http://www.moneyhowto.com/ ru MoneyHowTo.com Global Investors Community. Making Money Instructions DataLife Engine http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/12/20/automakers_grab_loans_look_to_obama_white_house.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/12/20/automakers_grab_loans_look_to_obama_white_house.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- The long-term fate of the auto industry rests with Barack Obama now that President George W. Bush has given car companies $17.4 billion in emergency rescue loans.

Simply letting the Big Three collapse was not an option amid a recession, housing slump and financial credit crunch, Bush said in announcing the short-term loans and demanding tough concessions from the automakers and their employees.

"By giving the auto companies a chance to restructure, we will shield the American people from a harsh economic blow at a vulnerable time," the president said in his Saturday radio address. "And we will give American workers an opportunity to show the world once again that they can meet challenges with ingenuity and determination, and emerge stronger than before."

The Detroit companies pledged to rebuild their once-mighty industry, though they acknowledged it would be tough to fight their way back from the brink of bankruptcy. If the carmakers fail to prove viability -- a positive cash flow and ability to make good on the loans -- by March 31, they will be required to repay the government loans.

That's something they would find all but impossible to do.

Bush said the loans will give automakers three months to institute plans to restructure into viable]]> gdz Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:25:08 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/12/20/canada_offers_3.29_billion_auto_bailout.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/12/20/canada_offers_3.29_billion_auto_bailout.html TORONTO (AP) -- The federal and Ontario governments will provide the Canadian subsidiaries of the Detroit Three automakers with $3.29 billion in emergency loans, the prime minister said Saturday.

The announcement follows a pledge Friday by President George W. Bush to offer $17.4 billion in emergency loans to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada's pledge, the equivalent of 20 percent of the U.S. aid package, will help keep the Canadian plants operating while they restructure their businesses to retain one of the country's most important sectors.

"We cannot afford, in the United States or Canada, the catastrophic short-term collapse of the Big Three automakers. The U.S. has signaled that they are not going to allow these companies to fail, and we will do our share of the North American package to see that this doesn't happen either," said Harper speaking at a news conference in Toronto.

Canada's automotive industry represents 14 percent of the country's manufacturing output, 23 percent]]> gdz Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:22:58 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/congress_expecting_more_sacrifices_from_automakers.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/congress_expecting_more_sacrifices_from_automakers.html DETROIT (AP) -- A list of job cuts, shuttered factories, canceled bonuses and commitments to fuel-efficient cars won't be enough next week when U.S. automakers get another shot to persuade Congress to give them $25 billion in loans.

Through the Thanksgiving weekend, teams will be tagging more meat to throw at skeptical lawmakers who vilified the automakers' top executives the last time they went to Washington. That means executive pay cuts, union concessions, and perhaps even higher fuel economy requirements and a glimpse at top-secret product plans.

At General Motors Corp., the largest of the Detroit Three and probably the most needy, teams are preparing a detailed plan, first for GM's board on Monday, then for delivery to Congress by a Dec. 2 deadline. The House Financial Services Committee plans to hear testimony on the loan requests Dec. 5.

Steve Adamske, a spokesman for committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Tuesday that each company is expected to submit a report that will be made public to "give confidence to the people that we're not giving good money after bad."

People with knowledge of the plans being built by GM and Chrysler say they will contain more than just details of past restructuring. At GM, the company has slashed production and cut its U.S. payroll from 177,000 eight years ago to the current 104,000. Chrysler LLC's worldwide work force has been slashed]]> gdz Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:00:31 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/obama_to_name_board_of_economic_experts.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/obama_to_name_board_of_economic_experts.html CHICAGO (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama is naming a board of economic experts outside government to advise him on ways to create jobs and bring stability to the ailing financial system.

Obama was expected to introduce members of the advisory board Wednesday at a news conference, his third in as many days as Americans moved into the long Thanksgiving weekend. It was a remarkable burst of public activity for Obama, who has sought to assure nervous consumers and financial markets that he will bring swift economic relief as president.

Tuesday, Obama introduced Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag as his candidate to run the White House Office of Management and Budget. The president-elect also pledged a "page-by-page, line-by-line" budget review to root out unneeded spending.

On Monday, Obama tapped New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner as his treasury secretary and named several other top economic advisers.

His economic team largely complete, Obama was expected next week to introduce national security officials, including Hillary Rodham Clinton as his secretary of state. Aides said the New York senator had not yet formally accepted the offer, but transition officials have indicated that the nomination is on track.

Obama also was expected to announce he had asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to remain at the Pentagon for a year. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was]]> gdz Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:58:07 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/paulson_pulling_more_tricks_to_bolster_us_economy.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/26/paulson_pulling_more_tricks_to_bolster_us_economy.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- With the economy showing further signs that it is headed into a steep swoon, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is pulling more tricks out of his bag to try bolster the country's battered financial sector.

The administration and the Federal Reserve rolled out two new programs Tuesday that would provide up to $800 billion in an effort to get more loans flowing in such critical areas as mortgage lending, credit cards, auto loans and small business loans.

Credit markets liked the new efforts, but private economists said the new moves were not likely to be the last changes in the government's vast rescue program, which has already undergone significant alterations since it was passed by Congress on Oct. 3.

Analysts believe more work will need to be done because of their expectations that the economy's vital signs will continue to worsen as the country slips into what many believe could be the worst recession since the early 1980s.

More news on economic performance will be revealed Wednesday with release of data on personal spending, orders to factories for big-ticket durable goods, new home sales and weekly applications for unemployment benefits.

The report on jobless claims is expected to show that applications for benefits fell slightly last week to 537,000, according to a survey of economists by Thomson Reuters. That would be down by 5,000 from the previous week when claims hit 542,000, the highest level for weekly claims since July 1992. Even with]]> gdz Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:53:28 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/17/financial_overhaul_added_to_obamas_todo_list.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/11/17/financial_overhaul_added_to_obamas_todo_list.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama isn't president yet, but his must-do list just got longer. The newest addition to the lengthy list of tasks after taking office: helping oversee the overhaul of the world's financial regulatory system.

That is one of the assignments to the president-elect from current global leaders after their weekend summit, where they pledged action to avoid a repeat of the financial mess that has caused worldwide economic chaos.

"Obama has a tall order," said Morris Goldstein, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics who spent years working at the International Monetary Fund, the world's financial firefighter.

"He has a lot of things he has to do quickly in a number of areas and doesn't have a lot of time to think about them," Goldstein said in an interview Sunday.

That will put a lot of pressure on Obama. He did not participate in the emergency two-day summit that concluded Saturday, instead sending representatives to meet with leaders on the sidelines.

After taking the oath of office Jan. 20, Obama will have to figure out in short order how far his administration is willing to go in revamping oversight of financial companies and products, in the United States and abroad, and nailing down the crucial details.

"Obama has an incredible mountain to climb in the way of the economic and financial situation," said]]> gdz Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:39:31 -0600 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/22/wachovia_3q_loss_paves_way_for_wells_deal.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/22/wachovia_3q_loss_paves_way_for_wells_deal.html EW YORK (AP) -- How could a $24 billion loss possibly be good news? When it comes from Wachovia as an effort to primp itself for its acquisition by Wells Fargo.

Wachovia Corp.'s staggering loss for the third quarter resulted primarily because it wrote down the value of intangible assets by almost $19 billion and built up its loan loss reserves by $4.8 billion, moves that seemed to please its suitor.

"It was prudent for Wachovia to put these losses behind them," said Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Howard Atkins in a release. "The asset write-downs, reserve build, and other items are consistent with our acquisition assumptions."

The moves tidy up Wachovia's balance sheet so that it is more in line with that of the more conservative Wells Fargo, analysts said. At the same time, Wells Fargo can use the losses reported by Wachovia to shelter years of profits after it acquires the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank.

Late last month, the Internal Revenue Service issued a surprise ruling that boosts banks' ability to offset the losses from loans and other bad debts held by banks they acquire. The guidance allows banks to take larger tax write-offs against future profits and makes the bargain-basement $14 billion all-stock Wachovia deal all the more attractive for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.

The ruling removes any limitation on how much a company can offset its income with the losses of an acquired company, said Walter Pagano, a partner at Eisner LLP and a former IRS revenue agent. Under the old ruling, companies could only write off a small portion of the losses, limiting how much of a tax]]> gdz Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:49:54 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/21/apples_profit_up_26_percent_on_iphone_boom.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/21/apples_profit_up_26_percent_on_iphone_boom.html Apple Inc. said its profit jumped 26 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter as the newest iPhone outsold the market-leading BlackBerry from Research in Motion Ltd.

Despite the blockbuster performance, which sent Apple's shares soaring in after-hours trading, the company issued what it called "prudent" predictions for the current quarter, because of broader economic uncertainty.

For the three months ended Sept. 27, Apple's profit climbed to $1.14 billion, or $1.26 per share, from $904 million, or $1.01 per share in the same period last year.

Sales jumped 27 percent to $7.9 billion from $6.22 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple's profit topped Wall Street's expectations, but sales missed. Analysts had expected the company to sell $8 billion worth of Macintosh computers, iPods, iPhones and other gadgets, for a profit of $1.11 per share, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

On a conference call with analysts, Chief Executive Steve Jobs addressed concerns that economic weakness will eat into Apple's business through the holidays and beyond.

Jobs said Apple's customers are more likely to put off buying a new computer than to defect to other brands of PCs with lower prices. Apple, which is sitting on about $25 billion in cash, could use the downturn to invest in research and development, he said.

"We may get buffeted around by the waves a little bit, but we'll be fine," Jobs said.
]]> gdz Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:51:28 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/21/yahoo_firing_1500_workers_3q_profit_falls_64_pct.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/21/yahoo_firing_1500_workers_3q_profit_falls_64_pct.html SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. will fire at least 1,500 workers to cope with a crumbling economy that dented its third-quarter profit and turned up the heat on the slumping Internet company's management as investors stew over a missed opportunity to sell to Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion.

The purge outlined Tuesday represents a 10 percent reduction in Yahoo's payroll of about 15,000 employees. It's the second time in nine months that Yahoo has resorted to mass layoffs in what so far has been an ineffectual effort to rebound from a financial funk that has left its stock price near a 5 1/2-year low.

Yahoo's housecleaning, to be completed by the end of the year, provides the latest example of how a credit crisis that has already rocked banks and retailers is starting to rattle Silicon Valley, the nation's high-tech heartland.

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. is jettisoning 1,600 jobs while an array of startups are letting go workers to squirrel away more cash as venture capitalists become more cautious with their money. Even Google Inc., a company renowned for its free-spending ways, is starting to cut corners.

"We are going into what is very clearly a recession mode," Blake Jorgensen, Yahoo's chief financial officer, said in a Tuesday interview.

Yahoo felt the squeeze in the third quarter as the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company earned $54.3 million, or 4 cents per share. That was a plunge of 64 percent from $151.3 million, or 11 cents per share, at the]]> gdz Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:46:32 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/ibm_3q_profit_jumps_20_pct_as_hardware_sales_slump.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/ibm_3q_profit_jumps_20_pct_as_hardware_sales_slump.html SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- IBM Corp.'s third-quarter profit jumped nearly 20 percent, surpassing analyst estimates, as the technology company overcame slumping hardware sales and signed a healthy number of new services contracts.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM had released partial results for the July-September period last week to try to reassure investors who had been driving down the company's stock price. The move helped stop a steeper decline, but Wall Street was still waiting for word about how much new business IBM brought in during the period.

In a closely watched indicator, IBM signed $12.7 billion in new services contracts in the quarter, down 4 percent, which still showed it was able to lock in lots of new business despite the tough economic times. Short-term contract signings were up 13 percent to $6.1 billion.

IBM gets about half its revenue from annuity-like payments flowing from contracts it may have inked months or years ago for services like consulting or technology outsourcing.

Profit came in two cents per share ahead of analysts' recently revised estimates.

IBM earned $2.82 billion, or $2.05 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $2.36 billion, or $1.68 per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting $2.03 per share.

IBM continues to get better at wringing out more costs to improve its profit margins. Gross profit margin,]]> gdz Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:12:50 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/citigroup_posts_another_loss_amid_credit_woes.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/citigroup_posts_another_loss_amid_credit_woes.html NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc., suffering its fourth straight quarterly loss and forfeiting the title of largest U.S. bank by assets, is falling behind in the historic reshuffling of the U.S. banking system.

Of the four major U.S. banks left standing -- Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. -- Citi has been on the shakiest footing for a while. Its peers have managed to keep turning profits, albeit dampened ones, and they've made acquisitions while Citi has shrunk.

Many observers believe now is the time for banking companies to snap up low-priced rivals to better position themselves in advance of an eventual economic turnaround.

But Thursday's results heightened concerns that Citi -- drubbed by the relentless downturn in housing and turmoil in the financial markets -- may not be the capable acquirer it hopes to be.

"I personally don't think they can do it (an acquisition) unless it's really on the cheap," said Donn Vickrey, co-founder of Gradient Analytics, pointing to Citi's recent losses and losses that appear to be in the pipeline. "To me, this looks pretty concerning."

The New York-based bank said Thursday it lost $2.8 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $2.2 billion, or 44 cents per share, a year ago. The deficit for the July-to-September period brings Citi's total losses over the past 12 months to $20.2 billion.

The shortfall for the quarter was narrower than anticipated. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 70 cents per share; Standard & Poor's Ratings Services called the results]]> gdz Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:59:15 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/google_stock_soars_on_26_pct_jump_in_3q_earnings.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/16/google_stock_soars_on_26_pct_jump_in_3q_earnings.html SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. shook off the economic turbulence to deliver a third-quarter profit that topped analysts' forecasts, supporting the Internet search leader's theory that its advertising system will prosper even in tough times.

The reassuring performance lifted Google shares by more than 10 percent late Thursday, even though the company's executives made some of their most sober remarks yet about the worst financial crisis since the stock market crashed in 1929.

It's been bad enough to prompt Google -- renowned for its free-spending ways -- to hunker down and start scrimping more than it has in the past because the economy has entered "uncharted territory," Chairman Eric Schmidt told analysts in a conference call.

Google navigated through the economic shoals in the third quarter, earning $1.35 billion, or $4.24 per share. The profit rose 26 percent from $1.07 billion, or $3.38 per share, at the same time last year.

Excluding costs for employee stock compensation, Google said it would have made $4.92 per share. That figure surpassed the average estimate of $4.75 per share among analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue climbed 31 percent to $5.54 billion. After subtracting advertising commissions, Google's revenue totaled $4.04 billion -- about $20 million below analyst estimates.

Analysts had been decreasing their projections amid waves of investor pessimism that pounded Google's stock price to a three-year low of $309.44 earlier Thursday. The shares subsequently rebounded with the]]> gdz Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:56:47 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/15/fed_economy_sinks_deeper_into_rut.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/15/fed_economy_sinks_deeper_into_rut.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- The country has sunk deeper into an economic rut, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday, reflecting mounting damage from the financial and credit crises.

The Fed's new snapshot of business conditions around the nation showed economic activity weakened across all of the Fed's 12 regional districts. Consumer spending -- which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity -- slumped in most Fed regions. Manufacturing also slowed in most areas.

Some businesses had become more pessimistic about the economic outlook, the Fed said.

The survey was released shortly after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech in New York, warned that it would take time for the country's economic health to mend even if badly needed confidence in the U.S. financial system returns and roiled markets stabilize.

In an unprecedented action last week, the Fed and other major central banks sliced interest rates to prevent the financial crisis from plunging the U.S. -- and the global economy -- into a long and painful recession.

Many economists believe the Fed might lower its key rate -- now at 1.50 percent -- again later this month at its regularly scheduled meeting.

Consumers are pulling back, raising the odds the economy will contract later this year and early next year. Some think the economy may have jolted into reverse in the recently ended third quarter. One classic]]> gdz Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:15:53 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/15/retail_sales_plunge_1.2_percent_in_september.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/15/retail_sales_plunge_1.2_percent_in_september.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- Retail sales fell off a cliff in September, plunging by the largest amount in three years as worried consumers shunned the malls and auto showrooms in the midst of the country's financial meltdown.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday retail sales decreased 1.2 percent last month, nearly double the 0.7 percent drop that had been expected. It was the biggest decline since retail sales fell by 1.4 percent in August 2005.

The bigger-than-expected decline significantly increased the risks of a recession because consumer spending is two-thirds of total economic activity.

The weakness was led by a 3.8 percent drop in auto sales. Sales dropped below 1 million units as consumers struggled to find financing.

Retail sales have now fallen for three consecutive months, the first time that has occurred on government records that go back to 1992. Economists had expected sales to be down in September as a flood of bad news about the financial system and rising unemployment increased consumers' worries.

Many analysts believe the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, is slipping into a recession, triggered by a steep slump in housing and the severe credit crisis.

Even excluding auto sales, retail sales showed widespread weakness, falling by 0.6 percent or double the decline outside of autos that had been expected.

"The consumer shut up shop even before the markets got crushed and that is not good news for the]]> gdz Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:12:49 -0500 http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/14/budget_deficit_in_2008_surges_to_alltime_high.html http://www.moneyhowto.com/2008/10/14/budget_deficit_in_2008_surges_to_alltime_high.html WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal budget deficit soared to $454.8 billion in 2008 as a housing collapse and efforts to combat the economic slowdown pushed the tide of government red ink to the highest level in history.

The Bush administration said Tuesday the deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was more than double the $161.5 billion recorded in 2007.

It surpassed the previous record of $413 billion set in 2004. Economists predicted a far worse number next year as the costs of the government's rescue of the financial system and the economic hard times hit the nation's balance sheet.

Some analysts believe that next year's deficit could easily top $700 billion, giving the next president a formidable challenge.

The administration blamed this year's record deficit on a litany of economic woes. The prolonged housing slump sharply reduced economic growth and has sent the unemployment rate rising, developments that reduce tax revenues.

"This year's budget results reflect the ongoing housing correction and the manifestation of that in strained capital markets and slower growth," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a statement accompanying the deficit report. "While it will take time to work through this period, we will overcome the current challenges facing our nation."

Democrats said the administration's economic policies were responsible for the growing deficit. They noted]]> gdz Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:19:49 -0500