outlays for security won’t be needed for the Ryder visitors.

♦ Hosting a Ryder is a rare event, like Halley’s Comet, unlikely to happen more than once in a Chicagoan’s life.

For suburbs west and northwest of Chicago and the city itself, the Ryder Cup is a chance to show off for a well-heeled crowd, many with corporate connections, in the hope that they will return for business meetings or a full-fledged relocation...

This time, the setup is different, with access to his business and the neighboring post office preserved. However, the estimated 40,000 people per day who will come to Medinah still must park about a half-hour’s drive away and hop a shuttle. Medinah has a convenient Metra stop and the commuter service has added trains for the Ryder Cup, but the passengers this time will walk a short way to the course.

The competition’s ground zero is in Medinah, an unincorporated patch of DuPage County with near-estate homes in a setting that safeguards a rural feel. There are no sidewalks and street parking is verboten...

Downtown Chicago also is getting in on the activity, with nearly all its 35,000 rooms booked during Ryder weekend, said Warren Wilkinson, chief marketing officer at the city’s tourism agency, Choose Chicago...

Sky News and the BBC are set up to provide saturation coverage. In the United States, ESPN and NBC split the duties. The PGA estimates the worldwide audience at 438 million...

source

I know nothing about Golf and, until reading this article, knew nothing about Medinah Country Club. Damn is the clubhouse beautiful.

jboy560 · #**1719** Posted: **Sep 24, 2012, 4:29 PM**

Unfortunately, this is an article you have to be a member to read, but the good news is in the headline.

Chicago tech firms commit to create 2,000 jobs

In his second big tech move of the day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel today announced that more than 20 Chicago-based technology companies have committed to create more than 2,000 jobs here collectively by 2015.
Included are GrubHub, the mobile-food-ordering firm where the announcement was, and where more than 200 jobs will be added.

Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...#ixzz27PCNpH79
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F1 Tommy · #**1720** Posted: **Sep 26, 2012, 5:23 PM**

Now this is cool as hell and to be built in Northern Illinois!!

http://www.autoedizione.com/producti...s-in-illinois/