Chipotle soft-launches ShopHouse Kitchen, a Southeast Asian fast casual restaurant concept, in Washington, D.C. (prompting Seattle's Shophouse eatery to rebrand to Little Uncle).

Yahoo and AOL may be planning an ad sales partnership.

Kenmore may be next brand 'farmed out' by Sears.

Bing introduces "adaptive search" to personalize results.

Eterniti teases luxury 'supercar' at Frankfurt Auto Show.

Facebook expands social ads push, delays IPO to late 2012.

Google buys more than 1,000 patents from IBM.

Louis Vuitton names next CEO, opens first airport store.

Marni and Estee Lauder partner on perfume collection.

Solyndra bankruptcy and loan become a bigger embarrassment for the Obama administration.

Toyota steps up research to make driving safer.

& Advertisers and retailers move up Halloween promotions earlier this year (on both sides of the pond).

America and the world grieve and reflect on tenth anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday.

Amazon gets one-year sales-tax reprieve from California legislature; displaces Apple in brand loyalty survey; and may be working on a Netflix for books.

AOL and Yahoo struggle for identity.

AT&T revamps stores for tablet push.

Coca-Cola brings PlantBottle packaging to the UK.

Facebook, Skype and YouTube head "breakaway brands" report.Continue reading...

Post Carol Bartz ouster, Yahoo may look for next leader in advertising as site retains financial advisers and mulls sale.

President Obama is expected to seek a $300-billion jobs package in his address to Congress tomorrow night.

AT&T could cut price of buying T-Mobile if regulator demands become too onerous.

BP casts about for new growth strategy.

Bank of America executes major shakeup of leadership.

Benetton unveils sexy image overhaul.

Borders is sued over layoffs.Continue reading...

Netflix and Starz contract renewal talks break off, ending one of Netflix's "most important" (though less so, lately) content deals.

Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, retains restructuring advisers.

Oracle $1.3 billion verdict against SAP overturned by judge.

Accera Inc.'s Axona milkshake raises hopes for Alzheimer's patients.

Air Australia reveals new livery.

Airbnb expands into sublets.

Amazon bargains to avoid online sales tax in California.

American Airlines disputes survey saying it had the longest call-waiting times during Hurricane Irene, hires pet detective to track missing-at-JFK passenger Jack the Cat.Continue reading...

Adidas takes a nuanced approach to differentiate among national markets.

Air Koryo wants you to "friend" the North Korean state-run airline.

AOL is reportedly in talks with bankers to take the company private.

AT&T plans to bring back 5,000 U.S. jobs sent overseas.

Barnes & Noble gets lift from Nook reader.

BMW vows no power loss with four-cylinder sedan revival.

Boeing sets 2017 for debut of new version of 737.Continue reading...

With his campaign to deprive incumbent politicians of corporate campaign contributions until they get the federal-debt issue right, Howard Schultz has certainly added to the increased noise by executives yammering about what's wrong with the American economy, and what to do about it. And at a time of continued economic distress -- including stubbornly high unemployment and the threat of a double-digit recession -- many CEOs aren't just talking. They're also putting -- or not putting -- their money and companies' resources where their mouths are.

Take Schultz and his simpaticos. “We’ve touched a nerve,” the Starbucks CEO said in an interview with TheWrap last week. "There’s such a groundswell of disappointment and concern with regard to the leadership in Washington and crisis of confidence that we have.” He called for a suspension of donations to all incumbents, including President Obama, and dozens of other CEOs have signed on to Schultz's pledge, including Tim Armstrong of AOL and Mickey Drexler of J. Crew. Schultz doesn't even want politicians on vacation until they get the nation back on a viable fiscal path.

But at the same time, another renowned CEO, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, made a tacit -- but very clear -- expression of confidence in the Obama administration last week by plunking down $5 billion to invest in and help the Bank of America through a rough patch. The renowned financier also promised to hold a big fundraiser in New York next month for the beleaguered president, who at some point last week interrupted his Martha's Vineyard vacation to call Buffett, presumably to thank him for his support. Of the same accord seems to be a new TV advertisement by Midwestern stalwart Fifth Third Bank, which says, "We're not waiting for the economy to improve -- we're helping businesses to make it happen."Continue reading...

AOL remains confident in its makeover.

Bloomberg gets maternal-bias suit dismissed.

Boeing ends flight tests of 787 and nears approval.

General Motors trims pickup-truck production.

Kodak launches its long-awaited sale of patents.

McGraw-Hill ponders separating education unit.

Roche gets approval of drug targeted at melanoma.

Toyota should get big lift from new 2012 Yaris subcompact.

Volvo sees global uplift to sales.

World markets are in a new danger zone, head of World Bank says, but the markets notched solid gains early on Monday.

AOL finds content growth comes at a cost

BNY Mellon accused of favoritismin Florida suit.

CNBC gets a bounce from covering stock-market ills.

Dick’s Sporting Goods supports concussion testing of high-school athletes.

Google to buy Motorola Mobility in largest acquisition.

Lowe’s cuts view of prospects.

Ralcorp rejects latest takeover bid by ConAgra.Continue reading...