Archive for April, 2009

Well, well, well. It sounds like some banks know what they are doing, and some don’t.

Wells Fargo & Co said it expects to post a record $3 billion first-quarter profit, causing its shares to soar 31.7 percent and providing a welcome jolt to the stock market and a still-troubled banking sector.

The preliminary results suggest that lenders focused on traditional banking activities may handle the recession better than analysts and investors expect, at a time the government is performing “stress tests” on 19 major banks.

Chrysler is working around the clock to kiss the government’s butt.

Chrysler is working around the clock to complete an alliance with Italy’s Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) that would also result in a new board for the U.S. automaker, Vice Chairman Jim Press said on Wednesday.

Chrysler, about 80 percent controlled by Cerberus Capital Management (CBS.UL), was given until the end of April by the U.S. autos task force to complete an alliance with Fiat that would give it access to small car technology it now lacks.

Absolutely amazing. Do they really think having “small car technology” will save Chrysler?

Isn’t it bad enough that we’re paying for people’s bad mortgages and other costs while they’re alive?

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to extend the Troubled Asset Relief Program to certain life insurers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Treasury is expected to announce within the next several days the inclusion of life insurers that are bank holding companies or own a thrift, the Journal reported on its website.

Several life insurers have applied, including Prudential Financial Inc, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc and Lincoln National Corp, the Journal reported.

Now we have to pay when they die too? All hail socialism!

Take a look at this people... An American automobile manufacturer working to make things right without it’s hand out to the government.

Shares of Ford Motor Co. soared 16 percent Monday after the company said it completed tender offers that will reduce its debt by 38 percent and shave millions of dollars off its interest costs.

The automaker retired about $9.9 billion in securities in exchange for cash and shares under terms of the debt buybacks.

Combined, the moves are expected to reduce the Ford’s interest expenses by more than $500 million this year, as it tries to weather the worst auto sales downturn in 27 years.

Apparently Sun thinks it’s worth more than IBM was offering. I’m not sure how much that is, but what now?

After weeks of negotiations, I.B.M. withdrew its $7 billion bid for Sun Microsystems on Sunday, one day after Sun’s board balked at a reduced offer, according to three people close to the talks.

The deal’s collapse raises questions about Sun’s next step, since the I.B.M. offer was far above the value of the Silicon Valley company’s shares when news of the I.B.M. offer first surfaced last month. Sun, an innovative pioneer in computer workstations and Internet-era software, has struggled in the marketplace in recent years.

Is Disney World still one of the happiest places on earth? Probably not for some.

The Walt Disney Co.’s domestic theme parks eliminated 1,900 jobs during the past six weeks — including 1,400 in Florida — the company acknowledged Friday.

The nationwide job losses included approximately 1,150 layoffs, 50 buyouts and the elimination of 700 open positions, the company said. The Florida cuts included 900 layoffs and buyouts and 500 vacant jobs that will go unfilled.

Stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow marking its best four-week winning streak since 1933, lifted by robust results from Research in Motion and comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the central bank will do everything it can to stabilize banks.

Growing conviction that the worst is over for the economy helped Wall Street shrug off dour jobs data showing the highest unemployment rate since 1983.

The best four-week streak in the market since 1933, and the worst unemployment since 1983.

No wonder I can’t find a job.

The number of people filling new unemployment claims rose to the highest level in more than 25 years in the week ending March 28.

Seasonally adjusted initial claims was 669,000 nationally for the week, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 657,000, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department.

The four-week moving average was 656,750, an increase of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 650,250.

Take it with a grain of salt. Not worth a grain of salt. It seems salt is worth something.

K+S AG, Europe’s biggest salt maker, agreed to buy Morton Salt from Dow Chemical Co. for $1.675 billion to become the world’s largest producer.

Morton Salt, the largest maker in North America, had sales last year of $1.2 billion and $270 million of earnings before tax and other items, Kassel, Germany-based K+S said today in a statement on its Web site. The all-cash transaction is expected to close midyear, said Bob Plishka, a spokesman for Midland, Michigan-based Dow.

If Morton’s is now europe owned, is there any American owned salt left in America?

It’s time to tell our nation’s leaders to do their job, the way they should be doing it.

Wake up people.