American, Detroit-based car manufacturer General Motors has asked EU governments to come to its rescue as the company struggles with a major cash-flow problem that threatens thousands of jobs in Europe. Speaking at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday (3 March), the company's chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, said the company could run out of cash supplies by as early as next month, reports the Financial Times. GM currently provides direct employment to over 50,000 people in the EU "We would try to stay alive, but there's no guarantee we could stay alive," he told reporters at the motor show. "We would become insolvent at that point." GM provides direct employment for over 50,000 people in Europe, with major plants located in Germany, Spain, Poland, Belgium and the UK. About 25,000 of these jobs are in Germany, 7,000 in Spain and close to 5,000 in Britain. Another 5,000 jobs are located in Sweden, mainly at carmaker Saab, which is owned by GM.
American, Detroit-based car manufacturer General Motors has asked EU governments to come to its rescue as the company struggles with a major cash-flow problem that threatens thousands of jobs in Europe.
Speaking at the Geneva motor show on Tuesday (3 March), the company's chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, said the company could run out of cash supplies by as early as next month, reports the Financial Times.
GM currently provides direct employment to over 50,000 people in the EU
"We would try to stay alive, but there's no guarantee we could stay alive," he told reporters at the motor show. "We would become insolvent at that point."
GM provides direct employment for over 50,000 people in Europe, with major plants located in Germany, Spain, Poland, Belgium and the UK.
About 25,000 of these jobs are in Germany, 7,000 in Spain and close to 5,000 in Britain. Another 5,000 jobs are located in Sweden, mainly at carmaker Saab, which is owned by GM.
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, nominated former Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger as chairman of its board of directors, replacing Peter Kurer after one year amid a probe into whether it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes. Kurer's departure comes less than a week after UBS called former Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel, 65, out of retirement to replace CEO Marcel Rohner. Villiger, 68, will step down from board positions at Swiss Reinsurance Co, Nestle SA and Neue Zuercher Zeitung if elected by shareholders on April 15, the Zurich-based bank said today. UBS is being sued by the U.S. over the names of as many as 52,000 clients, after agreeing last month to hand out details of a few hundred customers to avoid prosecution on a charge that it helped rich Americans evade taxes. The bank is cutting 11,000 jobs after more than $50 billion in losses from the credit crisis, and clients withdrew $195 billion of assets last year. "This is a clean slate," said Christian Stark, an analyst at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux in Zurich who has an "underperform" rating on the stock. "Villiger hasn't got the banking experience, but his political background may be useful in dealing with the U.S. and European Union."
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, nominated former Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger as chairman of its board of directors, replacing Peter Kurer after one year amid a probe into whether it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes.
Kurer's departure comes less than a week after UBS called former Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel, 65, out of retirement to replace CEO Marcel Rohner. Villiger, 68, will step down from board positions at Swiss Reinsurance Co, Nestle SA and Neue Zuercher Zeitung if elected by shareholders on April 15, the Zurich-based bank said today.
UBS is being sued by the U.S. over the names of as many as 52,000 clients, after agreeing last month to hand out details of a few hundred customers to avoid prosecution on a charge that it helped rich Americans evade taxes. The bank is cutting 11,000 jobs after more than $50 billion in losses from the credit crisis, and clients withdrew $195 billion of assets last year.
"This is a clean slate," said Christian Stark, an analyst at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux in Zurich who has an "underperform" rating on the stock. "Villiger hasn't got the banking experience, but his political background may be useful in dealing with the U.S. and European Union."
A plan to make Opel largely independent of General Motors, and save the German carmaker from failure, will cost at least 3,500 jobs, says the head of GM Europe. The Detroit automaker hopes to free Opel to win financing from a skeptical German government. German carmarker Opel said Wednesday it expected to slash at least 3,500 jobs as part of its plan to re-establish the General Motors subsidiary as a largely independent operating unit. The layoffs are part of a rescue plan the company has submitted to the German government in the hope of obtaining federal financial aid for ailing Opel.
A plan to make Opel largely independent of General Motors, and save the German carmaker from failure, will cost at least 3,500 jobs, says the head of GM Europe. The Detroit automaker hopes to free Opel to win financing from a skeptical German government.
German carmarker Opel said Wednesday it expected to slash at least 3,500 jobs as part of its plan to re-establish the General Motors subsidiary as a largely independent operating unit. The layoffs are part of a rescue plan the company has submitted to the German government in the hope of obtaining federal financial aid for ailing Opel.
We are in the midst of a global recession. All kinds of experts are beavering away writing deep and impenetrable analyses about financial regulation. Government leaders meet, making one pronouncement after another, in an attempt to shore up an ever tightening spiral of decline. Each day almost brings news of some other catastrophe or business failure. Massive amounts of money are being thrown at the stumbling economy. Where, when will it end? We all assume that it will end. That the efforts now being made on our behalf will succeed and that our economic jumbo will pull out of its nosedive and begin climbing again. But what I want to ask is this: where are we trying to get to? Let me explain. Let's jump forward a few years (and it seems unlikely we shall be again in any routine market situation anytime soon) and ask what we want post-recessionary Europe to look like? Is all the current activity directed simply at recreating 2006 - the last year before the financial cracks began to be noticeable? Having skidded off the road, is the extent of our ambition just to get back on tarmac again and to carry on speeding as before? Certainly we shall repair the car, fit better brakes and steering; we shall stand less chance of coming off the road; but is it the intention that by 2012, say, we shall all be rolling along, as before? The container ships brimming once again with Chinese manufactures, shops full, lights on, a new car every three years? Is this the vision?
We are in the midst of a global recession. All kinds of experts are beavering away writing deep and impenetrable analyses about financial regulation. Government leaders meet, making one pronouncement after another, in an attempt to shore up an ever tightening spiral of decline. Each day almost brings news of some other catastrophe or business failure. Massive amounts of money are being thrown at the stumbling economy. Where, when will it end?
We all assume that it will end. That the efforts now being made on our behalf will succeed and that our economic jumbo will pull out of its nosedive and begin climbing again. But what I want to ask is this: where are we trying to get to?
Let me explain. Let's jump forward a few years (and it seems unlikely we shall be again in any routine market situation anytime soon) and ask what we want post-recessionary Europe to look like?
Is all the current activity directed simply at recreating 2006 - the last year before the financial cracks began to be noticeable? Having skidded off the road, is the extent of our ambition just to get back on tarmac again and to carry on speeding as before?
Certainly we shall repair the car, fit better brakes and steering; we shall stand less chance of coming off the road; but is it the intention that by 2012, say, we shall all be rolling along, as before? The container ships brimming once again with Chinese manufactures, shops full, lights on, a new car every three years? Is this the vision?
I have assumed up to now that, despite the evidence that we simply cannot return to the condition of 2006, that is exactly where our politicians are attempting to go and damn the consequences. He needs to grasp them warmly by the throat and scream that we cannot go back to 2006 however hard they try. That ship has sunk. keep to the Fen Causeway
Gloom and Doom doesn't have to be our end or the start of a new round of "same old/same old" but we sane educated folks have to make some serious decisions involving birth control, etc.
I'm actually optimistic for the future. And if things go badly I'll get my head clubbed in and that will end my visit to this delightful little berg. I win either way. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
"There is a real possibility that the virus will mutate and become easily transmissible between humans. If this occurs we could see the start of a new influenza pandemic." The WHO and FAO said that, while it is still relatively difficult for humans to be infected by the H5N1 virus, about 50 percent of those infected die. "The avian influenza virus is also not currently able to spread easily between humans, but influenza viruses are known for their ability to change quickly and can become more adapted to humans with dire consequences," the statement said. On Saturday a woman died from the H5N1 strain of the virus in Vietnam's first avian influenza fatality of the year. An eight-year-old girl, infected in January, has since recovered while a third victim is still in a Hanoi hospital.
The WHO and FAO said that, while it is still relatively difficult for humans to be infected by the H5N1 virus, about 50 percent of those infected die. "The avian influenza virus is also not currently able to spread easily between humans, but influenza viruses are known for their ability to change quickly and can become more adapted to humans with dire consequences," the statement said.
On Saturday a woman died from the H5N1 strain of the virus in Vietnam's first avian influenza fatality of the year. An eight-year-old girl, infected in January, has since recovered while a third victim is still in a Hanoi hospital.
http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23629&Itemi d=32
[asdf's Crystal Ball of Doom™ Technology]
Not that a highly infectious variant with 'only' 10% or 20% mortality wouldn't be a terrible thing.
But the early variants of H5N1 were showing 80% mortality even with world class intensive care. If that's down to 50% after a couple of years, that's almost encouraging.
There seems to be a trade off between infection rates and mortality.
BERLIN: In the past when the European Union was paralyzed by a crisis, France and Germany would come to the rescue. Their leaders have not always seen eye to eye, but over the decades they have generally found compromises that have kept the European integration project alive. Now, with the financial crisis showing no signs of bottoming out, the opportunity for Paris and Berlin to promote unity should have been ideal. Instead, they have adopted opposing approaches over how Europe should respond to the global meltdown. Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to prevent Europe from attempting to spend its way out of the crisis. Her big concern is the explosion of public debt and the ensuing specter of inflation. Ever since the 1920s, when galloping prices wiped out Germany's wealth, inflation has been the bête noire of the German psyche. President Nicolas Sarkozy, in contrast, has been advocating both protectionist policies and big spending programs, much to the exasperation of Merkel's economic advisers. In order to counter Sarkozy's ideas, Merkel has begun forging alliances with small and medium-sized countries, something which another conservative chancellor, Helmut Kohl, was adept at.
BERLIN:
In the past when the European Union was paralyzed by a crisis, France and Germany would come to the rescue. Their leaders have not always seen eye to eye, but over the decades they have generally found compromises that have kept the European integration project alive.
Now, with the financial crisis showing no signs of bottoming out, the opportunity for Paris and Berlin to promote unity should have been ideal. Instead, they have adopted opposing approaches over how Europe should respond to the global meltdown.
Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to prevent Europe from attempting to spend its way out of the crisis. Her big concern is the explosion of public debt and the ensuing specter of inflation. Ever since the 1920s, when galloping prices wiped out Germany's wealth, inflation has been the bête noire of the German psyche.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, in contrast, has been advocating both protectionist policies and big spending programs, much to the exasperation of Merkel's economic advisers. In order to counter Sarkozy's ideas, Merkel has begun forging alliances with small and medium-sized countries, something which another conservative chancellor, Helmut Kohl, was adept at.
Because I thought that everyone agrees that protectionism is about the worst idea at this time. And how likely are Merkel's inflationary fears? I would have thought that deflation is the bigger worry at this point.
But I'm no economist and maybe I'm way out in left field with this, so anyone who cares to straighten me out, feel free. "It Can't Be Just About Us"--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire
Issuing joint EU bonds, or EU-backed government debt, to raise money for troubled member states is "possible and reasonable" but unrealistic in the short run, EU Economic Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said yesterday (3 March). For the first time, he also hinted that the EU has a strategy for rescuing insolvent eurozone members. In a landmark speech in Brussels, Almunia shed light on two of the most controversial issues debated in Europe over the past months. "If you are asking me whether a common issuance of bonds is reasonable, I will tell you that it is. But it is up to member states to decide, and many of them oppose the idea," he said during a conference organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC). The commissioner has so far always avoided making clear comments on the common issuance of government bonds by a group of member states, hiding behind fierce opposition from Germany and the Netherlands.
MOSCOW -- If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order. Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry's school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia's state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership. "There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010," Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy _ a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend.
MOSCOW -- If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.
Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry's school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia's state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership.
"There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010," Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy _ a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend.
His theory of martial law works well within the Bush administration mindset, but I do not see it with the Obama administration mindset. I think the Panarins of this world would like to see another U.S. civil war. I think we Americans will disappoint him.
His triggers for a U.S. civil war were economic decline, which is happening, mass immigration, which isn't happening because of the economic decline, and moral degradation. Now I don't know specifically what he thinks moral decline is, but I'm guessing it is gays and god related and not state-sanctioned torture and the fraud economy.
All in all, the U.S. is more likely to start another foreign war than a domestic one. The danger for U.S. collapse comes more from the drug war in Mexico spilling over the border than from the economic meltdown.
I think he's a fruitcake.
If the US was going to fall apart, the best opportunity would have been for Bush/Cheney/Rummy to let YET ANOTHER terrorist strike hit America LIKE THEY DID KNOWINGLY ON 9-11 (I say again!) and then try to completely shut down all US freedoms. That would have done it. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Also Panarin thinks in a post-collapse U.S., Alaska will revert to Russia.
There are rumours - there are always rumours - that he's Putin's pet propaganda creature. So this would be more wishful thinking and suggestion than reality-based reporting.
How will the country be divided? Mexico is obviously in the south. What else? A: There are six parts altogether. The first one is the Pacific Ocean coast of the USA. I can give you an example: 53% of San Francisco's population is Chinese. The Governor of Washington state was an ethnic Chinese; its capital, Seattle, is called the gate of the Chinese emigration to the USA. It is obvious that the Pacific Ocean coast has been gradually influenced by China. The second part in the south is definitely the Mexicans. In some areas, Spanish has become the official language already. Then comes Texas which has been openly fighting for independence.
A: There are six parts altogether. The first one is the Pacific Ocean coast of the USA. I can give you an example: 53% of San Francisco's population is Chinese. The Governor of Washington state was an ethnic Chinese; its capital, Seattle, is called the gate of the Chinese emigration to the USA. It is obvious that the Pacific Ocean coast has been gradually influenced by China. The second part in the south is definitely the Mexicans. In some areas, Spanish has become the official language already. Then comes Texas which has been openly fighting for independence.
Damn. This guy is a loony tunes freeper. And he's in charge of diplomat training for Russia. All you folks talking about how responsible and sane Russia is compared to the US, and the need to break with Atlanticism in favor of a closer relationship with Russia, ummh, you sure about that?
Okay, Igor, listen up:
(1) About a fifth -- that's about 20% (1/5) -- of San Francisco's population is Chinese. Not 53%. Asians, broadly, aren't even 53% of the city. They're 33%.
(2) Seattle is 17% Asian. And the former governor of Washington is named Gary Locke. (I know, the name alone screams, "CPC Spy.") I'm not sure what Locke's ethnic roots have to do with it, since, as Ambassador ShitforBrains has presumably seen, we do elect people from ethnic groups -- you know, like the current President -- which are not dominant in the electorate.
And for Seattle being the "Gateway to Chinese emigration" -- yeah, I guess that would be true if we were still living in 1800s.
The second part in the south is definitely the Mexicans. In some areas, Spanish has become the official language already. Then comes Texas which has been openly fighting for independence.
(3) Yes, Igor, Spanish is the official language in some places in Mexico. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'll find it's the official language in all of Mexico. (Note he says "Then Texas" after mentioning all that.)
The only evidence -- and, granted, it was just a quick Google -- I can find of Spanish being an official language anywhere in the US is in a small border town in Texas called El Cenizo.
Have a few more glasses of vodka and get back to us, Igor. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
GE Shares Fall to 18-Year Lows Shares of General Electric Corp. fell for the fourth straight trading session Wednesday to levels not seen since 1991 as the cost of protecting the debt of its ailing financing arm continues to soar. Shares ended down 4.5% and fell as much as 18% to $5.73 at one point Wednesday amid concerns about its liquidity position and whether it would need to raise capital. Shares have now lost more than 25% since its opening last Friday, the day it cut its dividend in a move meant to alleviate those very same concerns. GE reiterated Wednesday that it has no need to raise additional capital, saying it has "stressed" its big financial-services portfolio to prove it. Credit default swaps -- a key gauge of creditworthiness -- on General Electric Capital Corp. continued to show levels indicative of distressed companies. Traders are willing to spend $1.45 million, plus an annual fee of $500,000, to protect $10 million of the financing arm's senior bonds against default for five years, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. CDS were quoted at 13.5 points up front Tuesday, and 10.75 points up front Monday. The stock has been pounded this week as investors grew nervous of a potential need for equity, though GE has said it doesn't anticipate raising equity.
Shares of General Electric Corp. fell for the fourth straight trading session Wednesday to levels not seen since 1991 as the cost of protecting the debt of its ailing financing arm continues to soar.
Shares ended down 4.5% and fell as much as 18% to $5.73 at one point Wednesday amid concerns about its liquidity position and whether it would need to raise capital. Shares have now lost more than 25% since its opening last Friday, the day it cut its dividend in a move meant to alleviate those very same concerns.
GE reiterated Wednesday that it has no need to raise additional capital, saying it has "stressed" its big financial-services portfolio to prove it.
Credit default swaps -- a key gauge of creditworthiness -- on General Electric Capital Corp. continued to show levels indicative of distressed companies. Traders are willing to spend $1.45 million, plus an annual fee of $500,000, to protect $10 million of the financing arm's senior bonds against default for five years, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. CDS were quoted at 13.5 points up front Tuesday, and 10.75 points up front Monday.
The stock has been pounded this week as investors grew nervous of a potential need for equity, though GE has said it doesn't anticipate raising equity.
[Jerome's WEEEEEE™ Technology] In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Toy retailer ToysRUs has paid $5.1m (£3.6m) for the Toys.com domain name. The amount has surprised onlookers and hints at a deeper commitment to online retailing for the toy giant. It is believed to be the biggest payout for a domain this year but has some way to go to beat the $14m paid for sex.com in 2007 or the $9.5m paid for porn.com. UK domain name seller Sedo said it had seen prices halved for .co.uk domain names since the economic downturn started to take hold.
Toy retailer ToysRUs has paid $5.1m (£3.6m) for the Toys.com domain name.
The amount has surprised onlookers and hints at a deeper commitment to online retailing for the toy giant.
It is believed to be the biggest payout for a domain this year but has some way to go to beat the $14m paid for sex.com in 2007 or the $9.5m paid for porn.com.
UK domain name seller Sedo said it had seen prices halved for .co.uk domain names since the economic downturn started to take hold.
CALABASAS, Calif. -- Fairly or not, Countrywide Financial and its top executives would be on most lists of those who share blame for the nation's economic crisis. After all, the banking behemoth made risky loans to tens of thousands of Americans, helping set off a chain of events that has the economy staggering. So it may come as a surprise that a dozen former top Countrywide executives now stand to make millions from the home mortgage mess. Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide's former president, and his team have been buying up delinquent home mortgages that the government took over from other failed banks, sometimes for pennies on the dollar. They get a piece of what they can collect. "It has been very successful -- very strong," John Lawrence, the company's head of loan servicing, told Mr. Kurland one recent morning in a glass-walled boardroom here at PennyMac's spacious headquarters, opened last year in the same Los Angeles suburb where Countrywide once flourished. "In fact, it's off-the-charts good," he told Mr. Kurland, who was leaning back comfortably in his leather boardroom chair, even as the financial markets in New York were plunging. As hundreds of billions of dollars flow from Washington to jump-start the nation's staggering banks, automakers and other industries, a new economy is emerging of businesses that hope to make money from the various government programs that make up the largest economic rescue in history.
So it may come as a surprise that a dozen former top Countrywide executives now stand to make millions from the home mortgage mess. Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide's former president, and his team have been buying up delinquent home mortgages that the government took over from other failed banks, sometimes for pennies on the dollar. They get a piece of what they can collect.
"It has been very successful -- very strong," John Lawrence, the company's head of loan servicing, told Mr. Kurland one recent morning in a glass-walled boardroom here at PennyMac's spacious headquarters, opened last year in the same Los Angeles suburb where Countrywide once flourished.
"In fact, it's off-the-charts good," he told Mr. Kurland, who was leaning back comfortably in his leather boardroom chair, even as the financial markets in New York were plunging.
As hundreds of billions of dollars flow from Washington to jump-start the nation's staggering banks, automakers and other industries, a new economy is emerging of businesses that hope to make money from the various government programs that make up the largest economic rescue in history.
WSJ | Bear Stearns' Jimmy Cayne's Profane Tirade Against Treasury's Geithner
"The audacity of that p--k in front of the American people announcing he was deciding whether or not a firm of this stature and this whatever was good enough to get a loan," he said. "Like he was the determining factor, and it's like a flea on his back, floating down underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, getting a h-d-on, saying, `Raise the bridge.' This guy thinks he's got a big d-k. He's got nothing, except maybe a boyfriend. I'm not a good enemy. I'm a very bad enemy. But certain things really--that bothered me plenty. It's just that for some clerk to make a decision based on what, your own personal feeling about whether or not they're a good credit? Who the f-k asked you? You're not an elected officer. You're a clerk. Believe me, you're a clerk. I want to open up on this f---r, that's all I can tell you."
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
[Drew's WHEEEEE™ Technology] Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
V: I heard this yesterday: The top five U.K. banks have $10 trillion of assets and their GDP is only $2.13 trillion. The whole country could fall into the ocean.
Sales of new cars in February were 22% lower than a year earlier, the latest industry figures have shown. The number of new UK registrations in February was 54,359, down from 69,610 the year before, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Sales of new cars in February were 22% lower than a year earlier, the latest industry figures have shown.
The number of new UK registrations in February was 54,359, down from 69,610 the year before, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
A group called Wall Street Watch is out with a report that finds that "Wall Street investment firms, commercial banks, hedge funds, real estate companies and insurance conglomerates made $1.7 billion in political contributions and spent another $3.4 billion on lobbyists" between 1998 and 2008. The report, "Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America," concludes that the contributions were "aimed at undercutting federal regulation" and ultimately "led directly to the current financial collapse."
