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El Pollo Loco’s COO to leave company

El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. said Monday its chief operating officer, Kay Bogeajis, is leaving the company to pursue personal interests. The chicken restaurant chain said said it is currently searching for a successor. Separately, the company said it named William Floyd and Carol Lynton to its board of directors. Floyd was at one time COO of Taco Bell and KFC, while Lynton is the co-founder of The Dinex Group, which currently operates 17 Boulud-branded restaurants. El Pollo Loco’s stock, which slipped 0.7% in premarket trade, has run up 8.7% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.4%.

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Apple stock target raised to $150 as service offerings seen as doubling

Apple Inc. was added to Credit Suisse’s US Focus List on Monday, as the stock is now considered one of the bank’s “top investment ideas.” The brokerage raised its price target on the stock to $150 from $140, which implies 36.4% upside to Friday’s closing price. Shares of Apple ticked up 0.6% to $110.70 in premarket trade. Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha said an in-depth look into Apple’s service offerings showed that investors may be underestimating and underappreciating the annuity business’s growth potential. It estimates gross profit related to services has grown to around $14.5 billion from $3.2 billion in 2010, and sees that doubling to nearly $34 billion by 2020, with services accounting for 29% of total profit. The gains are seen as coming from strong App Store growth, as well as the scale of Apple Pay, Apple Music and iCloud.

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Alaska Air Group to buy Virgin America in $4 billion deal

Alaska Air Group Inc. said Monday it plans to buy Virgin America Inc. for $57 a share in cash. The purchase, including debt and capitalized aircraft operating leases, would value the transaction at $4 billion. The proposed merger has been approved by the boards of both companies. Alaska Air Group, which runs Alaska Airlines, expects to close the deal, with regulatory approval, by no later than Jan. 1 2017. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines would become the fifth-largest carrier in the U.S., Alaska Air said in a statement. The combination should add to Alaska Air’s adjusted per-share earnings in the first full year, excluding integration costs, and increase annual revenue by 27% to more than $7 billion, Alaska said.

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Monday Morning Cup of Coffee: Boomer renters, W-2 thieves and affordable housing

By swheeler@housingwire.com With April 15 fast approaching, companies are dealing with requests for W-2 forms from a variety of sources. Unfortunately, these forms are being stolen by cyber thieves who are then filing fake returns and collecting taxpayer refunds, according to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. The thieves, posing as high-ranking human resource employees, request the W-2s in what looks like an internal email. Unwitting employees forward the forms, which contain social security numbers and other personal information. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

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UConn women look to make history in NCAA championship

UConn is one win away from an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA women’s basketball championship. The Huskies crushed Oregon State, 80-51, on Sunday in the Final Four, advancing to Tuesday’s title game. They’ll face conference rival Syracuse, who beat Washington, 80-59, on Sunday. If Connecticut wins Tuesday, it will be the 11th national championship for head coach Geno Auriemma, surpassing the legendary John Wooden for the most all-time. UConn is 37-0 this season, and is on a 74-game winning streak overall.

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Villanova forcibly claims first spot in NCAA title game Monday

Villanova University demolished the University of Oklahoma in a Saturday matchup of second-seeded teams to claim the first of two spots in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament final on Monday. The Big East Conference school from the Philadelphia area outscored Oklahoma 95-51, a stunning 44-point victory margin. The Wildcats, in fact, scored more points in the game’s second half than the Sooners managed in the game. ‘Nova advances to play the winner of the Syracuse-North Carolina game, a matchup of Atlantic Coast Conference schools, that’s set to tip off at 8:49 p.m. Eastern time. Syracuse is a No. 10 seed; North Carolina has thus far successfully defended a No. 1.

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From:: Stock Market News