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WSJ Watchdogs Sketchy Conseco Insurance Move
The Journal has a nice story today shining a light on the Conseco insurance company offloading some unprofitable long-term-care policies into a trust that may not be able to cover them. The trust will pay claims from a pool of funds transferred to it from Conseco, including $175 million in capital. But A.M. Best Co., the insurance-rating firm, warns that...
U.S. Steel to idle 3 U.S. plants
Move to affect 3,500 workers; some production moves to Ontario
Infineon posts another large loss
German chipmaker reports a seventh straight quarterly net loss because of falling chip prices and weakening demand.
German car downturn 'worst ever'
The German car market is suffering an unprecedented slowdown, the country's main trade body warns.
Anatomy of a Downturn
The Wall Street Journal dedicated today's front page to Google's dwindling fortunes, and how the company has reacted to the broader economic meltdown. It's a study in how Silicon Valley firms slide from the glorious start-up days into the middling reality of running a company that doesn't know how to mint money anymore, and no one has been more glorious than Google. read more
French Bid Disrupts Buffett Offer for U.S. Utility
Electricité de France has offered $4.5 billion for half of Constellation Energy’s nuclear power unit, a deal that could scuttle a takeover by Warren E. Buffett.
GM and Chrysler could run out of money by the end of the year without government help.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal lead with the restructuring plans that Detroit's Big Three presented to lawmakers yesterday in hopes that it will help garner support for billions of dollars in government assistance. On the same day as new industry-wide figures revealed that November was the worst sales month in 26 years, two of Detroit's giants made it clear they're hanging on by a string. General Motors could collapse by the end of the year and said it needs an immediate injection of $4 billion and will need as much as $18 [...]
Even in Michigan, Not Everyone Wants a Lifeline
Many people in Michigan said in interviews that they could no longer see why the Big Three should be singled out for rescue.
Crossrail delay?
The cross-London plan may face funding issues
The east's innovators are no threat to the west
The technological capabilities of China and India create more commercial opportunities than threats, writes John Kay
Breakingviews.com: Vikram Pandit Scores a Great Deal for Citigroup
The banking giant’s chief isn’t known for making good deals, but this one’s a killer.
Pursuing U.S. Aid, G.M. Accepts Need for Drastic Cuts
General Motors said it needed an $18 billion package in loans and lines of credit and that it will cut jobs, factories, brands and executive pay.
How Detroit's lost clout in Washington may actually help the auto industry.
Who says America's Big Three automakers are lumbering, bureaucratic relics incapable of reading the public mood? Just last month, their CEOs traveled to Washington on their corporate jets. (At least partly because of that decision, they returned home with no federal largesse and hardly any public sympathy.) For this week's visit, at least two of the CEOs plan to drive—and the third, Chrysler's Robert Nardelli, says he won't be taking a private jet. [ more ... ]
Detroit Three plead for lifeline
GM seeking up to $18-billion, tells U.S. Congress its collapse could have ‘severe, long-term consequences to the U.S. economy'
Pirates make waves for global shippers
The modern age of piracy has nothing to do with hoisting the "Jolly Roger" or sword fights on deck. The 21st-century pirate with his fast boat and global positioning system is not a character out of a B-grade movie but a phenomenon that has rocked an already struggling shipping industry.
U.S. auto makers post 'awful numbers' in November
GM sales plunge 41% to lead the industry decline while Ford dives 31%
GM USA?
The LAT's Pulitzer-winning car critic Dan Neil makes an interesting case for the government nationalizing the auto industry, especially General Motors. For one, he says their cars aren't half bad: From my perch, as someone who drives all of the Big Three's North American product offerings, I think a lot of the anger is reflexive and misplaced. Detroit makes some...
Tata's Corus cuts hours and seeks government funds
Tata Steel unit Corus has applied to the Dutch government to part-fund temporary cuts in the work hours of 4,600 staff, as the global slowdown eats into production levels.
Stephanie Mangold: Detroit's car-makers had their chance and they blew it
Stephanie Mangold: America's big three car makers are begging for a bailout. But had they made the right choices they wouldn't be in dire straits