The fallout from the tough week on Wall Street is reaching Chicago. But it’s not all bad news. Diane Swonk is chief economist at the Chicago investment firm Mesirow Financial. She says the city will absorb some job losses, but nothing like New York’s financial sector.
SWONK: And on the flipside, ironically, we’ve actually been able to hire talent and bring talent to Chicago from New York that might not have even considered moving to Chicago just a year ago.
Meantime, the troubles of insurance giant AIG are helping one Chicago area company climb the Wall Street ladder. Northfield-based Kraft Foods was picked to replace AIG on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. A spokesman for Kraft says the company is “thrilled.” But analyst Matt Arnold with investment firm Edward Jones downplays the importance of the move.
ARNOLD: It’s recognition. It doesn’t really have any implications on the business and it shouldn’t really have any long-term implications on the stock.
Arnold says Kraft’s stock should tick-up in the short term as index funds take a new look at the company. The stock increased about about three percent Thursday.