US auto factories cutting back on summer downtime
Detroit auto factories are forgoing their traditional two-week summer break and speeding up production to meet buyers' growing demand for new cars and trucks.
Apple case seen as possible spur to tax action
Sprint sweetens offer for Clearwire, says it will negotiate with Dish Network
Microsoft touts Xbox One as all-in-one entertainment
AT&T will roll out wireless home security service in the Kansas City area
First Look: New Xbox elegant, but much unknown
Advertising Portfolio Night will give local students advice
Stocks
Star 40
Cerner tops Star 40; others in economic ‘sweet spots’ also doing well
It was a safe bet that Cerner Corp. would once again lead the The Star’s rankings as the region’s top-performing public company. Cerner, the nation’s second-largest company that helps hospitals and doctors’ offices convert paper files into computerized medical records, is in a sweet spot. Other top-ranked companies here do business in areas that have an edge: energy, rail transit and online government services.
Star 40: Wealth soared in 2012 for KC companies' executives
The already-hefty pay packages of many public-company executives bulged last year, thanks to higher values of their company stocks. Million-dollar base salaries – as paid to Cerner Corp. CEO Neal Patterson (pictured) and Waddell & Reed Financial CEO Hank Herrmann – are only the beginning. For most of the bigger-company CEOs, stock awards, options and “non-equity incentive” compensation dwarf their base pay.
Cityscape
The Corner Restaurant reopens in Westport with new owners, new menu
More than three years after it closed, Westport mainstay The Corner Restaurant has been resurrected in the same spot but with new owners, a new decor and new menu. Executive chef Natasha Sears said the kitchen uses many local vendors, and makes about 90 percent of the menu from scratch on-site.
Ingredient scheduled to open soon in Oak Park Mall’s food court
Oak Park Mall said it has signed local fast-casual chain Ingredient for its food court. Menu items include salads, grilled sandwiches, soups, wraps and panini, burgers, and gourmet pizzas.
Dollars & Sense
Stocks gain on reassurance from a top Fed official
Reassuring comments from a Federal Reserve official and better earnings from two big retailers helped push the stock market higher Tuesday. James Bullard, head of the Fed's St. Louis branch, told an audience in Germany that the Fed ought to stick with its bond-buying effort to bolster the economic recovery.
Apple’s iPhone loses ground in consumer satisfaction study
While the device still had the top ranking among mobile phone users, Samsung and Motorola have narrowed the gap, according to the 2013 American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Technology
First Look: New Xbox elegant, but much unknown
Will gamers want One? After four years of development, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One entertainment console and touted it as an all-in-one solution for playing games, watching TV and doing everything in between.
Sprint sweetens offer for Clearwire, says it will negotiate with Dish Network
Sprint Nextel Corp. on Tuesday opened its wallet a bit wider to gain full control of its longtime wireless network partner Clearwire Corp. and the valuable airwaves it owns. The Overland Park-based company also said Tuesday it would open its financial books for Dish Network Corp. and negotiate with the company on its buyout offer.
Development
Mall, office developer Copaken Brooks gets chamber’s top award
The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce recognized the real estate company as its 2013 Small Business of the Year and winner of the Mr. K Award, named after the late Ewing Kauffman, founder of Marion Laboratories and original owner of the Kansas City Royals.
Chamber names Copaken Brooks as its top business of the year
The real estate company, which was established in 1922 in downtown Kansas City, receives the Mr. K Award,. The award honors the late Ewing Kauffman, founder of Marion Laboratories and original owner of the Kansas City Royals.
Talking Business
Debate over KCI flies fast and hard
Reaction to my last column allowing that the advocates of a new single terminal at Kansas City International Airport might have a decent case was certainly bracing. Most of the more than 100 callers, emailers and kansascity.com commenters batted me roundly about. But many others allied themselves with the single-terminal advocates.
With KCI, breaking up is hard to do
After fully hashing out pros and cons, Kansas Citians may want to stick with the old flame. To carry the day, new-airport advocates will have to heavily restack the deck of arguments in their favor. That’s what’s going to be required to toss over a 40-year love affair.
National, International Business news
Target's 1Q profit drops 26 pct on weak sales
Target Corp. reported a 26 percent drop in first-quarter profit as cool temperatures and financial pressures limited customers' appetite for spending.
Lowe's 1Q profit rises, but results miss Street
Lowe's Cos. said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales.
