business

MONDAY

Grounds for worry: Trouble's brewing in the economy, if the news from the nation's biggest coffee chains is any indication.

No. 2 player Caribou Coffee Co. Inc., based in Brooklyn Center, announced the unexpected departure of CEO Michael Coles, who spent the past two years overseeing an aggressive expansion that has yet to show results on the bottom line. Caribou is expected to see red ink of $1.01 per share this year and lose 63 cents per share next year.

More worrying, market leader Starbucks disclosed negative same-store traffic later in the week and took down its projections for '08.

People don't give up their high-end java for Maxwell House unless they're feeling light in the wallet.

TUESDAY

Breaking the buck? Further cause for worry about the stresses in the financial markets emerged from news on some money market funds. While not guaranteed by the government, money markets are considered safe and their sponsors usually make every effort to keep their values level at $1 per share.

But General Electric disclosed that an "enhanced" cash fund fell below the $1 asset value that most money market funds try to preserve. GE's answer was to let investors redeem their funds at 96 cents on the dollar.

Meanwhile, Bank of America said it would have to provide up to $600 million to keep some of its Columbia Management Funds from a similar fate, which is known within the trade as "breaking the buck."

WEDNESDAY

Shotgun marriage? A hedge fund is trying to pressure airlines that have been thinking about marriage into getting on with it.

Delta Air Lines shareholder Pardus Capital Management said it had sent letters to Delta and United Airlines urging them to merge. Pardus said that combination makes the most sense, more so than a Delta-Northwest Airlines merger, which also has been rumored.

Management at Delta and United denied that any formal talks are underway.

But industry watchers are betting that someone in the industry makes a move soon.

Red light for Redcard? A Target sale of its credit-card receivables is looking less likely. Activist investor William Ackman called for the sale of the $7.4 billion portfolio last summer.

But the world has changed in the credit markets since then, and analysts now question whether the deal could be financed, and at a price that Target would find attractive.

THURSDAY

Paging Tom Joad: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf used the "D" word in a presentation, saying the U.S. housing market is bad and not likely to get better next year. How bad?