DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors Corp. could be majority owned by the federal government under a massive
restructuring plan laid out Monday that will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by
next year and phase out the storied Pontiac brand.
The plan, which includes an
offer to swap roughly $27 billion in bond debt for GM stock, would leave
current shareholders holding just 1 percent of the century-old company, which
is fighting for its life in the worst auto sales climate in 27 years.
Daimler reaches deal on
final split from Chrysler
NEW YORK (AP) -- German
automaker Daimler AG says it's reached a deal to get rid of its 19.9 percent
stake in Chrysler LLC.
Under the deal, Daimler AG
will forgive the loans it extended to Chrysler when it sold most of the company
to Cerberus Capital Management LP in 2007.
Daimler also agreed to pay
$200 million into Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler's pension plan when the
deal takes effect and in each of the two years afterward.
WHO raises its pandemic
alert level on swine flu
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The
World Health Organization raised its global alert level Monday, signaling the
swine flu virus was spreading from human to human in community outbreaks, but
it stopped short of declaring a full-blown pandemic.
The WHO announcement in
Geneva followed a decision by the top EU health official urging Europeans to
postpone nonessential travel to parts of the United States and Mexico because
of the virus.
Mexico health department
spokesman Carlos Olmos confirmed the move by the WHO to raise the alert level
from Phase 3 to Phase 4.
Investors are cautious as
swine flu cases increase
NEW YORK (AP) -- The swine
flu gave Wall Street a reason to turn cautious.
The Dow Jones industrial
average gave up a midday recovery and retreated about 0.6 percent to 8,025.00
Monday as the swine flu's death count in Mexico grew to about 150 people from
100.
Airline and other
travel-related stocks suffered the sharpest losses Monday. The European Union
health commissioner advised Europeans to avoid nonessential travel to Mexico
and the United States, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta said the recommendation was unwarranted.
Oil falls as reports of
swine flu rattle market
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) --
Oil prices dipped to around $50 a barrel Monday as a strong dollar and new
reports of swine flu threatened to slow summer travel and sent jitters through
global markets.
Benchmark crude for June
delivery fell $1.41 to settle at $50.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude prices have defied traditional
market fundamentals for weeks and risen in the face of an awful economy and
growing supplies of oil.
Swine flu worries pushed
both oil and equity markets down Monday.
Whirlpool 1Q profit drops on
weakening demand
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) --
Whirlpool Corp., the world's largest maker of stoves, refrigerators and other
major home appliances, said Monday its first-quarter profit fell 28 percent on
slumping sales, softening consumer demand and the stronger dollar.
But its shares climbed as it
beat Wall Street's expectations for a loss for the January-March period and
reaffirmed its full-year outlook which is above analysts' consensus forecast.
One analyst said the company
is doing well in the face of the economic downturn.
Verizon 1st-qtr profit, revenue
beat expectations
NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon
Communications Inc. said Monday its earnings grew 5 percent in the first
quarter, boosted by its acquisition of Alltel Corp. and strong demand for its
wireless, Internet and TV services.
Verizon, which is the
second-largest U.S. telecommunications provider, earned $3.21 billion, or 58
cents per share, compared with $3.05 billion, or 57 cents per share, a year
ago.
Excluding charges related to
its acquisition of Alltel, Verizon earned 63 cents per share -- 4 cents higher
than analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected.
Boeing CEO calls slump
'once-in-a-lifetime' event
CHICAGO (AP) -- Boeing Co.
Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney assured shareholders Monday that the
company is in strong shape to ride out the "once-in-a-lifetime"
downturn that has walloped its profits, jetliner orders and stock price.
Putting an upbeat spin on a
slump that has hit both the aerospace company and its customers hard, he cited
as reasons for optimism -- Boeing's huge backlog of orders, diversification
between commercial airplanes and defense and its continued, albeit halting,
progress on the 787.
McNerney also reiterated
that that oft-delayed new passenger jet will take to the air before the end of
June.
Qualcomm posts 2nd-qtr loss
on legal settlement
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Qualcomm
Inc. posted a fiscal second-quarter loss Monday on a hefty payment to rival
chip maker Broadcom Corp. to end legal disputes that spanned several
continents.
The settlement with
Broadcom, announced late Sunday, calls for Qualcomm to pay $891 million over
four years. Broadcom is a relative newcomer to the business of making chips for
cell phones but proved to be a fierce legal adversary.
Qualcomm lost $289 million,
or 18 cents a share, during the three months ended March 29, compared to a
profit of $766 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago. The latest quarter
includes a charge of $748 million, or 43 cents a share, to pay Broadcom.
World Bank: Economic crisis
turning into calamity
WASHINGTON (AP) --The global
financial crisis could become "a human and development calamity" for
many poor countries, the World Bank said, urging donor nations to speed
delivery of money they have pledged and consider giving more.
Developing countries, its
main constituency, face "especially serious consequences with the crisis
driving more than 50 million people into extreme poverty, particularly women
and children," the bank said Sunday.
Bank President Robert
Zoellick said some of the poorest economies are being hit by "second and
third waves of the crisis." He said no one knows how long it will last or
when recovery will begin.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average fell 51.29, or 0.6 percent, to 8,025.00.
Broader stock indicators
also closed lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.72, or 1 percent,
to 857.51, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 14.88, or 0.9 percent, to
1,679.41.
The Russell 2000 index of
smaller companies fell 9.21, or 1.9 percent, to 469.53.
Benchmark crude for June
delivery fell $1.41 to settle at $50.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
gasoline for May delivery fell 3.88 cents to settle at $1.4032 a gallon and
heating oil slid 4.54 cents to settle at $1.3229 a gallon.
In London, Brent prices fell
$1.35 to settle at $51.67 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.