News For Saturday Oct 11, 2008 News For Saturday Oct 11, 2008

Business Business

Analysts: GM would need cash to acquire Chrysler - Added 1 hour ago

For General Motors Corp. to acquire Chrysler LLC and all of its warts, GM would have to get desperately needed cash as part of the deal. Lots of it, according to industry analysts. With both automakers struggling to...

Bush, allies seek to calm jittery investors - Added 1 hour ago

!!-- AUDIO:117,116,115,112,111,110,109,108 -->President Bush and financial leaders from nations rich and poor pledged Saturday to intensify their efforts to unblock a frozen financial system before it does more damage...

Bush visits finance officials, urges cooperation - Added 2 hours ago

Global finance leaders are pledging cooperation between rich and poor nations to deal with a severe credit crisis after President Bush discussed the seriousness of the current situation. The Group of 20 nations, which...

Key dates in Chrysler's recent history - Added 7 hours ago

May 7, 1998: Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler-Benz, the maker of the upscale Mercedes Benz, announces a $36 billion merger with Chrysler. The new company, DaimlerChrysler AG, begins trading on the Frankfurt and New York...

Acquisition talks: About the automakers - Added 8 hours ago

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC at a glance: GENERAL MOTORS CORP. ASSETS: GM, founded in 1908, sells its cars and trucks under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab,...

All that money you've lost _ where did it go? - Added 10 hours ago

Trillions in stock market value _ gone. Trillions in retirement savings _ gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you're saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll _ gone,...

Qwest reaches tentative agreement with union - Added 17 hours ago

Qwest Communications International Inc. says it has reached a tentative agreement for a four-year contract with a union representing about 20,000 employees. The company made the announcement early Saturday. Members of...

Gold, silver prices plummet as fear grip markets - Added 18 hours ago

Gold and silver plummeted Friday after Wall Street posted another big loss and forced investors to dump holdings in precious metals to raise badly needed cash. Gold for December delivery fell $27.50, or 3.1 percent, to...

FCC sides with NFL Network in dispute with Comcast - Added 19 hours ago

The Federal Communications Commission has sided with the National Football League in a long-running programming dispute with Comcast Corp., ruling that Comcast should carry the league's NFL Network on its popular...

Mazda says no decision on Ford's stake sale - Added 19 hours ago

Mazda denied Saturday that a decision had been made by troubled Ford Motor Co. to sell its stake in the Japanese automaker but it didn't rule out a possible deal. Japanese media reported Saturday that Ford was...

Text of G-7 plan of action - Added 19 hours ago

Text of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors' plan of action, as provided by the Treasury Department: ___ The G-7 agrees today that the current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action. We commit...

Automakers push key vehicles through fall TV shows - Added 22 hours ago

In this fall's TV season, a secret agent speeds around in a Chevrolet Camaro, a man tries to save the world with the help of a Dodge Ram pickup, and a famous talking car returns to the streets in the form of a Ford...

Ireland's economy ends long winning run - Added 22 hours ago

Davey McKeever was down to his last bet slip of the night, crumpled in a sweaty fist, at the Shelbourne Park greyhound track. The remnants of McKeever's first unemployment check would rise or fall on the ironically...

Aggressive Mars breathes down Hershey's neck in US - Added 22 hours ago

This stretch of rolling dairy country has long been Milton Hershey's turf, where he first found success making chocolate more than a century ago and earned a name synonymous with chocolate in America. But...

G7 endorses plan to battle financial crisis - Added 1 day ago

Finance officials from the world's top economic powers endorsed a plan Friday to stem the worst financial crisis in more than a half-century. The officials from the Group of Seven countries issued the five-point plan...

Quotes on G-7 actions regarding meltdown - Added 1 day ago

Selected quotes on actions taken by the Group of Seven major industrial countries on Friday to combat the worldwide financial crisis: ___ "We finalized an aggressive action plan to address the turmoil in global...

Paulson endorses bank stock purchase plan - Added 1 day ago

!!-- AUDIO:0810A265,0810A264,0810A263 -->Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Friday that the Bush administration will move ahead with a plan to buy stock in financial institutions. Paulson said the program to...

Stocks end worst week mixed after wild session - Added 1 day ago

Wall Street capped one of its worst weeks ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials gyrate within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index...

Banking basics pay off for Wells Fargo amid chaos - Added 1 day ago

With its iconic stagecoach, Wells Fargo & Co. has evoked images of the wild West throughout its 156-year history. Now it's finally expanding east of the Mississippi with a $12.2 billion acquisition of Wachovia...

GE 3Q profit off 22 pct, but meets lower forecast - Added 1 day ago

General Electric Co. spared investors any nasty surprises as it reported a 22 percent drop in third-quarter earnings on Friday, meeting its own lowered forecast and blaming the decline on its struggling finance arm. The...

Text of G-7 plan of action - Added 1 day ago

Text of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors' plan of action, as provided by the Treasury Department: The G-7 agrees today that the current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action. We commit to...

Federal regulators clear Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal - Added 1 day ago

Federal antitrust regulators on Friday cleared Wells Fargo's $11.7 billion acquisition of Wachovia Corp., capping a weeklong battle for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank. The rapid approval comes a day after Citigroup...

Gold, silver prices plummet as fear grip markets - Added 1 day ago

Gold and silver plummeted Friday after Wall Street posted another big loss and forced investors to dump holdings in precious metals to raise badly needed cash. Gold for December delivery fell $27.50, or 3.1 percent, to...

Stock traders: It's the ugliest market ever seen - Added 1 day ago

"There's nothing that's come anywhere near this." Alan Valdes, a trader for brokerage and financial services firm Hilliard Lyons, said past market crises _ the 1987 crash, the dot-com bust, the savings and loan...

Developing nations worried about financial crisis - Added 1 day ago

Developing countries warned on Friday that the global financial crisis could dampen their growth prospects and recommended an international response to prevent "the most difficult situation in years" from worsening. ...

Meltdown 101: Bankruptcy won't help borrowers much - Added 1 day ago

Can filing for bankruptcy help homeowners facing foreclosure? For most people, trying to negotiate changes in their loan with help from a housing counselor or lawyer is a far better option. While bankruptcy judges can...

PepsiCo to renew effort on soft drinks sales - Added 1 day ago

PepsiCo, the nation's second-largest beverage company, said Friday it was launching a new marketing campaign to refocus attention on soft drinks, which have seen lagging sales. Carbonated soft drinks are "an important...

AP source: GM could announce production cuts soon - Added 1 day ago

General Motors Corp. is likely to announce further production cuts and possible plant closures as early as next week as it deals with slumping sales and a collapse in its stock price, a person with knowledge of the...

Walgreen Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Rein retires - Added 1 day ago

Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. said Friday Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Rein has retired from the company after 26 years. Rein, 56, will be replaced as company chairman by Alan McNally, 62, lead director on Walgreen's board....

What rate cut? Interbank lending rates keep rising - Added 1 day ago

Governments around the world have slashed interest rates and ramped up their lending to unprecendented levels, but banks are still charging each other extremely high borrowing rates _ a bad sign for the credit markets...

Goldman Sachs, GE, Morgan Stanley among big movers - Added 1 day ago

Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange: NYSE Goldman Sachs Group Inc., down $12.55 at $88.80 The bank's credit outlook was revised to negative by ratings agency...

Will cheap gas mean return to gas-guzzling ways? - Added 1 day ago

Prices at the pump are dropping fast, and gas could fall below $3 a gallon in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. Does that mean Americans will return to their heedless, gas-guzzling ways? Experts say no because most...

Alabama settles suits against 5 drug companies - Added 1 day ago

The state of Alabama has settled Medicaid drug pricing lawsuits it filed against prescription drug manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb and four other companies, a lawyer representing the state confirmed Friday. ...

Oil plunges to 13-month low on global slowdown - Added 1 day ago

The stunning collapse in oil markets accelerated Friday, sending a barrel of crude plunging below $78 as investors grow more pessimistic about resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis. Oil hasn't been this cheap...

Morgan Stanley shares sink on worries about future - Added 1 day ago

Morgan Stanley Inc. shares plunged more than 22 percent Friday as investors questioned the investment bank's future even with a major investment from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Friday marked the fifth...

Lehman debt auction gives clue to potential losses - Added 1 day ago

Sellers of insurance on bonds issued by bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are now likely to face demands that they pay out more than 91 cents on the dollar to buyers of those insurance contracts. That's the upshot...

Energy stocks whacked by diving crude, gas prices - Added 1 day ago

Energy stocks plunged Friday as crude and natural gas prices dropped to levels not seen in more than a year. The sector has fallen alongside a broader sell-off on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping...

Amtrak announces record annual ridership - Added 1 day ago

Amtrak carried a record 28.7 million people last year, with each of its routes seeing gains, the national passenger railroad said Friday. The company has posted six years of ridership and revenue growth, recently...

Ag futures fall on Chicago Board of Trade - Added 1 day ago

Agriculture futures slid Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for December delivery fell 41.25 cents to $5.635 a bushel; December corn fell 30 cents to $4.0825 a bushel; December oats fell 19 cents to $2.785 a...

Accounting board adopts guidance to ease crisis - Added 1 day ago

The standard-setting board for corporate accounting adopted new guidance on Friday for how banks value assets in the distressed market, a move that could boost their balance sheets. The five-member Financial Accounting...

Oil plunges to 13-month low on global slowdown - Added 1 day ago

Oil prices plunged in another violent sell-off Friday, briefly tumbling below $78 a barrel as investors grow more pessimistic about the prospects for resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis. A barrel of oil...

Locked up: Sales of safes grow as economy slides - Added 1 day ago

Afraid cash isn't secure even behind the thick walls of banks, more people are turning to something that's protected money since the days of Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde: safes. The metal vaults are so popular in...

Oil falls near 13-month low on global slowdown - Added 1 day ago

Oil prices briefly plunged below $79 a barrel Friday, dropping to the lowest level in nearly 13 months as investors grow more pessimistic about the prospects for resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis. Light,...

Swaggers turn to shudders a year after market high - Added 1 day ago

Just a year ago, investors were swaggering as the stock market surged to an all-time high. Now, almost everyone on Wall Street and Main Street seems to be shuddering amid a frightening reversal of fortune that has...

Tiger Stadium's 2nd life may be in new cars, roads - Added 1 day ago

Going to a baseball game in Detroit used to mean heading to Michigan and Trumbull, the intersection that became shorthand for Tiger Stadium. Go there today, and all that remains is a small slice of the arena that once...

World stocks slump on Dow open - Added 1 day ago

Europe's stock markets plunged Friday after Wall Street opened a breathtaking 7 percent lower _ below the 8,000 level _ but they soon recouped some of those losses when the Dow Jones index made a partial comeback. ...

GM shares up slightly after Thursday trouncing - Added 1 day ago

General Motors Corp. shares hit their lowest price since 1949 in the opening minutes of trading Friday as financial turmoil and a weakening global auto market heightened worries that the automaker may be unable to pull...

Spain: Plan to help banks will cost taxpayers zero - Added 1 day ago

Spain's government insisted Friday that a 30 billion euros ($41 billion) fund it will use to buy assets from banks starved for liquidity will have zero cost for taxpayers. That's because the government will buy only...

Oil plummets below US$83 on global slowdown fears - Added 1 day ago

Oil prices tumbled to a one-year low below US$83 a barrel Friday in European trading as fears mounted that governments around the world would be unable to keep the ongoing financial crisis from causing a severe global...

USDA raises corn, soybean forecast - Added 1 day ago

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday increased its monthly forecast for this year's corn and soybean harvest due to wetter weather, potentially lowering commodity prices. The department said this year's corn...