Print |
E-mail to a friend
BUSINESS
Business Tri-State: McDonald's to launch line of Angus burgers
NEW YORK -- McDonald's Corp. will begin selling a new line of bigger burgers priced at about $4 each on Thursday to bring in customers looking for a beefy alternative to pricier burgers at sit-down restaurants.
The new Angus burgers are made with one-third pound of Angus beef and come in three varieties -- a deluxe burger with pickles and tomatoes, a mushroom swiss burger and a bacon and cheese burger.
The burgers will be sold in all U.S. locations for the next few months. The fast-food chain declined to specify when or if the burgers would become a part of the company's core menu, which includes favorites like the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Big Mac.
McDonald's has been testing the burger for several years in more than 1,000 restaurants in Columbus, Ohio; New York; Los Angeles; and Alberquerque, N.M., but it held back from introducing it to all U.S. consumers to focus on its core menu and lower-priced offerings.
The company said in April that it would finally launch the Angus burger in all of its U.S. locations this year.
Dow Chemical to close three Louisiana plants
NEW YORK -- Dow Chemical Co. said Wednesday it will close three Louisiana plants as part of a shift away from basic chemicals toward the lucrative business of specialty chemicals.
The shuttering comes as part of a massive plan to cut costs after Dow bought rival Rohm & Haas in April for more than $16 billion, a deal that added massive amounts of debt to its balance sheet.
Dow expects to take a $700 million second-quarter charge as part of Wednesday's announcement, but expects the closings will save about $100 million a year.
The approximately 100 people who work at the plants will be offered jobs elsewhere, Dow said.
The plants make ethylene, a building block for basic chemicals like plastic and packaging. The basic chemicals market is heavily affected by price fluctuations in crude oil, and products are usually made and sold in large batches and at razor-thin profits.
U.S. auto sales declines show signs of leveling off
DETROIT -- U.S. sales at Ford and Chrysler last month offered sharply different views on the downtrodden U.S. market for cars and trucks, while General Motors Corp. held its own even though it entered bankruptcy protection.
Ford's June sales showed signs of stabilization, as the healthiest Detroit automaker posted its smallest sales decline of the year at 10.7 percent. It also said it gained market share. But Chrysler Group LLC, just weeks after exiting bankruptcy protection, reported a 42 percent drop in sales, hurt by a big cut in fleet sales and declines in all its models except the Dodge Challenger muscle car.
June sales from other automakers indicated that the industry downturn has begun leveling off. Toyota's U.S. sales fell 32 percent in June to 131,654 units -- a smaller decline than in previous months for the Japanese automaker.
Gov't won't fund GM after July 10, official says
NEW YORK -- A senior member of President Barack Obama's auto task force testified Wednesday that the U.S. government will not continue to fund General Motors Corp.'s operations if the automaker doesn't get approval to sell its assets to a new company within the next 10 days.
"We have no intention to further fund this company if the sale order is not entered by July 10," Harry Wilson, one of the Treasury Department officials overseeing GM's restructuring, said while being cross-examined by an attorney for a group of GM bondholders opposing the sale.
The No. 1 U.S. automaker's government-backed plan for a quick exit from Chapter 11 hinges on the sale plan, which would allow it to leave behind many of the costs and liabilities that have made the company unprofitable in the past.
The Detroit-based automaker, whose June 1 filing for bankruptcy protection was the fourth-largest in U.S. history, is hoping to avoid a lengthy court battle over the sale. Last month, objections from bondholders and other groups dragged out rival Chrysler LLC's hearing on its sale for three days. This is day two of the GM hearing.
