Today’s Business Beat – Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014

Chicago car insurance cheap by metro standards

Think your car insurance premium is high? A new survey says premiums in the Chicago area compared with other metro areas are among the cheapest in the country.

4 reasons shoppers will shrug off Home Depot hack

Home Depot’s data breach could wind up being among the largest ever for a retailer, but that may not matter to its millions of customers.

Boeing, Alcoa reach $1B supply contract

Boeing Co. and Alcoa have signed a long-term supply contract valued at more than $1 billion for aluminum sheet and plate products.

Schneider Electric moving HQ to Boston area: report

Energy-management company Schneider Electric is moving its U.S. headquarters from Palatine to the Boston area, according to media reports.

Abbott approves $3 billion share buyback

Abbott Laboratories said Thursday its board approved spending up to $3 billion to buy back the health conglomerate’s stock.

Neighbor makes Spiteful Brewing’s new beer possible

Neighbors help each other out. In the case of Spiteful Brewing, it got a barrel from neighbor Letherbee Distiller and this week is releasing Absinthe Barrel-Aged Klutzy Buffoon Saison.

Dunkin’ Donuts to open stores in Brazil

Dunkin’ Donuts plans to open 65 stores in two Brazilian cities over the next few years, nearly a decade after closing up shop in the South American country.

RadioShack warns of possible bankruptcy

RadioShack says it may need to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization if it can’t rework its debt or find another way to ease a cash crunch.

Toyota recalls 130K pickups to fix air bag problem

Toyota is recalling about 130,000 Tundra full-size pickup trucks because a plastic trim piece can interfere with the side air bags.

Eastman Chemical buying Taminco for about $1.73B

Eastman Chemical Co. is buying specialty chemical company Taminco for about $1.73 billion to strengthen its presence in markets such as food, feed and agriculture.

Applications for unemployment benefits rise to 315,000

The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 315,000, the most since late June.

China’s auto sales slow in August

China’s auto sales growth decelerated further in August to 8.5 percent while sales of SUVs surged by nearly a third.

T-Mobile to sell phones that call, text on Wi-Fi

T-Mobile will sell more than 100 smartphone models with a built-in feature that taps into Wi-Fi networks to make phone calls and send texts when customers can’t connect to the wireless carrier’s cellular network.

MasterCard loses European Union court battle over fees

The European Union’s highest court has thrown out an appeal by MasterCard against a decision by the bloc’s antitrust authority to scrap some of its fees charged to merchants.