People Make Business

OKLAHOMA CITY – A group of Chesapeake Energy Corp. shareholders wants a federal judge in Oklahoma City to delay the company’s June 8 annual meeting until they get a full accounting of CEO Aubrey McClendon’s financial transactions.

Attorneys for six shareholders who have filed lawsuits against McClendon and Chesapeake’s board in the past month claim the Oklahoma City oil and natural gas company has not provided all of the information it should have in its May 11 proxy statement.

They want U.S. District Judge Vickie Miles-LaGrange to postpone Chesapeake’s annual shareholder meeting until the company files a corrected proxy statement.

“Absent court intervention, Chesapeake and its shareholders will suffer irreparable harm based on defendants’ misconduct in the form of an uninformed shareholder vote,” the motion filed Tuesday states. “The proxy solicits shareholders to vote to re-elect two directors, defendants (Richard K.) Davidson and (Burns) Hargis. Plain Read more…

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by the Nielsen Co. for April 30-May 6. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. “NCIS,” CBS, 17.58 million.

2. “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 16.66 million.

3. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 16.2 million.

4. “American Idol” (Thursday), Fox, 15.56 million.

5. “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS, 15.21 million.

6. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 13.91 million.

7. “Dancing With the Stars Results,” ABC, 13.87 million.

8. “Person of Interest,” CBS, 13.27 million.

9. “The Mentalist,” CBS, 12.94 million.

10. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 11.73 million.

11. “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 11.47 million.

12. “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 11.32 million.

13. “Castle,” ABC, 11.08 million.

14. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 10.91 million.

15. “Unforgettable,” CBS, 10.66 million.

16. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 10.36 million.

17. “Mike & Molly,” CBS, 10.16 million.

18.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The individual health insurance mandate that the Supreme Court is reviewing isn’t the only federal dictate involving health care.

There’s a Medicare payroll tax on workers and employers, for example, and a requirement that hospitals provide free emergency services to indigents.

Health care is full of government dictates, and some can be seen as more intrusive than the requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Most of the mandates apply to service providers such as hospitals and insurers.

One federal health care mandate that affects just about everybody: Workers must pay a tax to finance Medicare, which collects about $200 billion a year.

Even the uninsured pay the Medicare tax.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wondered last week how some social policy mandates could be constitutional and others not.

Stocks are rising after a report that consumers boosted spending last month even though income was essentially flat.

A few minutes after the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 49 points at 13,194. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up almost 6 points at 1,409. The Nasdaq composite has risen 15 points to 3,110.

Friday is the last trading day of the quarter. So far, both the Dow and the S&P 500 have had their best first quarters since 1998.

Stocks in Europe rose, too. Spain unveiled a plan to cut spending and raise taxes on large companies in an effort to reduce its budget deficit.

Asian markets fell after some poor factory production numbers from Japan.

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EVERETT, Wash. — Boeing Co. delivered two of its new 787s to Japan Airlines on Monday. The planes will be the first 787s that will fly commercially from the U.S.

The airline plans to fly the planes between Boston and Tokyo starting April 22. It later plans to add flights between San Diego and Tokyo.

The airline has ordered 45 of the jets. Boeing has booked orders for 873 of the planes altogether. It delivered its first 787 last fall to JAL competitor All Nippon Airways Co. Those planes are being flown in Asia. United Airlines will be the first U.S. carrier to get one, later this year.

The 787s delivered Monday are the first with General Electric engines. Boeing got U.S. government approval for those engines on the 787 just last week.

At Everett’s Paine field, about 60 787s sit parked on what seems like every available space.

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NEW YORK — One day after the price of benchmark crude took the biggest one-day drop this year, it headed up again.

Oil rose Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly dropped last week. The Energy Information Administration said supplies fell by 1.2 million barrels. Analysts expected supplies to grow by 2.1 million barrels, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill.

Oil prices also got some support from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who told a congressional panel that U.S. banks are in good shape and could withstand shocks from Europe, even if the debt crisis there significantly worsened.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.20 to finish at $107.27 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used by many U.S. refineries to make gasoline, rose by 8 cents to end at $124.20 per barrel in London.

On Tuesday, WTI tumbled by $2.49, or 2.3 percent, to $106.07. I Read more…