Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John to talk a bit about the Bears stadium plans, how the market has been performing the last week, if its possible that the Fed doesn’t cut interest rates this year, and what we should know about Foxtrot and Dom’s abruptly closing. And, as usual, Terry answers all of your financial questions.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

One day after shutting down stores, Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market are being sued. A former employee alleges the store owners violated workers’ rights by not giving staff members 60 days notice of a mass layoff or plant closure. Companies are required to provide that notice under the Illinois Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification act, otherwise known as the WARN law. The plaintiff is a worker who claims he was terminated in the middle of a shift without warning. The company closed stores in multiple states and 1,000 workers were let go. 

Also, Southwest Airlines will operate fewer flights at O’Hare Airport because of delivery issues with new planes from Boeing. Listen for more below:

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

Less than six months after merging, Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market are closing Chicago stores. Chicago Eater says the newly-merged company is filing for bankruptcy and closing all stores in Illinois, Texas and Washington, DC. One of the first closures involved the Foxtrot at 1019 W. Lake. Crain’s reports the doors were locked this morning and employees were sent home. It was Foxtrot’s first brick-and-mortar location. Foxtrot and Dom’s merged last year. At the time, the newly merged company said it planned to keep both brands and continue to grow. Foxtrot began in Chicago and Dom’s is a venture backed by grocery store veteran Bob Mariano. The merged company has about 1,000 workers across several states. 

Also, Illinois’ credit rating just got another boost. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, joins Jon Hansen in for John Williams to discuss the latest trend overcoming offices coined “resenteeism” and what that consists of.

Segment 2: Philippe Weiss, President, Seyfarth at Work, talks to Jon about office gossip and how gossip in the office place could effect productivity, kill morale, and how the gossip could falsely reflect business objectives.

Segment 3: Jason Turner, Chief Investment Strategist for Wintrust Wealth Management, joins Jon to talk about today’s inflation data, the importance of diversifying a portfolio, the Labor Department’s latest rule relating to bad retirement savings advice, and more.

Segment 1: Ilyce Glink, owner of Think Glink Media and Best Money Moves, joins John to talk about how much money some Americans are willing to spend on credit cards, the current mortgage rates, and how that’s impacting the economy.

Segment 2: John Schaefer, COO of Brightfarms, joins John to talk about Brightfarms operations, the new Yorkville location, the 100+ jobs offered at the new location and where you can apply.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

A new report on Chicago’s largest privately held companies shows their revenues grew 8% in 2023 compared to the year before. The list, compiled by Crain’s Chicago Business, lists more than 340 companies with revenue of at least $90 million. Collectively, the firms on the list generated about $582 billion in 2023 and employed nearly 193,000 local workers. The companies cover numerous industries including construction, architecture, engineering, manufacturing, business services and food and beverage. Bloomington-based State Farm had the top spot on the list with nearly $104 billion in revenue, up 17% year over year. 

Also, Chicago-based e-commerce fulfillment service provider ShipBob is preparing an initial public offering that could value the company at $4 billion. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Craig Bolanos, Co-Founder and CEO of Wealth Management Group, joins John to talk about inflation data stalling out, what stubborn inflation means for the economy, what good investors should know right now, when the Fed might cut interest rates, and why he believes this is a buying opportunity to compound wealth.

Segment 2: Alan Markovich, General Manager of PXG West in Oak Brook, tells John about their technology driven company that makes custom golf clubs that are fitted specifically to your needs. What makes the PXG clubs different?

Segment 3: Aki Ito, Chief Correspondent at Business Insider, joins John to talk about her recent story that examines the hidden costs of leaving a big city.

Steve Grzanich has the business news of the day with the Wintrust Business Minute.

A new report says artificial intelligence could result in a 900% increase in power demand by Chicago area data centers. 25 data center projects, currently undergoing engineering studies, would consume 5 gigawatts of power. That would equal the output of five nuclear plants. All 25 centers are within ComEd’s territory and the utility expects 80% of them to be completed. Bloomberg reports the data centers would initially use excess capacity on the regional grid. As for the future, ComEd says it will ensure its system can handle the additional power load.

Also, Goodman Theatre front-of-house employees have unionized. Listen for more below:

Segment 1: Jon Cordell, Director of Development Management and Operations, Central Region at Lendlease, tells John about the challenge of searching for a new home hom when interest rates are high and the creative financing solutions available for local buyers.

Segment 2: Bree Fowler, runner and Senior Writer, CNET, joins John to talk about the Biden administration reaching a deal to provide $6.1 billion in government support for Micron Technology to produce advanced memory computer chips, Tesla asking shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk, and London police announcing today that they disrupted a website that allowed fraudsters to trick up to 70,000 British victims into revealing personal information such as bank account details and passwords.

Segment 3:  Michael Miller, Economics Professor, Western Washington University and Professor Emeritus at DePaul University, chats with John about a new economic study that showed periods of high inflation undermine real earnings more than your average recession.

Nationally syndicated financial columnist and author Terry Savage joins John to talk about the performance of Trump’s Truth Social stock, her two recent columns on credit card warnings, and some recent news about social security clawbacks. And as always, Terry answers all of your financial questions.