Reports Point to Housing Market Bottom; Big Three Automakers Beat Estimates; Microsoft Will Unveil New Operating System in Time for XMAS; Dallas Fed President: Economy ‘Getting Less Worse’; European Jobless Rate Climbs; Pepsi Bottling Chief Could Cash In
The next chapter in the history of General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is likely to be about bankruptcy. And that would leave the U.S. and Canadian governments as company’s majority owners.
In the face of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald continues to uncover solid profit opportunities – including China, oil and other key commodities, and possibly even U.S. stocks.
Chrysler LLC stunned its employees and dealers early yesterday (Thursday), announcing it was suspending all manufacturing for at least a month, and tightening wholesale credit terms to dealers. By the end of the day, Chrysler was joined by its two other Big Three brethren – General Motors Corp. (GM) and Ford Motor Co. (F). – which also shuttered factories.
With the economy in a tailspin, the U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers will today (Tuesday) almost certainly cut the benchmark Federal Funds rate from its current 1.0% to 0.5%.
So the question no longer seems to be whether the Fed will ease, but whether the move will make any difference.
The Fed has been hamstrung by a credit-market double-whammy: borrowers who are in limbo due to fears of soaring unemployment, and banks that have turned off the lending spigot. Even so, a U.S. economy facing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression demands the central bank take decisive action.
That has led to a strong undercurrent of opinion among analysts that the Fed will pursue other measures to spark a moribund U.S. economy.
“We look…
The fact that after over 30 years of consistent mismanagement and decline, there is still any discussion on whether or not we should allow the now significantly smaller “Big Three” automakers to fail is clear evidence that Washington has lost all common sense.
The U.S. “Big Three” of General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Chrysler Corp. submitted their turnaround plans to Congress yesterday (Tuesday), hoping for approval of a massive loan package they say is central to their survival.
The U.S. Treasury Department has rejected General Motors Corp.’s (GM) request of $10 billion in assistance for its potential merger with Chrysler LLC after the Bush Administration decided it didn’t want to broaden its $700 billion financial rescue program to include industrial companies – or to play a role in a GM-Chrysler merger that could cost the U.S. economy tens of thousands of jobs, The New York Times reported yesterday (Monday).
The U.S. government is looking for ways to facilitate a merger between General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC, in the hopes of keeping the once vibrant industry afloat during a time of crisis. But Uncle Sam’s credit card is close to maxed out and a bailout for the auto industry could open the door for other troubled industries to come calling.
