< Earlier Discussion  | PAGE 607 OF 607 |  Later Discussion > Jun-30-09    jpatlantic: June 30 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. is poised to follow rival Chrysler LLC’s path and win approval to sell most of its assets at a hearing set to start today, putting President Barack Obama’s administration almost a month ahead of schedule in its plan to reshape the U.S. auto industry. GM, based in Detroit, will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in Manhattan to approve the sale to the Treasury-funded Vehicle Acquisition Holdings LLC, which it says is the only potential purchaser. The administration set a goal of completing the sale 60 to 90 days from GM’s June 1 bankruptcy. The hearing is to include testimony from GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson and Harry Wilson, an auto task force adviser. It may take several days. Court approval would leave GM and the Treasury ready to close the deal in little more than a month from the filing date. GM is operating in bankruptcy with $33.3 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canada. “The way it’s being done in GM, and was done in Chrysler, is very time efficient,” Van Conway, president of the turnaround advisory firm Conway MacKenzie Inc., said yesterday in a phone interview. “The future could be extremely bright. They’ll be hiring and building new plants some day, though not in the near future. I think it will prove to be a good use of taxpayer money.” Jun-23-09    jpatlantic: NEW YORK – There's a message for Detroit's automakers in the new J.D. Power and Associates rankings: Good work. Now go back and do it again. The marketing and consulting company's closely watched annual study of vehicle quality found Monday that Ford, General Motors and Chrysler made strides last year but still lag behind their foreign competitors. At a time when Detroit is desperate to start turning out cars and trucks that people want to buy, the top two brands in the J.D. Power study were foreign cars: Lexus, Toyota's luxury line, and the Porsche. GM's Cadillac finished third. The survey measures mechanical and design problems that show up in the first 90 days of ownership. The 2009 models turned out by the Detroit Three improved by an average of 10 percent, compared with an industry average of 8 percent. Toyota, which overtook GM last year as the world's biggest automaker, dominated the J.D. Power honors. It swept awards in 10 vehicle categories, and its plant in Japan that builds the Lexus SC 430 and Toyota Corolla took the award for top plant. Jun-23-09    Barney: La balanza comercial de mayo en Argentina registró un superávit de US$ 2.478 millones, un 139% más respecto de mayo de 2008, según informó el Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (Indec). Argentina importó en mayo mercancías por unos US$ 2.660 millones, un 49% menos que igual mes de 2008, según consignó El Cronista. En tanto que las exportaciones del país alcanzaron los US$ 5.138 millones en el quinto mes del año, con una caída interanual del 18%. El Indec informó además que en los primeros cinco meses del año, Argentina acumuló un superávit comercial de US$ 8.333 millones, lo que representó un alza interanual del 63%. http://www.americaeconomia.com/2908... Translation: Argy has a trade surplus due to a fall in imports because of the economy's recession. Jun-20-09    ToTo: I tune in to CNN to learn what is happening in Iran and they are quoting Twitter and Facebook! With all due respect that is not real journalism... anyone can say anything on a social network and that does not make it verifiable "news". I found a site with direct news feeds from Iranian TV; http://www.ganiz.com/browse.php?cat... They have a number if channels, my only problem is that I can't understand the language... maybe someone on this board can help translate? I did notice that they are always showing US Generals in Iraq, etc. I am very interested to learn what they say about us... http://www.ganiz.com/detail.php?lin... Jun-16-09    jpatlantic: une 16 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador President Rafael Correa “played the market for fools” by defaulting on $3.2 billion of debt six months ago and then repurchasing the bonds at less than 40 cents on the dollar, Aberdeen Asset Management Plc said. The government’s bonds due in 2015, the only of three global notes Correa kept servicing, rose to an eight-month high today, a day after Standard & Poor’s raised the country’s rating to CCC+, two levels higher than when he defaulted in December. Ecuador has bought back 91 percent of the defaulted bonds due in 2012 and 2030, Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri said June 11. “Ecuador won,” Edwin Gutierrez, who manages $5 billion at Aberdeen and sold his Ecuador holdings before the default, said in a telephone interview from London. Correa’s government “played the market for fools. Remind me never to play poker with that guy,” he said. Correa, a 46-year-old economist who counts Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as one of his closest allies, halted payments on the bonds because he said they were issued illegally. He called the bondholders “true monsters who won’t hesitate to crush the country” when he announced the default on Dec. 12 and said in a national radio address the next day that he wanted to force them to accept a “big discount.” S&P may raise Ecuador’s rating again if the government “can weather the next few months,” Richard Francis, a New York-based analyst at the company, said in a telephone interview yesterday. ‘Ridiculous Ideology’ The 9.375 percent bonds due in 2015 jumped to 70.25 cents today from 17 cents in December, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The yield on the bonds, which Correa says he will keep honoring, fell to 17.15 percent from 62 percent. Ecuador’s dollar bonds have returned 61 percent this year, more than all other securities in JPMorgan’s EMBI+ index except for Ukrainian debt. “The exchange has been such a success for Ecuador,” said Igor Arsenin, an emerging-market strategist at Credit Suisse Group in New York. “It is surprising how far” the bonds have rallied, he said. Last year’s default was triggered by the combination of declining oil prices and Correa’s “ridiculous ideology,” Claudio Loser, the former director of the International Monetary Fund’s Western Hemisphere department, said in a December interview. Oil, the South American country’s largest export, sank to a four-year low of $32.40 a barrel in December before rebounding this year. Oil traded at $72.11 as of 11 a.m. in New York. Jun-11-09    jpatlantic: une 11 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said there are “no practical alternatives” to the dollar as an international currency. “The ultimate logic of a globalized financial system is a world currency,” Volcker, head of President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said today in the text of a speech delivered in Beijing. “There are no practical alternatives today or for many tomorrows of the United States dollar as an international currency.” Its status as the world economy’s sole reserve currency has come into question as leaders of China, India, Russia and Brazil discuss substituting other assets for their dollar holdings amid a ballooning budget deficit that keeps the U.S. dependent on foreign financing. Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economics professor who predicted the financial crisis, said today that the dollar’s status may deteriorate. “We may see complementary reserve currencies,” Roubini said at a conference in Athens. While it’s “not going to happen overnight,” the development “will diminish the role of the dollar over time,” he said. China alone owns about $744 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds among its $2 trillion of foreign-exchange reserves. “I think it is reasonable to ask whether it is in the long-run interest of the United States itself to provide what is essential a public good -- an international currency -- in amounts so large as to raise questions about its ultimate stability,” Volcker said. “It should be clearly understood that the central responsibility of the United States -- in its own interest, in China’s interest, and in the world’s interest - - is to maintain both the purchasing power of the dollar at home and in international markets.” Jun-04-09    jpatlantic: Barney:If i may add one 13)WalMart cashiers are living on costumer tips, change of less than 10 cents is NOT given. Jun-04-09    jpatlantic: GENERAL MOTORS — DAY 4 WHERE DOES IT STAND?: Thursday marked Detroit-based GM's fourth day under court protection. On Monday, U.S. Judge Robert Gerber, who is overseeing the case, approved the automaker's first-day motions, allowing the company to continue its normal business operations while under bankruptcy protection. Gerber also approved GM's access to $15 billion in government-provided bankruptcy protection financing to fund its operations for the next few weeks. WHAT'S NEXT?: GM's next major hearing is scheduled for June 25, when it will ask for final approval of its full $33.3 billion in debtor-in-possesion financing. A hearing on the proposed sale of the bulk of GM's assets to a new company is scheduled for June 30. CHRYSLER — DAY 36 WHERE DOES IT STAND?: Thursday marked Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler's 36th day under court protection. On Thursday, Chrysler dealers slated to lose their franchises testified against the company's motion to cancel the dealerships' franchise agreements. Arguments on the motion are scheduled for Tuesday. It was unclear when U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez will rule, or how this will effect Chrysler's plans to sever ties with the dealers effective Tuesday. Chrysler claims that it needs to reduce its dealer base by 789 dealers, or about 25 percent, in order to emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger company. But the dealers argue that they don't cost the automaker anything. They say that if Gonzalez approves Chrysler's motion, hundreds of dealerships will be shuttered, and thousands of workers will lose their jobs. WHAT'S NEXT?: The decision on whether Chrysler can sell the bulk of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat Group SpA heads to a federal appeals court Friday. The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals will hear arguments from a trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds who claim that the deal as structured unfairly favors the interests of the Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders ahead of those of secured debtholders such as themselves. Jun-02-09    Barney: Real signs that the U.S. economy is bad The top twelve indicators that the economy is bad-- 12. CEO's are now playing miniature golf. 11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail. 10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank. 9. Hot wheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market. 8. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM, to discuss the Stimulus Package. 7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer. 6 People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children's names. 5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty. 4.. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, "finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America ?" 3. Motel Six won't leave the lights on. 2. The Mafia is laying off judges. And my most favorite indicator of all. 1. If the bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.. Jun-01-09    jpatlantic: NEW YORK – General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government. GM's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets. "The General Motors board of directors authorized the filing of a Chapter 11 case with regret that this path proved necessary despite the best efforts of so many," GM Chairman Kent Kresa said in a written statement. "Today marks a new beginning for General Motors. ... The board is confident that this New GM can operate successfully in the intensely competitive U.S. market and around the world." As it reorganizes, the fallen icon of American industry will rely on $30 billion of additional financial assistance from the Treasury Department and $9.5 billion from Canada. That's on top of about $20 billion in taxpayer money GM already has received in the form of low-interest loans. May-27-09    jpatlantic: DETROIT – A General Motors Corp. bankruptcy filing seemed inevitable after a rebellion by its bondholders forced it to withdraw on Wednesday a plan to swap bond debt for company stock. GM has until Monday to complete a government-ordered restructuring that includes debt reduction, labor cost cuts and plant closures. But a Chapter 11 reorganization is likely after the company said its offer to exchange $27 billion in unsecured debt for 10 percent of the company's stock had failed. GM has received $19.4 billion in federal loans. The move came as crosstown rival Chrysler LLC headed to court Wednesday to ask bankruptcy judge for permission to sell the bulk of its assets to a group headed by Italy's Fiat Group SpA in hopes of saving itself from liquidation. Attorneys for Chrysler maintain that the Fiat deal is the company's only hope to avoid being sold piece by piece, but car dealers, debtholders, former employees and others are protesting. May-21-09    jpatlantic: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund, warned on Thursday the United States will eventually lose its top AAA credit rating, a fear that had already spooked financial markets on Thursday and could keep the dollar, stocks and bonds under heavy selling pressure. The United States will face a downgrade in "at least three to four years, if that, but the market will recognise the problems before the rating services -- just like it did today," Gross told Reuters. Gross, the co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. and manager of the Pimco Total Return Fund, which has $154 billion (97 billion pounds) in assets, earlier had told Reuters via email that market declines on Thursday were due to investor fears that the United States is "going the way of the UK -- losing AAA rating which affects all financial assets and the dollar." May-15-09    jpatlantic: GM near deal with UAW: report Reuters (Reuters) – Under the direction of the U.S. Treasury, General Motors Corp is close to a deal with the United Auto Workers that would cut its hourly labor costs by more than $1 billion a year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. GM expects to halve its remaining cash outlays for retiree health costs to about $10 billion, and supplement that contribution with a 39 percent equity stake in the reorganized company, the people told the paper. The plan is still in a state of flux but GM and the union could finalize terms as early as next week, the paper said. GM has been in talks with the UAW on a new contract and new payment terms for the $20 billion it owes the union for retiree health care. Reuters attempts to reach GM and UAW after normal business hours were unsuccessful. May-13-09    jpatlantic: NEW YORK – Wall Street fell sharply Wednesday after the government reported weaker-than-expected retail sales in April. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 2 percent. The market has put a two-month rally on hold amid concern that an economic recovery won't come as fast as hoped. The latest poor indicator came as the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.4 percent last month, while economists had expected sales to be flat. Investors watch these numbers closely because consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. Without improved spending, the economy is more likely to remain mired in a recession. In early afternoon trading, the Dow fell 197.36, or 2.33 percent, to 8,271.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 24.57, or 2.70 percent, to 883.78, while the Nasdaq composite index declined 46.55, or 2.71 percent, to 1,669.37. May-11-09    jpatlantic: DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Corp is open to considering moving its headquarters from Detroit, selling off U.S. plants and even renegotiating parts of its restructuring plan with its major union, the new chief executive said on Monday. CEO Fritz Henderson, on a conference call with reporters, said it was more probable that GM was headed for bankruptcy by June 1 - the U.S. government-imposed deadline for the automaker to restructure or face bankruptcy. "It's more probable that we would need to accomplish our goals in a bankruptcy," Henderson said. "There's still a chance for it to be done outside a court proceeding." A move by GM to leave Detroit would represent another blow for the economy of a region already reeling from the bankruptcy of Chrysler LLC and the sharp downturn in auto manufacturing. GM purchased its glass-towered headquarter building known as Detroit's Renaissance Center last year for $625 million. The 100-year-old automaker has been based there since 1996. May-05-09    jpatlantic: May 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. service industries contracted less than forecast in April as home purchases and retail sales rose, another signal that the economic slump is abating. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non- manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy, rose to 43.7 from 40.8 the prior month, according to the Tempe, Arizona-based group. Readings below 50 signal contraction. The economy has “moved beyond the worst period of decline,” David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Businesses are starting to see an improvement in order flows. It’s changing and improving the outlook.” Other reports have shown sales and construction of single- family homes stabilized this year, consumer spending and confidence rose and the manufacturing slump has eased. Still, one of the biggest risks remains the deterioration in the job market, with a government report later this week projected to show the unemployment rate rose to a 25-year high in April. The ISM services index was projected to increase to 42.2, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 66 economists. Estimates ranged from 38 to 46. The report came as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Congress that another shock to the financial system would undercut forecasts the recession will end this year. Stocks retreated for the first time in three days on concern government tests will show some of the firms will need more capital to withstand a further decline in economic growth. May-04-09    jpatlantic: May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler LLC won interim approval to borrow on a $4.5 billion bankruptcy loan from the U.S. Treasury Department, giving the company time and money to complete a planned auction for most of its assets. “There isn’t going to be tomorrow if there is no DIP loan today,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez said in approving the so-called debtor-in-possession loan at a hearing in Manhattan. Today’s approval came over the objection of a group of Chrysler secured lenders, calling itself Chrysler’s non-TARP lenders, in reference to the Troubled Assets Relief Program. The group’s attorney, Thomas Lauria, said the loan would be a bridge to an illegal sale of assets that would pay lower-ranking creditors more than senior lenders. Apr-27-09    jpatlantic: DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. could be majority owned by the federal government under a massive restructuring plan laid out Monday that will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year and phase out the storied Pontiac brand. The plan, which includes an offer to swap roughly $27 billion in bond debt for GM stock, would leave current shareholders holding just 1 percent of the century-old company, which is fighting for its life in the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. GM is living on $15.4 billion in government loans and said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it envisions receiving an additional $11.6 billion. But if GM's restructuring plan can't satisfy the government by June 1, the struggling company could go into bankruptcy protection. GM said that it will ask the government to take more than 50 percent of its common stock in exchange for canceling half the government loans to the company as of June 1. The swap would cancel about $10 billion in government debt. In addition, GM is offering stock to the United Auto Workers for at least 50 percent of the $20 billion the company must pay into a union run trust that will take over retiree health care expenses starting next year. If both are successful, the government and UAW health care trust would own 89 percent of GM stock, with the government holding more than a 50 percent stake, CEO Fritz Henderson said in a news conference at GM's Detroit headquarters. President Barack Obama's administration said in a statement that the bond exchange filing is an important step in GM's restructuring but the administration has not made a final decision about taking stock for part of its loans. "The interim plan that GM laid out in this filing reflects the work GM has done since March 30 to chart a new path to financial viability. We will continue to work with GM's management as it refines and finalizes this plan and with all of GM's stakeholders to help GM restructure consistent with the president's commitment to a strong, vibrant American auto industry," the statement said. Apr-23-09    jpatlantic: NEW YORK – A person familiar with the matter says the Treasury Department has made a new offer to Chrysler LLC's creditors. The Treasury is asking banks and hedge funds that hold $6.9 billion in debt to forgive $5.4 billion in exchange for a 5 percent stake in a Chrysler-Fiat alliance. The person says the latest terms were made to the group late Tuesday. The person asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. The offer marks the latest round of haggling between Chrysler and its creditors as the troubled automaker seeks to avoid liquidation. The new offer is a counter to the lenders' offer to forgive $4.5 billion in exchange for a 40-percent stake in the alliance. A Chrysler spokeswoman declined to comment. Apr-22-09    jpatlantic: Obama's auto team seeks talks with GM bondholders After not meeting for weeks, President Barack Obama's automotive task force has reached out to the General Motors Corp. bondholders' committee about a meeting to discuss restructuring the automaker's debt, a report said. It is unclear when the talks, which are key to fixing GM out of bankruptcy, could resume. A formal GM bond exchange, which is expected to occur this month, is designed to fail, setting the stage for new negotiations with bondholders, an industry analyst said. "An offer to exchange debt for equity in GM, which will represent little value at present, will not entice bondholders to exchange," Kip Penniman, a credit analyst with KDP Investment Advisors, wrote in a note to investors this week. However, he added, GM hopes that a Chrysler bankruptcy "filing and the low-ball offer" will set the stage for more productive negotiations. Renee Rashid-Merem, a GM spokeswoman, would not comment on timing or terms of a bond exchange. < Earlier Discussion  | PAGE 607 OF 607 |  Later Discussion > NOTE: You need to pick a username and password to post a comment. Getting your account takes less than a minute, totally anonymous, and 100% free--plus, it entitles you to features otherwise unavailable. Pick your username now and join the Shibui community!   If you already have an account, you should login now.   Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, or duplicating posts. No personal attacks against other users. Nothing in violation of United States law.   Thank you.   WARNING:   This discussion forum is not connected in any way with the companies discussed in it. 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