NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of General Motors Corp. plunged Wednesday to close below $10 for the first time in more than half a century, on worries about the company's cash needs and speculation about a possible bankruptcy protection filing down the road.

GM shares fell $1.77, or 15.1 percent, to close at $9.98. Their session low of $9.96 marked their lowest point since Sept. 13, 1954, when they hit $9.92, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes.

The drop came after a Merrill Lynch analyst cut his rating for GM to "Underperform" from "Buy" and slashed his price target for the company to $7 from $28, saying that the decline in automotive sales has been more severe than anyone expected and will likely continue through next year.

"We believe there is potential downside in the stock below $7 and that bankruptcy is not impossible if the market continues to deteriorate and significant incremental capital is not raised," John Murphy wrote in a note to investors.

David Healy, an auto analyst with Burnham Securities, said the $10 mark is a purely psychological one but highlights the automaker's dramatic share price plunge since the beginning of the year, along with worries that the company may have to file for bankruptcy protection. GM shares are down about 60 percent this year.

"My own opinion is that they're unlikely to file," Healy said. "But the conditions in the auto industry are so

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices shot to a new record above $144 a barrel Wednesday as the government reported a bigger-than-expected drop in U.S. supplies and the threat of conflict with Iran weighed on traders' minds.

The latest spike means a barrel of crude has gone up by about half since the end of last year, when oil was going for $96 a barrel. Retail gasoline prices climbed to a record of their own in the U.S.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose as high as $144.32 on the New York Mercantile Exchange shortly after the regular trading session ended. The contract also notched a new closing record, settling at $143.57 -- a full $2.60 above the previous high from a day earlier.

Oil first traded above $100 a barrel in January. It hit the previous trading high of $143.67 Monday.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said crude oil supplies fell by 2 million barrels last week, or about 800,000 barrels more than analysts surveyed by the energy research firm Platts predicted.

However, the report offered a mixed picture of energy use by the world's thirstiest oil consumer. Gasoline supplies unexpectedly grew by a considerable amount, and demand continued to slide -- suggesting that record fuel prices are prompting a real shift in Americans' driving habits.

Even so, gas prices continue to rise along with the soaring cost of oil. Prices at the pump jumped half a penny to a new national record of $4.092 a gallon on average, according to AAA, the Oil Price

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- UnitedHealth Group Inc. cleared its decks of bad news on Wednesday, announcing a lower profit outlook, a restructuring that will trim 4,000 jobs and a $900 million payout to settle a class-action lawsuit over options backdating.

UnitedHealth said its restructuring would change operations on every level to focus more on regional coverage. The new UnitedHealth will be "simpler, leaner and faster," Chief Executive Stephen J. Hemsley said.

Analysts saw the announcements as perhaps the end of a long rough patch for UnitedHealth, the nation's second-largest health insurer. Shares in UnitedHealth Group fell 51 cents, or 2 percent, to close at $25.12 Wednesday after sliding to $25.04 earlier in the session, a level not reached since 2003.

The company has been wrestling since 2006 with the backdating scandal, which led to the forced departure of CEO Bill McGuire, who helped build UnitedHealth into a managed-care powerhouse.

UnitedHealth took a big step toward making those problems go away by agreeing to pay $895 million to settle a class-action lawsuit led by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and Alaska Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Pension Trust. The plaintiffs had argued that options backdating cost shareholders money.

UnitedHealth will pay $17 million to resolve another suit related to the Employee Retirement Income

The unsteady economy is altering people's attitudes toward retirement savings.

Some are trimming back their 401(k) contributions as prices for daily staples like food and energy creep higher. Others are boosting savings to better prepare for what could be a costlier retirement.

Not all retirement-savings plans have seen the strategy shift. But a number of retirement-plan providers have noticed the change, which follows an uptick in the past year in the amount of money being borrowed against 401(k)s.

"You get both sides of the equation," says David Wray, president of the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America, a not-for-profit association of companies that sponsor plans.

Wray says many families are struggling financially, but "when people look at this kind of economic environment, some say the right thing to do is to save more, protect themselves more."

A survey of baby boomers released in May by AARP, an advocacy group for older Americans, found that 33% have "stopped putting money in a 401(k), IRA or other retirement account."

The report found that older boomers -- those 55 to 64 years old -- are trying to compensate for the recent hit they took on investments by saving more and changing the types of investments. The report says the economic downturn, however, appears "to have caused greater concern and forced greater