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Bankruptcy may be good option for GM: analysts

DETROIT - A government-backed bankruptcy reorganization may still be a viable option for saving General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, analysts said on Wednesday, even though the automakers have said they would rather not go down that road. GM and Chrysler asked for billions of dollars more in federal aid on Tuesday and announced sweeping changes including capacity reduction and job ...

U.S. housing starts, permits plumb record lows

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WASHINGTON - U.S. housing starts and building permits dropped to record lows in January, data showed Wednesday, as builders shelved construction plans to try to clear a glut of unsold houses caused by a slump in demand. The data came as President Barack Obama unveiled a plan pledging up to $275 billion to help stem home foreclosures in an attempt to break the housing sector's downward spiral, w...

Turk markets claw back losses on improved sentiment

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The Turkish equities lira firmed against the dollar on Wednesday and stocks pared some losses following improved sentiment in U.S. bourses and positive news on Turkey's International Monetary Fund talks.
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CORRECTED: Wal-Mart slashing price on its prepaid MoneyCard

Corrects to say that Wal-Mart has since sold more than 2 million MoneyCards, not 2 billion By Nicole Maestri NEW YORK - A year and a half after introducing its MoneyCard, Wal-Mart Stores Inc is slashing the price of the reloadable, prepaid Visa debit card to $3 from almost $9, aiming to attract shoppers who may have grown wary of the pitfalls of credit card use. The discount retailer is also l...
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Recession worry and housing gloom drag on stocks

NEW YORK - Stocks fell to three-month lows on Wednesday as investors confronted fresh signs that the recession is deepening after data showed the U.S. housing market deteriorated further last month. News of the Obama administration's plan to stem foreclosures was met with skepticism, sending the Dow Jones home construction index down nearly 6 percent. Investors worried the plan...
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Fed's Pianalto: Bold Fed action will restore growth

The U.S. economy is facing an unwelcome disinflation, but bold policy action will restore growth in the second half of this year, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said on Wednesday.
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Rise of zombie firms favors credit over stocks

High-grade credit is likely to outperform equities as pressure intensifies on governments to prop up troubled companies, a move which would increase the odds for the sort of stagnation seen in Japan in the past decade.
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Obama unveils plan for troubled housing market

President Barack Obama on Wednesday unveiled the next step in his multi-pronged efforts to lift the United States out of recession Wednesday, pledging up to $275 billion to help stem a wave of home foreclosures that sparked the U.S. financial meltdown.
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Recession worries hammer stocks

NEW YORK - Stocks slid on Wednesday as worries about the severity of the recession persisted, following government data that showed U.S. housing starts and building permits slid to record lows in January. News of the Obama administration's plan to stem foreclosures was met with skepticism. The Dow Jones home construction index fell nearly 6 percent. The Dow Jones industrial ave...
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Goodyear posts loss, plans 5,000 job cuts

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co plans to cut 5,000 jobs worldwide in 2009, or 6.7 percent of its staff, after a prolonged downturn in vehicle demand led to a deeper-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter.
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Opening bounce on Wall St. seen after slide

NEW YORK - Stocks headed for a bounce at the open on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares after Tuesday's slide to three-month lows. A speech later in the day by President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more direction after government data showed U.S. housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January. Adv...
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Housing starts and permits at record lows in January

WASHINGTON - New U.S. housing starts and permits dropped to record lows in January, data showed on Wednesday, as builders held back on construction amid an overhang of unsold houses and a slump in demand. Housing starts tumbled 16.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 466,000 units, the lowest since the Commerce Department started keeping records in 1959, from December's upwardly re...
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NRG calls on shareholders to reject Exelon offer

NEW YORK - NRG Energy said on Wednesday it has expended an enormous amount of time and resources considering Exelon Corp's unsolicited takeover offer and it continues to view it as inadequate. We would support a deal with Exelon at a fair price but, at this point, we have no reason to believe they are willing to offer a fair price, said NRG, in an open letter to ...
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CORRECTED: Stock futures rise on bargain hunting

Corrects S&P 500's year-to-date drop in last paragraph to 'more than halved' from 'erased' By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares following the prior session's slide. A speech due later in the day by U.S. President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more di...
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Stock futures rise on bargain hunting

NEW YORK - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors looked to snap up beaten-down shares following the prior session's slide. A speech due later in the day by U.S. President Barack Obama to announce a plan to stem home foreclosures would likely offer investors more direction, a day after Wall Street slid to three-month closing lows. Advancers before the bell included Citigroup Inc &l...
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Comcast profit beats forecast, but loses subscribers

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp , the largest U.S. cable television provider, posted a better-than-expected fourth quarter profit as it tightened its costs but lost subscribers reflecting stiff competition with phone and satellite companies for customers. Excluding a $600 million writedown of its stake in wireless company Clearwire Corp and other one-time expenses, its quar...
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Chipmakers seek growth in small devices

Global chipmakers, battling slower technology demand, are betting size matters as they pin their hopes for future growth on small and easy to carry mobile devices such as netbooks and smartphones.
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Comcast profit drops 32 percent

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp , the largest U.S. cable television provider, posted a 32 percent drop in fourth quarter net profit on Wednesday, due to a writedown related to its Clearwire Corp stake and said it lost 233,000 subscribers. Net profit fell to $412 million, or 14 cents a share compared with $602 million, or 20 cents a share in the year ago quarter. The compan...
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Flagstar gets $25 mln investment from MatlinPatterson

Flagstar Bancorp Inc (FBC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of the largest savings and loans based in the U.S. Midwest, said MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC completed a $25 million investment in the company through the purchase of its shares.
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Recession will be worst since 1930s: Greenspan

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday the current global recession will surely be the longest and deepest since the 1930s and more government rescue funds are needed to stabilize the U.S. financial system.
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Wal-Mart slashing price on its prepaid MoneyCard

NEW YORK - A year and a half after introducing its MoneyCard, Wal-Mart Stores Inc is slashing the price of the reloadable, prepaid Visa debit card to $3 from almost $9, aiming to attract shoppers who may have grown wary of the pitfalls of credit card use. The discount retailer is also lowering the card's monthly fee to $3 from almost $5, and cutting the fee customers pay to reload the card to $...
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GM, Chrysler seek nearly $22 billion more U.S. loans

and said it would run out of cash as soon as March without new federal funding. ID:nN17475938 In addition, GM said it expected to be able to borrow up to $6 billion from foreign governments and nearly $8 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy. It warned that without $1.5 billion from asset sales in 2009 it would need even more cash. The deepening financial problems for GM and Chrysler prese...
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Recession will be worst since 1930s, Greenspan says

NEW YORK - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday the current global recession will surely be the longest and deepest since the 1930s and more government rescue funds are needed to stabilize the U.S. financial system. To stabilize the American banking system and restore normal lending, additional TARP funds will be required, Greenspan said in a speech to the ...

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