Jeff Brotman, an attorney by training and retailer by heritage who launched Costco Wholesale Corp. with Jim Sinegal in Seattle in 1983, died unexpectedly in his home in Medina, Wash., early Tuesday. He was 74, and had been chairman of the company since 1994.

Contrary to emerging conventional wisdom, there appears to be more to Apple's future than whatever the high-end innovations and appealing gewgaws on the latest iPhone may be, whenever it may emerge. Revenue increased 7% year-over-year in its third quarter - a record pace - with legacy devices such as the iPad and the Mac doing very well, the company reported yesterday. Sixty-one percent of its sales were overseas.

With one judge writing "this is the case of the incredible shrinking airline seat" in a 23-page decision, a federal court has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to a take another look at a petition filed by a consumer group claiming that airlines are creating safety issues by cramming more passengers into finite space by decreasing space size at the same time that girths are expanding.