JSonline: Business Watch
Business Watch: A Weblog of Today's Local Business News

• Oshkosh Truck to drop the 'Truck'
  Oshkosh - Oshkosh Truck Corp. (Monsoon Wok to re-open as Umami Moto
  Monsoon Wok & Lounge, an Asian fusion restaurant in Brookfield, will close its doors shortly after the new year and reopen as Umami Moto in late January, owner Michael H. Polaski said today. Polaski, president of SU Restaurant Group, an original investor in Monsoon, purchased the restaurant at 17800 Blue Mound Road, in October from Global Restaurant Systems LLC, which operates Mo's Restaurants. "Umami Moto means, rather literally, 'the source fo the fifth element of taste - deliciousness,' " Polaski said in a statement. The restaurant will continue to offer Asian fusion cuisine. When the newly renovated restaurant reopens, it will be led by restaurant developer and consultant Al Balda.
• Supreme Cores acquires Illinois firm
  Supreme Cores Inc., a Milwaukee manufacturer of sand cores to the foundry industry, said today it has acquired Ottawa Shellkore, of Ottawa, Ill. The acquisition gives Supreme ownership of more than 25 stock core boxes, and two additional pieces of machinery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Supreme Cores said the acquisition will add 16 new customers to the list of foundries it supplies with sand cores and molds. It is also expected to add four to five employees to Supreme Cores' current employment of 65. Supreme Cores, which also operates Supreme Cores of the Carolinas Inc. in South Carolina, supplies more than 125 foundries throughout the U.S. and Canada.
• Merge posts loss, restates prior earnings
  Merge Technologies Inc. (Area manufacturing grew in November
  Manufacturing grew in the Midwest during November, according to a monthly index compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index rose 0.5% in the month, matching the increase in a similar national index compiled by the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. All four major manufacturing sectors in the Midwest showed an increase in the month - automobiles were up 1%, steel 0.6%, machinery 0.5% and resource processing 0.1%. The index covers Iowa and parts of Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison areas.
• Zacks lowers MGIC shares to 'sell'
  The rating on shares of MGIC Investment Corp. (Bank has free Hannah Montana tickets
  North Shore Bank said today it will give away eight pairs of tickets to its suite at the Bradley Center for the sold-out Jan. 13 concert by Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel show "Hannah Montana." Fans can register for the free drawing at any North Shore Bank branch or Mergers fell in November, Baird reports
  Merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. dropped in November, according to a monthly report from Milwaukee's Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. In the month, there were 803 deals announced, a drop of 11.1% from November 2006, and a 17.7% decrease from the average of 976 deals announced in each of the 12 months ended in November 2007. A change in the credit markets is a major reason for the downturn, according to the report. "The outcome of the tug of war between the systemic disruptions in the credit markets which threaten to push the U.S. - and probably the worldwide - economy into a recession on one hand and an increasingly accommodative Fed - and other central bankers - doing almost everything it can to prevent an economic contraction on the other is as uncertain as can be," according to the report, which was prepared by Steve M. Bernard, director of merger and acquisition analysis for Baird, who is based in Chicago.
• November construction contracts rebound
  Contracts for construction rebounded in the Milwaukee area, according to data that McGraw-Hill Construction in New York compiled. In November, the contracts rose 28%, to $186.9 million, from $146.1 million in the same month a year earlier. That includes gains of 23% in residential and 32% in non-residential contracts. For the year, contracts were down 32%, to $1.61 billion, from