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Chrysler to pump $600M, new car into Belvidere

Chrysler Group LLC will invest $600 million in its Belvidere  assembly plant to build new cars starting in 2012, the company announced Thursday.

The investment won’t create any new jobs, but the company said it will retain the 2,349 jobs  at the plant and a nearby parts stamping plant. Get the full story »

GM to add new small Cadillac

General Motors Co. has announced plans to spend $190 million to build a new Cadillac small car at its Lansing Grand River plant. Get the full story »

Dow Chemical third-quarter earnings fall 28%

Dow Chemical says its third-quarter earnings fell 28 percent on a slew of one-time charges. Its adjusted results still topped Wall Street’s expectations. Get the full story »

Jets lift durable goods orders, not manufacturing

A surge in demand for commercial aircraft lifted orders for big-ticket manufactured goods in September, but business spending weakened on products that signal expansion plans.

The Commerce Department says orders for durable goods rose 3.3 percent last month. Overall, it was the best showing since January. But excluding transportation, orders fell 0.8 percent after having risen 1.9 percent in August. Get the full story »

New round of U.S. loans reported for Chrysler

Chrysler, the once-bankrupt U.S. automaker that received billions in government aid last year, will soon get new federal loans to help retool factories to make more fuel efficient vehicles, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The timing of the Energy Department award to Chrysler is fluid, but sources with knowledge of the financing and the industry say the automaker will likely receive approval for new credit before General Motors Co. Get the full story »

Boeing temporarily stops shipments of 787 pieces

Boeing Co. on Tuesday said it would tell suppliers to halt deliveries of sections for its 787 Dreamliner for two weeks because of delays at the company that makes a key part for the tail of the plane. Get the full story »

Report: More business spending, loans on-time

A key measure of U.S. business sentiment improved sharply in September, a lender group told Reuters Monday, as companies raised their investment in equipment and software and did a better job of staying current on their debts.

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association said that U.S. businesses originated $5.8 billion in loans, leases and lines of credit last month to invest in capital equipment, which can include everything from tool-and-die machines and delivery trucks to office furniture and computer hardware and software. Get the full story »

Morgan Stanley adds Caterpillar’s Owens to board

Morgan Stanley added Caterpillar Inc. Chairman James Owens to its board of directors, the Wall Street bank said on Monday.

The addition of Owens, 64, brings Morgan Stanley’s board to 13 members. Get the full story »

Hyundai: We’re more American than Detroit

Vehicle springs, awaiting installation at the Hyundai plant in Montgomery, Ala. (Dave Martin/Bloomberg News)

By next year about 80 percent of the vehicles Korean automaker Hyundai sells in the United States will be built here, the CEO of the automaker’s U.S. arm told CNNMoney.

That percentage would likely put Hyundai at the top of the “Made in the USA“ rankings among all automakers operating in the U.S., including Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Get the full story »

State backs Japanese railcar plant in Rochelle

A Japanese-based rail manufacturer is getting state financial help to start making railcars in northern Illinois. Officials say Nippon Sharyo U.S.A. will receive $12 million in the form of a state business investment package to supplement $35 million in private investment. Get the full story »

AptarGroup’s third-quarter profit rises 40%

AptarGroup Inc.’s third-quarter earnings rose 40% to beat views, but the product-dispenser maker was downbeat about earnings for the current quarter because of dollar strength and a tough comparison. Get the full story »

Fed report casts sluggish economy in beige

The U.S. economy grew sluggishly in recent weeks with scant inflation pressures, and employers were reluctant to hire or invest amid economic and policy uncertainties, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

The U.S. central bank’s Beige Book provided further evidence the economy is stuck in a weak recovery that is failing to generate jobs. Get the full story »

Illinois Tool Works posts stronger Q3 profit

Illinois Tool Works Inc reported improved quarterly earnings Tuesday, lifted by strong demand for its welding and packaging products from manufacturers. Illinois Tool reported a third-quarter profit of $419.3 million, or 83 cents a share, up from $302.4 million, or 60 cents a share, a year before. Get the full story »

Boeing says health care law behind plan price hikes

The big aircraft maker Boeing Co. says “cost pressures” from the new health care law are part of the reason it’s asking employees to pay more for their medical benefits next year.

In a letter mailed to employees late last week, Boeing said deductibles and copayments are going up significantly for some 90,000 nonunion workers.

Boeing to test China biofuel

Boeing Co., in cooperation with Air China Ltd. and others, plans to test a commercial-jet biofuel in China produced from a locally grown plant by the middle of 2011-part of an effort to commercialize cleaner fuels world-wide and bolster China’s potential as a biofuel provider.

Boeing first tested a biofuel on a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 jet in early 2008 in London. It has since conducted similar tests a few more times, each time experimenting with different types of biofuels on different engines. The China demonstration flight, expected to be conducted by May or June next year, would be Boeing’s sixth such demonstration flight using a biofuel, said a Boeing executive, Al Bryant, in an interview Monday with The Wall Street Journal. Get the full story »