Condo developers turn to auctions in bid to sell

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• Movie production companies settle EEOC pregnancy discrimination suit

• Ventas profit meets estimates

• Netflix hits 10M mark

• New jobless claims dip

• Oil slips below $35, nearing multiyear low

From today's Tribune

• How ServiceLive works

• Phil Rosenthal: Joaquin Phoenix interview with David Letterman helps lighten the mood

• Mr. Beef, popular Chicago River North Italian beef restaurant, faces foreclosure suit

• Idea of aid for homeowners pulls stocks from sharp losses

• Thursday's market movers

• Sears launching ServiceLive to connect clients, contractors online

• Greg Burns: With so much anger to go around, Americans are growing numb

• Circuit City name may live on with Web site

• 'Mortal Kombat' maker Midway Games files for bankruptcy

• Home prices fall in most metro areas

• U.S. retail sales rise 1%, ending 6-month slide

• David Greising: Indonesia in cross hairs of global economic slowdown

• Starbucks to debut instant coffee

• Cable operator Charter Communications to file for bankruptcy

• DLA Piper to cut 80 lawyers, 100 staffers in U.S.

• FreightCar America to eliminate 80% of jobs at Danville, Ill., assembly plant

• Washington Mutual identifies 57 Chicago-area branches that are closing

From the business wire

• Japan's economy seen shrinking at more than 10 percent pace in fourth quarter

• Pepsico 4th-quarter profit drops on some charges; adjusted results meet analysts' estimates

• Abercrombie & Fitch 4th-quarter slides 68 percent; retailer withholds guidance for 2009

• Group of 7 Fin Mins seek progress amid tanking economy, slow national responses

• Toyota cutting US executives' pay by 30 percent, offers buyouts; production days will be cut

• Jury rules for widow of Fla. smoker in first of 8,000 lawsuits blaming death on addiction

• Pakistan's economic problems easing but IMF-backed turnaround needs time, says PM adviser

• Euro zone economy shrank by record 1.5 percent in Q4 as industrial output plummeted

• 2 Irish Life & Permanent executives resign over Anglo Irish support

• Air France-KLM reports third quarter loss on decline in business class travel, cargo

• General Motors says no plan to sell stake in Shanghai joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp

• Australian parliament endorses $28 billion economic stimulus package

• Toyota cutting US executives' pay by 30 percent, offers buyouts; production days will be cut

• Gov't: Money manager Nadel pondered book deal, wrote letters to family while on the lam

• New jobless claims by state for the week ending Jan. 31

• Move over Folgers: Starbucks to unveil new instant coffee next week in bid to spark sales

• Meltdown 101: High inventories, low sales can hurt the economy _ even as they push prices down

• Absolute return funds at a glance

• Office of Thrift Supervision Director John Reich leaving post Feb. 27

• International development bank bet heavily on mortgage debt, saw $1.9B loss to portfolio

• Clarification: Feb. 10 Muzak bankruptcy story

• Finance minister: French economy expected to shrink by at least 1 percent in 2009

• UK's Brown defends appointment of banking regulator who quit over whistleblower allegations

• 5 questions for the author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Value Investing

• Russian Prime Minister Putin backs more tax cuts for oil sector as short-term stimulus measure

• German economy shrinks by 2.1 percent in 4th quarter as recession deepens

• Volkswagen and Toshiba sign letter of intent on electric drives, batteries cooperation

• Credit card users would get new protections under proposed regulations

• Viacom 4th-qtr profit falls as US economy hurts growth, absorbs restructuring charge

• Coca-Cola 4th-qtr profit drops on stronger dollar, write-downs but beats Street estimates

• Freddie Mac says average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages falls to 5.16 percent

• Swiss-Swedish engineering giant ABB reports 88 pct drop in 4Q net profit on one-off provision

• Loss-ridden Swiss Re says CEO Jacques Aigrain is stepping down, to be replaced by his deputy

• Dollar mixed as lawmakers announce agreement on stimulus bill, trade deficit narrows

• Fillon rejects protectionist claims, says it has rights to protect own workers first

• US businesses slashed inventories 1.3 percent in December, biggest cut in 7 years

• Businesses slashed inventories 1.3 percent in December, biggest cut in 7 years

• Diageo warns of job cuts as it lowers full-year profit forecast despite strong first half

• Customers of Peanut Corp.'s Texas plant began pulling products even before state order

• Chinalco agrees to invest $19.5 billion in miner Rio Tinto to create 'strategic partnership'

• Nissan reviewing tie-up plans with Chrysler amid financial woes

• Microsoft hires Wal-Mart veteran to oversee new retail store plans despite recession

• Waste Management posts drop in 4th-quarter profit on recycling downturn, charges

• US stocks signal lower open following mixed readings on unemployment claims, retail sales

• Brazil stocks fall Thursday amid concerns about US bank bailout plan

• Retail sales up 1 percent in January, biggest increase since November 2007

• French oil giant Total falls to euro794 million loss in 4Q as oil price collapses

• Administration weighs plan to use taxpayer money to cut mortgage rates for troubled borrowers

• House panel adopts bill that would expand oversight of financial instruments blamed in crisis

• China investigating milk products, baby formula for melamine, unapproved additive

• Rep. Barney Frank assumes more protection for disbursement of Part 2 of $700B bailout fund

• Japanese electronics company Pioneer to cut 10,000 jobs globally

• Retail sales rise unexpectedly in January, but it may be a blip as jobless claims remain high

• Will the stimulus work? It will help, but don't expect quick turnaround for jobs, economy

• Aetna fourth-quarter profit falls 57 pct on investment losses, severance costs, other charges

• Gold prices rise, closing near $950, as investors question effectiveness of stimulus bill

• How the Dow Jones industrials and other major stock indexes fared in Thursday's trading

• Thursday's Treasury bond market at a glance

• Treasurys finish mixed after auction of $14B in 30-year bonds

• Coca-Cola 4th-qtr profit drops on stronger dollar, write-downs but beats Street estimates

• Banks, investment firms borrow less from Federal Reserve as credit markets improve

• Auto parts suppliers step up for their bailout, with the fate of automakers perhaps at stake

• Cable operator Charter Communications to file Chapter 11 to reorganize debt

• Viacom 4th-qtr profit falls as economy hurts growth, absorbs restructuring charge

• TVA says cleaning up massive Tenn. coal ash spill could cost as much as $825 million

• Fla. woman's question to Obama brings attention to plight of homeless in tough economy

• Fed: Americans' net worth hit hard by recession as value of stocks, homes, businesses decline

• Median home prices fell in 88 percent of US metropolitan areas in fourth quarter of 2008

• Fed: Americans' net worth hit hard by recession as value of stocks, homes, businesses decline

• Child care in a downturn: Saving doesn't have to mean worse care

• CFOs delaying retirement too, no big buys in the works, finding good coffee on the cheap

• Health care proving reliable safe haven from recession, but staying power to be tested

Top tech stories

• Steve Johnson: President Barack Obama's plunger photo and Michelle Obama's dresses

• Steve Johnson: Last week's 5 most viewed stories on chicagotribune.com

• Steve Johnson: Obama doodle, vampire canoodle

• Download a Mississippi River tour guide

• Find fall's veins of gold by leafing through the Internet

From the tech wire

• Driven by Nintendo, January video game sales grow 13 percent to $1.33 billion

• Driven by Nintendo, January video game sales grow 13 percent to $1.33 billion

• Correction: List of analog TV stations

• Put down the cell phone, Casanova: Texting while dating can lead to a bad connection