Archive for June 17th, 2009

NEW YORK: A largely unknown car company is planning to open its first factory in what used be a headlight plant in a small town in northern Louisiana, state officials announced on Wednesday.Louisiana economic development officials are enthusiastic about the endeavor which they say will create thousands of jobs. But for now, executives with California-based… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — No one said selling a regulatory reform package would be easy. As a case in point, consider the Office of Thrift Supervision. The OTS, a branch of the Treasury that was established 20 years ago to supervise savings-and-loans, would be eliminated in the oversight overhaul the Obama administration outlined Wednesday.The Obama… »

NEW YORK: Chrysler announced plans to reopen 7 of its 11 assembly lines later this month for the first time since the day after the company filed for bankruptcy in April.The company said two plants in Michigan, one in St. Louis and one in Toledo will reopen during the week of June 29. Two factories… »

NEW YORK (Fortune) — For the first time, Brazil, Russia, India, and China — dubbed the BRIC nations — held a summit this week to discuss the global economy and their role in it. But the gathering in Russia might never have happened if Jim O’Neill, Goldman Sachs chief economist, hadn’t created the acronym in… »

NEW YORK: Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, citing an inability to pay back debt.Eddie Bauer (EBHI) emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005 after being spun off from former owner Spiegel Catalog, which itself sought bankruptcy protection in 2003. Costs from the 2005 reorganization, combined with pressure from the… »

NEW YORK: For much of the last year, Ford Motor has been the strongest U.S.-based automaker. But with Chrysler already out of bankruptcy and General Motors possibly six weeks away from its own exit from bankruptcy, Ford could soon find itself in the weakest position of the traditional Big Three.The problem for Ford is that… »

NEW YORK: Gas prices have risen for 50 days in a row and the pain at the pump is taking a toll on household budgets across the nation. Nationwide, gas prices now average 2.679, motorist group AAA said Wednesday. Prices have risen every day since April 29, when the national average stood at 2.05 a… »

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Four of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, repaid billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout funds on Wednesday, getting out from under the government’s thumb.Banks have been anxious to return the funds, taken under the 700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, to escape the strings… »

NEW YORK: A flurry of banks officially escaped the clutches of TARP after cutting checks to the U.S. government Wednesday, marking the first major payback of the billions of dollars in aid invested in banks last fall.Still, hundreds of lenders, including industry leaders Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), remain… »

WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Republicans on Wednesday presented what they called a “sorely needed” alternative to Democrats’ proposals to overhaul health care.Republicans want to make sure all Americans have access to affordable coverage, Rep. Eric Cantor, the House minority whip, said Wednesday.”We do so by making sure we keep down costs and incorporate the ability… »