Business news in brief

Thursday, January 31, 2013

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “Everything has moved on from the crisis except the Fed.The reality on the ground is far better by any measure than it was in 2008 or 2009, yet monetary policy is more

unconventional and more aggressive.” James Paulsen,

Wells Capital Management chief investment strategist Article, 1DRIM launches BlackBerry 10 system

NEW YORK - After lengthy delays, Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled its first two phones with the new Black-Berry 10 system Wednesday. The Q10 will have a physical keyboard, while the Z10 has only a touch-screen keyboard. Research In Motion said it will also change its name to BlackBerry to maintain a single brand. It will have the ticker symbol “BBRY” on the Nasdaq stock index.

Research In Motion redesigned the BlackBerry system to embrace the multimedia, application and touch-screen experience prevalent in mobile devices. The question is whether there’s time for the once-pioneering BlackBerry to catch up to Apple’s trend-setting iPhone and devices running Google’s Android system.

Research In Motion Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins hosted the main event in New York on Wednesday.

Video of his appearance was shown at other Research In

Research In Motion initially said BlackBerry 10 would be introduced by early 2012, but then the company changed that to late 2012. A few months later, that date was pushed back further, to early this year, missing the lucrative Christmas shopping season. The holdup helped wipe out more than $70 billion in shareholder wealth and 5,000 jobs.

Jobless rates down in 7 state areas

All seven metropolitan areas in Arkansas had declines in their unemployment rates in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday.

The unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in the Little Rock area in December, down from 6.7 percent a year earlier.

Northwest Arkansas’ rate dropped to 5.1 percent from 5.7 percent in December 2011.

Other December unemployment rates in Arkansas’ metropolitan areas, compared with December 2011, were:

Texarkana, 5.7 percent, down from 6.9 percent.

Jonesboro, 6.3 percent, down from 6.7 percent.

Hot Springs, 7.5 percent, down from 8.1 percent.

Fort Smith, 8.1 percent, down from 8.5 percent.

Pine Bluff, 9 percent, down from 9.3 percent.

Chesapeake Energy’s CEO exiting

NEW YORK - Aubrey McClendon, chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy Corp., will leave the company he founded 24 years ago, amid philosophical differences with the company’s new board of directors.

The company announced that McClendon will step down April 1 and will serve as CEO until a successor is named. McClendon will depart even though Chesapeake says a review of his business dealings has not revealed improper conduct.

Chesapeake Chairman Archie Dunham said in a statement Tuesday that the company needs a new leader to help develop the oil and gas assets it has amassed under McClendon.

Shares of the nation’s second-largest natural-gas producer rose $1.14 to close at $20.11. They dropped sharply last year as natural-gas prices dropped to 10-year lows and some of McClendon’s business dealings called Chesapeake’s corporate governance into question.

DETROIT - Just three years out of bankruptcy, Chrysler posted a $1.7 billion profit in 2012 and said Wednesday that it expects to earn more than $2 billion this year.

Improving U.S. auto sales - and better products at Chrysler - were the big reasons for the improvement over 2011’s profit of $183 million, the company said. Chrysler sold 2.2 million cars and trucks worldwide last year, up 18 percent.

In the U.S., its largest market, Chrysler’s sales rose 21 percent. Chrysler saw strong sales of the Chrysler 200 and 300 sedans, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ram pickup. The Fiat 500 also sold well last year.

The results mark another step in Chrysler’s turnaround. The company filed for bankruptcy during the recession in 2009 and needed a $12.5 billion loan from taxpayers to survive.

Revenue in 2012 increased 20 percent to $65.8 billion.

TOKYO - Toyota is recalling more than 1 million cars around the world for faulty air bags and defective windshield wipers.

The move comes just days after Toyota regained its spot as the world’s No. 1 automaker from U.S. rival General Motors Co., with global sales that climbed to a record 9.748 million vehicles. The company is now recalling 907,000 cars, mostly Corollas, because of air bags that can improperly inflate when the vehicle’s electronic signals damage a chip in the part that controls the air bags. It also is recalling 385,000 Lexus IS luxury cars with wipers that can get stuck in heavy snowfall.

Initially, the Japanese automaker had said there were no accidents related to either problem, but Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Naoto Fuse said Wednesday that two crashes were reported in the U.S. related to the air-bag problem. Toyota had not been able to confirm them, and Fuse said it is unclear whether anyone was injured in the two crashes.

Business, Pages 28 on 01/31/2013