CBS News Business Headlines: 20 February 2009

February 20th, 2009 • Business, CBS News, Economy, Money • No comments

  • World Stocks Slide After Dow’s Dismal Day
    World stock markets fell sharply Friday as the selling pressure on Wall Street was expected to continue at the open later amid pessimism about the ability of governments to prevent the deepest global economic downturn in generations.

  • Taxing Miles Driven Instead Of Gas Burned
    U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn.

  • Saab Moves To Separate From GM
    Automaker Saab filed for bankruptcy protection and has applied to be spun off from its parent company General Motors, officials say.

  • Dow Tumbles To A Six-Year Low
    The Dow Jones industrial average closed Thursday at its lowest level in more than six years. The Dow fell more than 90 points to close below 7,500 for the first time since October, 2002.

  • U.S. Sues UBS Over Secret Bank Accounts
    Federal authorities have filed a lawsuit against Swiss-based bank UBS AG seeking the identities of tens of thousands of U.S. customers.

  • HUD: Banks Must Play Role On Foreclosures
    Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said it’s critically important that banks and lending institutions work to help make certain the Obama administration’s new home foreclosure initiative succeeds.

  • Texas-Sized Fraud Spreads To 131 Countries
    The alleged rip-off by billionaire banker R. Allen Stanford has investors scrambling. No one’s sure where he is today, but investors want to know if they’ll ever see their money again.

  • Unemployment On Pace For 8.5 Percent
    The number of unemployed workers receiving unemployment benefits jumped to an all-time high near 5 million earlier this month, while new jobless claims remain well above 600,000.

  • Stocks Wobble As Obama Shares Housing Plan
    Wall Street extended its decline Wednesday after President Barack Obama released details of his $75 billion mortgage relief plan.

  • UAW Deal Slashes Bonuses, Some Raises
    People briefed on the United Auto Workers’ deal with Detroit’s three automakers say it limits overtime, changes work rules, cuts lump-sum cash bonuses and gets rid of cost-of-living pay raises to help reduce the companies’ labor costs.

  • Fed’s Bleak Economic Forecast Gets Bleaker
    The Federal Reserve sharply downgraded its projections for the United States’ economic performance this year, predicting the economy will actually shrink and unemployment will rise higher.

  • UBS To Pay $780M In Tax Case
    Banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $780 million and turn over once-secret Swiss banking records to settle allegations it conspired to defraud the U.S. government of taxes owed by big clients.

  • Obama Admin. Mulls Auto Bailout Requests
    The ink is still drying General Mortors and Chrysler’s new requests for an additional $21.6 billion in government money, but for President Barack Obama’s month-old administration, there are no easy answers.

  • Bernanke Defends Controversial Moves
    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pledged anew Wednesday to do everything in his power to lift the U.S. out of recession, while defending the extraordinary steps the Fed has taken to fight the worst credit and financial crisis since the 1930s.

  • U.S. Fraud Probe Hits Latin American Banks
    Panicky depositors were turned away from Stanford International Bank and some of its Latin American affiliates, unable to withdraw their money after U.S. regulators accused Texas financier R. Allen Stanford of perpetrating an $8 billion fraud.

  • Breaking Down GM, Chrysler Viability Plans
    General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC submitted viability plans to the Treasury Department Tuesday. Here are the highlights of each plan.

  • Auto Restructuring Has Communities On Edge
    Communities with major automotive operations are steeling themselves for more tough blows from the U.S. auto industry, whose sales are at a 26-year low. General Motors and Chrysler announced a total of 50,000 job cuts Tuesday.

  • If Stocks Are in Turmoil, Blame the Feds
    When government officials veer randomly from one policy to another, investors fear “regime uncertainty,” writes Declan McCullagh

  • GE CEO To Decline 2008 Bonus
    General Electric Co. said Wednesday that Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt will forgo a 2008 bonus and performance awards worth millions of dollars after the company’s earnings fell last year and its stock price plunged.

  • GM Europe Prepared To Seek Partnerships
    General Motors Europe says it is prepared to discuss possible partnerships to help secure the long-term success of its business.

  • Goodyear To Cut 5,000 Jobs
    Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the biggest U.S. tire maker, plans to cut 5,000 jobs this year after posting a fourth-quarter loss of $330 million and a 21 percent decline in sales.

  • New Home Construction Hits Record Low
    Construction of new homes and applications for future projects both plunged to record lows in January as all parts of the country showed big declines in building activity.

  • Top Banks That Received Aid Cut Lending
    The 20 largest banks that received U.S. government rescue funds slightly reduced their lending to consumers and businesses in the last three months of 2008, the government said Tuesday.

  • GM, Chrysler Boost Aid Requests
    General Motors and Chrysler asked the government for an additional $14 billion in aid, a dramatic acknowledgment that conditions in the U.S. auto industry have grown significantly worse in just two months.

  • Stocks Skid On Economic And Carmaker Angst
    Stocks tumbled as investors grew more doubtful that the government can quickly turn around the still-weakening economy.

  • Paperwork Mess Aiding Strapped Homeowners
    Homeowners around the country are managing to stave off foreclosure by employing a strategy that goes to the heart of the whole nationwide mess - requesting the original mortgage paperwork.

  • Wal-Mart Profits Fall 7 Percent In 4Q
    Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said that its fourth-quarter profit fell 7.4 percent as it was hurt by the strong dollar and a charge from settling a labor lawsuit.

  • SEC Accuses Bank Of “Massive Fraud”
    Federal regulators are charging R. Allen Stanford and three of his companies with a “massive” fraud that centered around high-interest-rate CDs.

  • Former Trump-Run Casinos Go Bust
    The three Atlantic City casinos once run by Donald Trump filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday - for the third time.

  • Is Sprint Poised For A Comeback?
    When Larry Magid met Sprint CEO Dan Hesse last week in California, two women at the next table treated him like a celebrity. Magid wouldn’t go that far, but he admits Hesse appears to have a good handle on the mobile telecom industry.

  • UAW, GM Said To Make Progress In Talks
    General Motors Corp. was making progress in concession talks with debtholders and its main union, but deals may not come until after the deadline passes, according to people briefed on the situation.

  • Marine One Upgrade Plan Stirs Debate
    President Obama has a big decision to make about his mode of transportation. The issue, Bob Orr reports, is whether to invest in a very expensive new fleet of presidential helicopters.

  • World Markets Sag
    World markets fell Monday, after new figures showed Japan’s economy contracted at its quickest pace in 35 years.

  • Congress Strengthens Exec Pay Limits
    Over the White House’s objections, Sen. Chris Dodd inserted strict rules into the $787 billion economic stimulus package limiting bankers’ bonuses.

  • Obama To Create Auto Industry Panel
    President Barack Obama plans to appoint senior administration officials - rather than a single “car czar,” as had been discussed - to oversee a restructuring of the auto industry.

  • UAW Walks Away From GM Concession Talks
    Negotiators for the United Auto Workers walked out of concession talks with General Motors Corp. in a dispute over payments to a union-administered retiree health care fund, a person briefed on the talks said.

  • Peanut Supplier Files For Bankruptcy
    Most Americans know about a peanut-based national salmonella outbreak but many are wrong about what products are involved and few have confidence in food safeguards, according to a survey.

  • Putting The Best Face On A Bad Economy
    In this recession, as so many businesses and families struggle, there are still some bright spots. Richard Schlesinger meets one woman who’s nearly doubled her income after leaving a steady job to pedal lipsticks and nail polish.

  • Toyota Cuts Exec Pay, Eliminates Bonuses
    Toyota Motor Corp. is reacting to the slump in U.S. auto sales by further cutting North American production, slashing executives’ compensation up to 30 percent and offering buyouts to about 18,000 workers.

  • Average American Net Worth Drops 23%
    The recession has cut many Americans’ net worth by about 20 percent as the value of homes, stock portfolios and businesses have plummeted, the Federal Reserve.

  • GM Bankruptcy In Bondholders’ Hands
    We forgave billions in debt, now give us more money. This is the message General Motors bondholders have sent to the flailing automaker along with the threat of pushing the company into bankruptcy, according to a newspaper report.

  • Retail Sales Rise Unexpectedly In January
    U.S. retail sales jumped 1 percent in January, reversing a six-month declining trend and defying economists’ expectations by posting the biggest increase in 14 months.

  • Foreclosures Fall 10% From Dec. To Jan.
    The number of Americans on the verge of losing their homes fell in January but was still up from the same month a year ago. The numbers would have been higher if not for efforts to stall the foreclosure process.

  • Jet Makers Prod Execs: “Continue To Fly”
    Banks got lambasted for their corporate jets after receiving government funds. Congress and the public scourged auto executives for flying their private planes to Washington to beg for money.

  • Jobless Numbers Hover Around 5 Million
    The government says the number of new claims for unemployment benefits dropped slightly last week but remains near a 26-year high as companies lay off workers amid a deepening recession. Overall unemployment rose to the highest amount on record.

  • House To Bankers: Time To Make Sacrifices
    Eight chief executives of major banks will slip behind a witness table in the Rayburn House Office Building to face a battery of questions about how they have used more than $160 billion in taxpayers’ money.

  • N.Y. AG: Merrill Lynch Wasted Funds
    New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Merrill Lynch & Co. executives of corporate irresponsibility by secretly and prematurely awarding $3.6 billion in bonuses as taxpayers were bailing out the industry.

  • Madoff’s Wife Withdrew $15M Before Arrest
    Ruth Madoff took out a total of $15 million from Cohmad Securities Corp., which is co-owned by her husband Bernie Madoff.

  • At Treasury, More Of The Same On Bailout
    Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seemed to be following the Hank Paulson playbook, according to a wide consensus on Wall Street, in Washington, and beyond.

  • GM Cuts 10,000 Jobs In Bid To Stay Viable
    General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will cut 10,000 salaried jobs, citing the need to restructure itself with a government deadline looming and amid some of the worst sales in the U.S. auto industry’s history.

  • Stocks Skid As U.S. Unveils Bailout Plan
    Investors are frustrated with the government’s latest bank bailout plan - and showing it by unloading stocks. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow industrials fell 381.99, or 4.62 percent, to 7,888.88.

  • New Bailout May Tip Scales At $1 Trillion
    The Obama administration promised an aggressive effort to combat America’s worst financial crisis in seven decades, unveiling a program that could mobilize well over $1 trillion in public and private support to get credit flowing again.

  • China Beats U.S. In Monthly Auto Sales
    China’s monthly vehicle sales surpassed those in the United States for the first time in January, moving the country closer to becoming the world’s biggest auto market, new data shows.

  • Live Nation, Ticketmaster In Merger Deal
    The boards of Live Nation and Ticketmaster approved a merger, citing cost savings. The new company, estimated to be valued at $2.5 billion, would pose a “near-monopoly” sales of concerts, critics charge.

  • Following The Bailout Money To Wells Fargo
    Most banks won’t even say what they’ve done with your tax dollars as part of the federal bailout. Sharyl Attkisson has been investigating and now she Follows the Money to a big bank that just got bigger.

  • SEC, Madoff Reach Civil Fraud Case Deal
    The Securities and Exchange Commission says it has agreed with Bernard Madoff on a deal that could eventually force the disgraced money manager to pay a civil fine and return money raised from investors.

  • Controversial GM Executive To Retire
    The 76-year-old Lutz is credited with revamping GM’s product line and shepherding its efforts to roll out the Chevrolet Volt electric car. Lutz, however, made headlines in January 2008 with comments about global warming.

  • CEO Of The People
    When the Big Three automakers’ CEOs came to Congress begging for a bailout, they got a lecture for arriving in their private jets. Barry Petersen says maybe they could learn something from the boss of Japan Airlines, who takes the bus to work.

  • Nissan To Slash 20,000 Jobs
    Nissan is slashing 20,000 jobs, or 8.5 percent of its global work force, to cope with what Japan’s third-largest automaker expects will be its first annual loss in nine years.

  • CNBC Sends A Message
    Seven days ago, CNBC news chief Jonathan Wald had one of the most prestigious titles in the media industry. Now, he’s job hunting, and Jon Friedman says the implications for the media industry are severe.

  • Identity Theft Up, But Costs Fall Sharply
    A survey finds that while the number of Americans ensnared by identity theft is on the rise, victims are striking back more quickly and limiting how much is stolen.

  • Cutting Cable: Companies Losing Customers
    While a weak economy invariably makes people pinch pennies, this is the first time that viewing shows online has become a viable competitor to pay TV, making cutting the cord easier.

  • Markets Gain Despite January Job Losses
    Wall Street has had another big rally as investors bet the government will take some big steps to help the economy. All the major indexes rose more than 2 percent Friday as investors looked past another bleak jobs report.

  • SEC Speeds Way To Fight Corporate Bad Guys
    The new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission is ending a practice that she said had slowed the agency’s enforcement efforts against corporate wrongdoing.

  • Jobless Rate 7.6%; Most Job Cuts Since ‘74
    Recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since 1974, and catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. The grim figures were further proof that the nation’s job climate is deteriorating at an alarming rate.

CNN World News: 20 February 2009

February 20th, 2009 • CNN News, World • No comments

ABC News Entertainment Headlines: 20 February 2009

February 20th, 2009 • ABC News, Entertainment • No comments

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