AP
Business
Highlights
Monday
February 9, 7:08 pm ET
Official: Plan will buy some of banks'
bad assets
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An administration official said Monday the
overhaul of the government's $700 billion financial rescue program is likely to
include a partnership with the private sector to buy troubled assets.
The official said the plan would use government money to support
private sector purchases of bad assets that are weighing on banks' balance
sheets and keeping them from resuming more normal lending.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the
proposal being released.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
will give a speech on Tuesday at the Treasury Department unveiling the new
program.
GM said to be in talks to reclaim
DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. is in talks with its former
parts arm Delphi Corp. about taking back some Delphi factories that make key
parts for GM vehicles, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday.
Troy-based Delphi has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection for more than three years, and like many suppliers is struggling
with the shrinking
The person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are
private, said the talks have been under way for several weeks and may not lead
to any takeover of the plants. GM has had the option to take back factories in
its 1999 agreement to spin off
Obama pitches stimulus plan on prime-time TV
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama pushed for his
emergency economic stimulus with an urgent one-two punch Monday, addressing the
nation in the first prime-time news conference of his presidency after taking
his campaign directly to recession victims in hard-hit
Speedy passage of legislation to pump federal money into the
crippled economy, once seemingly assured with bipartisan support, has become a
much heavier lift and a major test of Obama's young presidency.
On the day that an $827 billion version of the legislation was up
for a crucial test vote in the Senate, Obama warned darkly of the consequences
he contended would result from inaction.
Economic stimulus bill passes crucial Senate test
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economic stimulus legislation backed by
President Barack Obama has passed a key test in the Senate over strong
Republican opposition.
The vote late Monday was 61-36, one more than the 60 needed. The
$827 billion bill is expected to pass the Senate on Tuesday.
The next step would be negotiations with the House on a final
compromise. Democratic leaders want to get the bill to the president's desk by
the end of the week.
Stocks end mixed as investors look to
Stocks ended a quiet session with only modest changes Monday as
Wall Street sought details of how the government will reshape a rescue plan for
the financial industry. Investors are also watching as political leaders
scramble to put together an economic stimulus program.
The market is awaiting a Tuesday speech by Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner outlining President Barack Obama's
plan to overhaul the government's $700 billion financial bailout package.
Congress passed the measure last fall as the credit markets began to seize up
on fears about rising levels of bad debt. Geithner
had been scheduled to announce the plan Monday, but the White House pushed back
the speech to focus on the stimulus bill.
SEC, Madoff agree to settle civil fraud
case
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on
Monday announced an agreement with disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff that could eventually force him to pay a civil fine
and return money raised from investors.
The partial judgment, which renders permanent a preliminary
injunction that froze Madoff's assets after his
arrest in December, must be approved by the judge overseeing the case in
federal court in
The civil proceeding is separate from the criminal case against
the prominent Wall Street figure, who is accused of bilking $50 billion from
investors in what may be the largest Ponzi scheme in
history. Madoff was arrested on Dec. 11 after
allegedly confessing to his sons that he had stolen from investors for years.
SEC enforcement chief Linda Thomsen
resigns
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top cop at the Securities and Exchange
Commission is leaving the government less than a week after receiving an angry
dressing-down before Congress over the agency's failure to detect a massive
alleged fraud scheme.
The SEC said Monday that Linda Thomsen is leaving to pursue
opportunities in the private sector, but did not provide further details. She
has been the agency's enforcement director since May 2005.
Mary Schapiro late last month became SEC chairman,
and it's not unusual for new heads of the agency to replace the enforcement
director. But Thomsen became a lightning rod for criticism over the SEC's failure to detect the $50 billion Ponzi
scheme allegedly run by money manager Bernard Madoff,
despite red flags raised to the agency staff by outsiders over the course of a
decade. The announcement of her departure came a few days after Schapiro
outlined new actions intended to strengthen and speed the agency's enforcement
efforts.
Nissan to slash 20,000 jobs and sees annual loss
TOKYO (AP) -- Nissan announced 20,000
job cuts Monday, the deepest reduction among Japan's automakers in battling the
global downturn, as it forecast its first annual loss in nine years.
Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said the
latest problems were industrywide and due to the
global economic slump and the appreciating yen. They didn't mean Nissan Motor
Co. was reverting to its money-losing status that required a bailout from
alliance partner Renault SA in 1999, he said.
The last time
Nissan now expects a 265 billion yen ($2.9 billion) net loss for
the fiscal year through March -- joining a raft of other Japanese corporate
giants, including
Hasbro 4Q profit down, but investors are patient
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hasbro Inc. said Monday that its fourth-quarter
profit fell a sharper-than-expected 30 percent as the nation's second-biggest
toy maker cut prices on many items during the sluggish holiday season and the
stronger dollar hurt results.
Hasbro's earnings report and Mattel Inc.'s last week indicate toy
makers were not immune to the consumer spending drop-off that led to the
weakest holiday season in decades.
Hasbro shares, which fell last week when Mattel reported its
earnings, rose $1.53, or 6.5 percent, to close at
$25.07. The stock has traded between $21.68 and $41.68 during the past 52
weeks.
Amazon's new Kindle e-book reader gets slimmer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. is releasing a slimmer version
of its Kindle electronic reading device, but it still costs $359 -- making it
unclear how mainstream even an improved Kindle can be during a brutal
recession.
Rather than lowering the price, Amazon touted several upgrades to
the e-book reader and a novella from Stephen King that will be available
exclusively for the device. The new Kindle is expected to begin shipping Feb.
24, with owners of the first Kindle at the front of the line if they want to
upgrade
The new Kindle's 6-inch screen can display 16 shades of gray,
compared with the previous Kindle's four shades. It will be able to read text
aloud from two small speakers on the back, and it can store 1,500 books,
instead of 200.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 9.72, or 0.12 percent, to
8,270.87. The blue chips fluctuated between gains and losses 49 times during
the session.
Broader stock indicators were mixed after a big rally last week.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.29, or 0.15 percent, to 869.89, and
the Nasdaq composite index
slipped 0.15, or 0.01 percent, to 1,591.56.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 61 cents to settle at
$39.56 a barrel on the
In other Nymex trading, gasoline
futures dropped 3.6 cents to settle at $1.2471 a gallon. Heating oil lost less
than a penny to settle at $1.3523 a gallon, while natural gas for March
delivery rose 3.3 cents to settle at $4.807 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In