Geithner
defends bank rescue program amid warnings
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
acknowledged continued weaknesses in the financial system Tuesday, citing
declines in consumer lending and higher costs for credit despite billions of
dollars of government money for financial institutions.
At the same time, the International Monetary Fund predicted
Despite the ongoing crisis, the government's financial rescue
policies were showing signs of progress, including increases in the number of
refinanced mortgages and signs that credit conditions have improved, Geithner said.
Banks pull stock market higher after sell-off
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 128 points to 7,969.56
after tumbling 290 points Monday on worries about bad debt at banks and the
implications of the stress tests. The drop punctuated a surge of more than 20
percent since stocks hit their lowest levels in more than a decade in early
March.
AP Exclusive: Fed tests harder on regional banks
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government's "stress tests" of
19 large banks take a harsher view of loans than of other troubled assets,
according to a Federal Reserve document obtained by the Associated Press. That
approach favors a few Wall Street banks while potentially threatening major
regional players.
Regulators will use the tests to determine which banks are
healthy, which need more capital and which might fail if the recession
worsened.
The Fed is scheduled to detail its methodology for the tests on
Friday and release the results May 4.
Chrysler lenders offer to swap $2.5B for equity
DETROIT (AP) -- Banks and hedge funds that hold $6.9 billion in
Chrysler LLC debt have proposed forgiving $2.5 billion of it in exchange for
about a 40 percent stake a Chrysler-Fiat alliance, according to two people
briefed on the proposal.
One of the people said the lenders delivered their
counterproposal to Chrysler and the
The counteroffer comes as Chrysler races to meet a
government-imposed April 30 deadline to swap debt for equity, cut labor costs
and negotiate an alliance with Italy's Fiat Group SpA.
If it misses the deadline, government aid will end and Chrysler likely faces liquidation.
At Citi's annual meeting, shareholders
get angry
The meeting is usually a well-attended affair lasting many hours
as shareholders air their grievances, and Tuesday's gathering was as somber and
full of ire as ever.
Despite the rancor on the floor, all returning directors and four
new ones were elected with at least 70 percent of the vote, according to
preliminary results. And while some shareholder proposals came close to
passing, preliminary results showed that none did.
Delta, United parent post big 1Q losses
United, AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and US Airways Group Inc.
said they were studying Delta's decision, but didn't immediately announce plans
to match it. Continental Airlines Inc. declined to comment. Among foreign
carriers, British Airways has a fee for a second checked bag for some
passengers for travel to some international destinations.
Merck, Schering-Plough report Q1 revenue drops
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Drugmakers Merck
& Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., preparing to combine, both posted
first-quarter sales declines Tuesday as the global recession and the stronger
dollar weigh on an industry already weakened by growing generic competition.
Much-larger Merck, which is buying Schering-Plough for $41.1
billion in a move that will make it the world's No. 2 drugmaker,
turned in a far worse performance. An array of problems forced Merck to reduce
much of its 2009 financial forecast, drew critical analyst reviews and sent its
shares down nearly 9 percent at one point.
Yahoo to cut 600 to 700 jobs after 1Q results fall
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo Inc. will lay off more than 600
workers after getting off to another bumpy start under a tough-talking new boss
who has promised to engineer a long-awaited turnaround at one of the Internet's
best-known franchises.
Neither the lackluster first-quarter results nor the job cuts
announced Tuesday came as a surprise.
Analysts had already predicted Yahoo's three-year slump would
worsen during the first three months of the year, and hints about the payroll
purge were leaked to the media last week.
Caterpillar posts loss, hurt by weak sales, charge
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc.
reported its first quarterly loss in 17 years on Tuesday, hurt by plunging
sales and the cost of laying off thousands of workers.
It also said the Obama administration should have allocated more money for
roads, bridges and other public works under its stimulus plans.
The $112 million loss highlighted the depth and breadth of a
global downturn, as the company suffered double-digit sales declines in most of
its businesses.
DuPont 1Q profit falls, cuts outlook
DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Citing a sharp drop in global industrial
demand that resulted in a 59 percent decline in first-quarter profit, chemical
maker DuPont Co. said Tuesday it is boosting efforts to cut costs and
developing additional restructuring plans.
The Wilmington-based company also pared its full-year outlook,
saying it expects volumes to continue to decline in the coming months, but not
as steeply as they did in the first quarter.
DuPont reported earnings of $488 million, or 54 cents per share,
for the first quarter, down from $1.19 billion, or $1.31 per share, a year ago.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 127.83, or 1.6 percent, to
7,969.56.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 17.69, or 2.1 percent,
to 850.08, and the Nasdaq
composite index rose 35.64, or 2.2 percent, to 1,643.85.
Benchmark crude for May delivery rose 63 cents to settle at
$46.51 a barrel on the
In other Nymex trading, gasoline for
May delivery settled up 0.25 cent at $1.4144 a gallon and heating oil added
1.62 cents at settle at $1.3478 a gallon. Natural gas for May delivery fell 2.9
cents to settle at $3.511 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In