Archives: May 2009

Crash Diet for GM

Posted by: Moon Ihlwan on May 29, Categories: early

Three days before a government-imposed restructuring deadline, GM’s board of directors mulls ways to win concessions from various parties, a strategy that would help the company quickly exit from...

GM Offers Bondholders a New Deal

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 28, Categories: late

General Motors provided more details of the reorganization plan that it’s presenting to the federal government, and announced that it had offered its bondholders up to 25% of the...

The Tough Road Ahead for GM and Chrysler

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on May 28, Categories: early

President Barack Obama is betting that Chrysler and, likely, GM can use an accelerated bankruptcy process to remake themselves into smaller and nimbler companies that can compete in the...

GM: No Deal with Bondholders

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 27, Categories: late

The carmaker announced that its has failed to persuade 90% of its bondholders to convert their share of $27.2 billion in debt to equity as part of the effort...

Chrysler Ready for Quick Exit from Bankruptcy

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 27, Categories: early

Chrysler could emerge from bankruptcy faster than many people had expected, with the automaker possibly leaving court protection as early as next week, said a person familiar with the...

Obama Picks Sotomayor

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 26, Categories: late

President Barack Obama nominated U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the seat on the Supreme Court being relinquished by David Souter. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first...

Crunch time looms for GM, Chrysler restructuring

Posted by: Ian Rowley on May 26, Categories: early

United Auto Workers' officials will gather on Tuesday to hear how many more U.S factory jobs General Motors will cut as the embattled automaker enters what could be its...

California Leads Nation in Job Losses

Posted by: Cristina Lindblad on May 22, Categories: late

A total of 44 U.S. states lost jobs in April, according to a U.S. Labor Dept. report released on May 22. Leading the layoff pack was California, where employers...

Could the U.S.’ Rating Be Downgraded?

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 22, Categories: early

The U.S. could eventually lose its top AAA credit rating, according to Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co -- the world's biggest bond fund. The...

GM and the UAW Come to Terms

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 21, Categories: late

General Motors and the UAW announced that they have reached a deal that would help the carmaker cut its labor costs and its obligations to pay for retiree health...

Global Markets Recoil on Fed Pessimism

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 21, Categories: early

Global stock markets fell on May 21 after the U.S. Federal Reserve predicted an even deeper recession in the domestic economy during 2009. No market was left untouched. Asian...

U.S. Banks Raising Billions In New Capital

Posted by: Cristina Lindblad on May 20, Categories: late

America’s biggest banks are moving quickly to plug holes in their balance sheets exposed by the government’s financial “stress tests”. Testifying before the Senate on May 20, Treasury Secretary...

Bank of America Raises $13.47 Billion

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 20, Categories: early

Bank of America Corp raised $13.47 billion on May 19 through a share sale to meet the U.S. government's requirements for capital-raising. Including the recent $7.3 billion sale of...

U.S. Housing Starts Drop Unexpectedly

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 19, Categories: late

Housing still isn’t out of the woods in the U.S. Despite various indications that the sector has touched bottom, housing starts hit a record low in April, falling 12.8%...

Banks Want to Repay TARP Money

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 19, Categories: early

Major U.S. financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, have applied to repay the billions of dollars they borrowed under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), according...

Obama Pushes Better Mileage Standards

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 18, Categories: late

The Obama Administration is expected to unveil tomorrow a proposal to toughen fuel-economy standards. According to insiders, the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Dept. will be asked to require...

U.S. Banks in Capital Shortfall

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 18, Categories: early

Small and medium-sized U.S. banks may need to raise $24 billion to meet the same government capital standards design to test the financial health of the country’s largest institutions....

German GDP Posts Sharpest-Ever Fall

Posted by: Ian Rowley on May 15, Categories: early

German gross domestic product in the first quarter posted its sharpest fall since records began in 1970, as economic activity was much weaker than expected, data from the Federal...

Chrysler Drives Up Jobless Claims

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 14, Categories: late

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose more than economists expected last week, and one of the culprits appeared to be the Chrysler bankruptcy. Claims rose by 32,000 to 637,000,...

Obama Considers Regulations on Derivatives

Posted by: Mehul Srivastava on May 14, Categories: early

The Obama administration is pushing the U.S. Congress to move faster on ways to regulate so-called “exotic derivatives”, in an attempt to bring more transparency to the kind of...

EU Slaps Intel With Record Fine

Posted by: Cristina Lindblad on May 13, Categories: late

Justice was severe, if not exactly swift. After an investigation lasting nearly nine years, the European Union’s competition watchdog on May 13 slapped semiconductor giant Intel with the largest...

EU Slaps Intel With Record Fine

Posted by: Cristina Lindblad on May 13, Categories: late

Justice was severe, if not exactly swift. After an investigation lasting nearly nine years, the European Union’s competition watchdog on May 13 slapped semiconductor giant Intel with the largest...

Recession Hits Social Security Projections

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on May 13, Categories: early

The recession is draining Social Security and Medicare even earlier than expected, according to new reports. The costs of administering Social Security are now expected to exceed tax revenues...

Home Prices Keep Crumbling

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 12, Categories: late

U.S. home prices fell by the most ever in a quarter, declining by 14% from the first quarter of last year, as foreclosure sales by banks increased. The median...

China's Exports Continue Slump

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 12, Categories: early

In another sign that China’s economy continues to struggle, the government announced exports in April fell a worse-than-expected 22.6% compared to a year ago. The export drop is the...

Obama Takes on Health Care and Antitrust

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 11, Categories: late

President Barack Obama met with a wide-ranging coalition pledging to cut the cost of health care by $2 trillion over 10 years. Doctors, hospitals, and drugmakers participated in the...

Pakistan kills 200 Taliban Insurgents

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on May 11, Categories:

The Pakistan military said it has killed at least 200 Taliban insurgents in the Swat Valley and Shangla region in the northwest of the country in a major offensive...

Bank Stress Tests: The Verdict

Posted by: Andy Reinhardt on May 08, Categories: early

Though many details already had leaked out, the U.S. government on May 7 finally released the long-awaited official results of its so-called "stress tests" on the financial condition of...

More Red Ink at GM

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 07, Categories: late

Things appear to be getting still worse at General Motors, which reported a $6 billion first-quarter loss. It ascribed the red ink to the global auto slump that produced...

Banks Brace For Stress Test Results

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 07, Categories: early

U.S. regulators will unveil on May 7 the results of the so-called ‘stress tests’ of the country’s 19 largest financial institutions. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner already has said the...

Pace of Job Losses Slowing in U.S.

Posted by: Cristina Lindblad on May 06, Categories: late

Finally, some good news on the employment front. A pair of job reports released on May 6 showed that U.S. companies are shedding jobs at a slower rate. Payroll-processing...

Bank of America’s $35 Billion Funding Gap

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 06, Categories: early

Bank of America needs to fill a roughly $35 billion capital shortfall that the U.S. government's ongoing bank stress tests has found, according to people familiar with the situation....

U.S. Services: Another Ray of Hope

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 05, Categories: late

The Institute for Supply Management’s index of nonmanufacturing industries rose more than expected in April, to 43.7 to 40.8. Readings below 50 mean the sector, which makes up 90%...

U.S. Banks Prepare For Stress Test Results

Posted by: Mark Scott on May 05, Categories: early

U.S. officials are expected to order almost half of the 19 banks undergoing government stress tests to boost their capital provisions, according to several people familiar with the matter....

Obama Slams Offshore Tax Havens

Posted by: Harry Maurer on May 04, Categories: late

President Obama announced a plan to raise $210 billion in tax revenue over 10 years by cracking down on what it calls “loopholes” that allow corporations and individuals to...

Fiat Eyes Forging New Auto Giant

Posted by: Andy Reinhardt on May 04, Categories: early

With his deal to take control of troubled Chrysler in hand, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is now turning his attention to a bid for two of GM's European units,...

Souter Retirement Offers Supreme Court Opportunity for Obama

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on May 01, Categories: early

Supreme Court Justice David Souter will retire at the end of the court’s current term, sources say. Souter, 69, is the only one of the nine justices not to...

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