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. 

Worries rise that stimulus package could be held up… Ford stock rises after quarterly results… Initial jobless claims on tap… S&P 500 futures off 6.70 points, Dow futures off 52 points, Nasdaq futures off 4.75 points…

Rio Tinto Slows Expansion; Foreign Real Estate Investors Bullish; Abbott Laboratories Buys Advanced Medical Optics; Congo Jacks Primary Rate to 55%; Ford May Need TARP; LG Chem Gets a Charge from GM

President-elect Barack Obama said Saturday that an analysis of his stimulus proposal found that the capital infusion could save or create as many as 4 million U.S. jobs by 2010, nearly 90% of them in the private sector.

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.

Toyota Motor Corp. (ADR:TM) may not need a government bailout, but it’s hurting badly. The world’s top automaker said it will announce a revised 2009 sales forecast at its end-of-the-year news conference Dec. 22. The company is expected to slash at least 1 million cars from its original forecast of 9.7 million units, Reuters reported.

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.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $14 billion federal loan package for Detroit’s embattled “Big Three” late yesterday (Wednesday), overcoming Republican opposition in the House but leaving the bill to face an uncertain fate in a hostile Senate.

As the Senate meets today (Monday) to discuss what to do with the eviscerated U.S. auto industry, some strong words from one of the Senate’s most powerful member suggested a much-debated bailout could come with some strings attached for top executives.