U.S. President Barack Obama has decided against naming a “car czar,” and is instead asking U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence H. “Larry” Summers to head a task force on revamping the U.S. auto industry, Bloomberg News reported yesterday (Monday).

Under the gun to return to profits, General Motors Corp. (GM) announced dramatic job cuts and dialed back pay to its white-collar workforce.

Ford Motor Co. (F) insists it can survive through 2009 without federal loans despite a $5.9 billion fourth quarter loss and burning through over 40% of its cash on hand. 

Investors are breathing a sigh of relief that 2008 is over, but they shouldn’t get too comfortable. After all, with a worldwide recession under way, investors can expect acceleration in corporate bankruptcies in 2009.

But the question is – which ones?

In the financial services sector, 2008 was a year of spectacular failures:

• Bear Stearns Cos. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. were absorbed by JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC), respectively.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (OTC: LEHMQ) filed for bankruptcy protection.
• And financial-sector giants American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Citigroup Inc. (C) were both bailed out a vast expense to taxpayers.

If at the start of 2008 I’d written that the entire New York investment banking business would disappear during the…

If it’s good enough for Wal-Mart… Looks like the discounting model pioneered by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailing giant, will make its way to some rather unlikely high-end retailers: Barney’s New York Inc. and Neiman Marcus Inc. have announced significant price reductions (up to 75%) over the next few days to avoid a disastrous holiday shopping season.

General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler LLC will receive $13.4 billion in loans from the federal government as part of an emergency measure to keep the companies operating at least until the spring.

A price tag has emerged for President-elect Barack Obama’s infrastructure stimulus, $850 billion, according to one of his advisers. His team calculates the figure is necessary to create 2.5 million jobs, improve an array of infrastructure projects, and bolster unemployment, health-care, and renewable energy programs, lawmakers told Bloomberg.

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.

FedEx Announces Profit, Cost Cuts; Report: Wal-Mart to Sell iPhones; GM Denies Chrysler Merger Talks; Discovery Applying for Bank Status; Initial Jobless Claims Down; Goldman Sells Sanyo Stake to Panasonic; IMF Sees 2009 U.S. Rebound; Carnival Cruises to 4Q Profit

The Bush administration Friday dropped its opposition to using the $700 billion bank bailout fund to provide financing for U.S. automakers after the Senate balked at approving $14 billion emergency loans.