Briefs: CME Group sells trading floors
CHICAGO -- CME Group Inc., which operates the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, announced an agreement Tuesday to sell the Merc's trading floors to a developer who will convert them to office space, but keep 360,000 square feet for its office needs. A charitable trust affiliated with the Merc, CME Trust, sold the trading floors to Tishman Speyer Properties LP for an undisclosed amount. The Merc, which has occupied the building since 1983, is moving its trading operations to the Chicago Board of Trade building.
NASA gives Boeing big rocket contract
WASHINGTON -- NASA awarded a contract worth up to $1.13 billion Tuesday to aerospace giant Boeing Co. to build a key part of its multibillion-dollar rocket system to send astronauts back to the moon. The Chicago-based company, which had worked on every NASA manned spaceship in the past, had been shut out of three earlier large contracts for NASA's new spaceship and its plans to return to the moon.
Chicago scraps Wi-Fi network
CHICAGO -- An ambitious plan to blanket the city with wireless broadband Internet will be shelved because it is too costly and too few residents would use it, Chicago officials said Tuesday. The plan to blanket Chicago's 228 square miles with wireless Internet access was announced early last year. Chicago is the latest in a string of municipalities to encounter troubles with their municipal broadband initiatives because of ballooning budgets and dwindling usage that's led to scant revenue.
Cell phone use high in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan -- About 150,000 people subscribe to cell phone service each month in Afghanistan and there's "no end in sight" to the growth, the country's communications minister said Tuesday at the launch of service by a fourth provider.
Chinese corruption game a big hit
BEIJING -- A Chinese government-sponsored online game that allows players to battle corrupt officials and their bikini-clad mistresses was overwhelmed by user demand, state media reported Tuesday. The Ningbo Haishu District Discipline Commission in Zhejiang province launched "Incorruptible Warrior" to show people how to fight corrupt officials, Xinhua News Agency said. Demand was so great it overloaded the server. The game is being updated to handle the demand, Xinhua quoted an official as saying.
Bank of Montreal faces questions
TORONTO -- Bank of Montreal says it received requests for documents from financial authorities related to $649 million in losses in its commodity-trading portfolio. The company, parent of Harris Bank in Chicago, also said earnings dropped a less-than-expected 7 percent to $623 million in the quarter ended July 31. Earnings at Harris Bank fell $3.8 million to $24.3 million.
Whole Foods gets Wild Oats deal
DALLAS -- Whole Foods Market Inc. said Tuesday it has lined up financing to complete its $565 million purchase of rival Wild Oats Markets Inc., ending a six-month battle against federal regulators who failed to block the deal on antitrust grounds.
Home Depot sells supply division
ATLANTA -- The Home Depot Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its wholesale distribution business to private equity groups for $8.5 billion -- about $1.8 billion less than originally agreed. The announcement comes after several days of intense negotiations to save the deal.
EarthLink to cut jobs, close offices
ATLANTA -- Internet service provider EarthLink Inc. said Tuesday that it would cut 900 jobs -- or half its work force -- and close four offices in an effort to reduce operating costs.
Twinkie maker to cut 1,300 jobs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Interstate Bakeries Corp., the maker of Wonder bread and Hostess Twinkies, said Tuesday it will exit the bread business in Southern California, cutting about 1,300 jobs. The Kansas City-based company, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since 2004, has lost $620 million over the past three fiscal years.
Venetian aims to transform gambling
MACAU -- Macau's Venetian casino opened Tuesday, dwarfing anything in Las Vegas and big enough, its operators say, to shift the magnetic north of the gambling world to this small city in southern China. American billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, inaugurated the $2.4 billion, 10.5 million-square-foot Venetian Macao Resort Hotel.
Buffett raises his railroad holdings
OMAHA, Neb. -- Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has bought 10.1 million shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. since Thursday, increasing its stake in the nation's No. 2 railroad to nearly 14.8 percent.