Retail and Business

Citi Investment Research downgraded Gannett Co. Inc. stock Wednesday, saying the publisher’s first-quarter earnings forecast suggests that a stable revenue stream is further away than previously expected, Forbes reported.

The Gannett chain of newspapers includes …

Fewer Americans filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, a sign the labor market is improving heading into the second quarter, Bloomberg reported.

U.S. Department of Labor numbers showed that claims fell by 6,000 to …

Cargill Inc. announced Wednesday that it has purchased Tate & Lyle plc’s corn wet mill ethanol plant in Fort Dodge.

The facility has the ability to grind 150,000 bushels of corn per day and produce …

President Barack Obama will offer oil and gas companies new incentives to start production on undeveloped leases as part of a plan to cut U.S. dependence on imported oil, two administration officials told Bloomberg.

With …

Work stoppages at Honda’s North American assembly plants, which employ thousands of workers, will begin sooner than expected. Marysville, Ohio-based Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. said late Tuesday that it will begin adjusting production schedules …

U.S. chemical manufacturing group E. I. du Pont de Nemours &o. extended its $6 billion takeover bid for Danisco A/S by four weeks after holders of only 6 percent of the Danish company’s shares had …

The Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute will honor six people at its Distinguished Leadership Awards ceremony on April 19 at the Polk County Convention Complex.

Honorees are: Steve Zumbach, receiving the Arthur Davis Distinguished Leadership …

Doextra Corp. President Brad Williams has acquired the company from its founder, Sunnie Richer.

Doextra provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and services to ConAgra Foods Inc., Marsh Inc., Farm Bureau Financial Services, John Deere …

Cummins Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. are accelerating equipment purchases to boost productivity, reinforcing an unprecedented gap between capital spending and employment in the United States that’s restraining a rebound in hiring, Bloomberg said.

Corporate investment …

U.S. consumer spending rose for an eighth straight month in February as households tapped savings to cover higher food and energy prices, Reuters said after the release of a U.S. Commerce Department report.

Spending rose …