Marginal Way Walgreens opening for business today

The new Walgreens store on Marginal Way in Portland opens for business at 8 a.m. today.

The 12,500-square-foot store, which is next to Trader Joe’s market, is hosting a private open house from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

Greg Paramantgis, Walgreens’ district manager, said guests at tonight’s event will include business partners, city officials and Mayor Nicholas Mavodones, who will lead a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

In the past few years, Walgreens has opened three stores in Portland and hired more than 90 new workers, Paramantgis said.

The Deerfield, Ill., company, which reported $67 billion in 2010 revenue, operated 7,689 drugstores as of the end of February.

Thirteen of those locations are in Maine.

Microsoft escalates attack against Google in Europe

Microsoft Corp. escalated its attack on Google Inc. by complaining to European regulators Thursday that its fiercest rival is an Internet bully that abuses its dominance of online searches and advertising.

The allegations against Google crystallize the piecemeal gripes that Microsoft has been making about Google’s business practices for the past few years. It’s also an ironic twist for Microsoft, whose control over how software operates on most personal computers has made it a frequent target of the types of complaints it’s now making against Google.

Inflation in eurozone rises to highest level since 2008

Inflation in the 17 euro countries spiked to the highest level in nearly two and a half years in March, official figures showed Thursday, cementing market expectations that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates next week.

Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, said consumer prices in the eurozone were 2.6 percent higher in March than the year before. That’s the highest rate since October 2008 and is way above the central bank’s target of keeping inflation below 2 percent.

WTO rules Boeing received illegal subsidies from U.S.

The World Trade Organization has ruled that Boeing Co. received at least $5.3 billion in illegal U.S. subsidies to develop and build new planes, according to a finding of a report first issued in January but made public on Thursday.

The WTO report came in response to EU complaints alleging that Boeing received almost $24 billion in illegal state subsidies between 1989 and 2006.

The public release of the ruling Thursday is the latest development in a six-year contest and will likely next go to a WTO appeals panel.

Fixed mortgage rates rise but stay below 5 percent

Fixed mortgage rates rose slightly this week, but the average rate on 30-year loans remained below 5 percent.

Freddie Mac said the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 4.86 percent from 4.81 percent the previous week. It hit a 40-year low of 4.17 percent in November.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 4.09 percent from 4.04 percent. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records dating back to 1991.

Ally Financial files for IPO that could raise $100 million

The former finance arm of General Motors says it is preparing an initial public offering as it seeks to repay the government for aid received during the financial crisis.

Ally Financial Inc. said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that the IPO could raise up to $100 million. Preliminary estimates often change closer to the IPO date as the offerings are pitched to investors.

Ally, formerly known as GMAC, received $17.2 billion in government support in 2008 and 2009. It has returned $4.9 billion so far.