Largest derivatives exchange of the world, CME Group Inc., is in pursuing first round talks to acquire the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

As per reports by the Crain's Chicago Business, the deal would value the biggest US options market at up to $5 billion.

A $5 billion price tag would value each CBOE seat at around $4 million.

On Tuesday, the adjusted fiscal first-quarter profit was forwarded by electronic health records maker Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc., with the profit figures surpassing the Wall Street estimates.

Researchers studying the effects of stress in animal models reported that a socially isolated and stressful environment can speed up the effects of stress.

Dr Suzanne D. Conzen, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, informed that social isolation can change the expression of genes important in the growth of mammary gland tumors.

After a study of the holes in the jaw of Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, a team of scientists have concluded that a single-celled parasite in a paleolithic turn might have spelled doom for the 13-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus rex!

Starbucks Corp. will soon start selling instant coffee throughout North America. The company, which nearly eight months back started selling its Via instant coffee in Seattle and Chicago, will now provide it to the rest of the country and in its Canadian stores.

A holiday hiring forecast unveiled this week from Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. has specified that extra caution is required to be taken by retailers suffering with serious cutbacks in consumer spending before hiring temporary, seasonal workers. 

Going by a Wednesday announcement by AT&T, the company has worked out clear-cut plans to upgrade its wireless network, aiming at increasing its speed by two times, in six US cities by the end of the year. The cities that will receive the network upgrade include Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Wednesday saw a senior Boeing executive informing that Boeing Co, the renowned aircraft maker, is expecting orders from Chinese airlines to account for nearly 40% of its forecast of 8,960 commercial jet orders from Asia over the next 20 years.

Sun-Times Media Group Inc. said that a group of local investors had offered $5 million in cash and $20 million in liabilities for its newspaper the Chicago Sun-Times and its sister publications.

It was informed that the investor group was led by Mesirow Financial’s CEO, Jim Tyree.

Doctors at Elmhurst are planning to notify pregnant women, children and other high risk patients about the risks for a vaccination, as swine flu spreads across the Chicago area this fall.

The new electronic database will be handy in facilitating this. The speculation about the vaccine's production has raised many questions about its availability in required quantities.