New GM CEO says more plants could close
DETROIT (AP) -- General
Motors Corp.'s new chief executive said Tuesday that more of the automaker's
plants could close as part of GM's effort to meet new, tougher requirements for
government aid.
In his first news conference
as CEO, Fritz Henderson said he expects the company would "need to take
further measures" in terms of plant closures. That's beyond the five
plants the company said it would shutter when it submitted a restructuring plan
to the government last month.
GM also is likely to offer
another buyout program to workers as it looks to cut labor costs, Henderson
said.
Consumer confidence holds
steady in March
NEW YORK (AP) -- Americans
seem more resigned to the hardships of the recession as consumer confidence
stabilized in March after falling to an all-time low in February.
But economists caution that
shoppers -- dealing with shrinking retirement funds, falling home values and
worries about job security -- are still very gloomy and any improvement in
sentiment is fragile.
The Consumer Confidence
Index issued Tuesday by the New York-based Conference Board edged up to 26.0 in
March from a revised 25.3 reading in February. It had fallen from 37.4 in
January and is less than half its level of a year ago.
Wall Street rebounds on last
day of the quarter
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street
ended a tumultuous March on a high note, managing its first winning month this
year and its best monthly performance in nearly seven years.
Stocks finished off their earlier
highs on Tuesday but resumed a three-week rally that has brought the Dow Jones
industrials up a total of 16 percent since hitting their lowest level in 12
years on March 9.
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 86.90, or 1.2 percent, to 7,608.92, after earlier rising as much
as 203 points. The Dow rose 7.7 percent overall in March, its biggest monthly
gain since October 2002.
US home price drops set
records in Jan.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Home
prices sank by the sharpest annual rate on record in January, and the pace
continues to accelerate, but there were a handful of battered metro areas where
price declines slowed, according to data released Tuesday.
The Standard &
Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by a record
19 percent from January 2008. It was the largest decline since the index
started in 2000. The 10-city index dropped 19.4 percent, also a new record.
All 20 cities in the report
showed monthly and annual price declines, with 13 posting new annual records.
Prices dropped by more than 10 percent in 14 cities. Faring better were Dallas,
Denver and Cleveland, with annual price declines of around 5 percent.
Ford, GM to cover car
payments if buyer loses job
DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor
Co. and General Motors Corp. are offering payment protection plans to help
reassure consumers who may be putting off buying a new car because of worries
about losing their job.
The offers come as auto
sales have been battered by the recession and tight credit, reaching their
lowest levels in 27 years.
Ford said Tuesday it will
cover payments of up to $700 each month for up to a year on any new Ford,
Lincoln or Mercury vehicle if consumers lose their jobs. The program runs until
June 1.
Sun-Times Media Group files
for bankruptcy
NEW YORK (AP) -- The
Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and dozens of suburban
newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Tuesday, making it the fifth
newspaper publisher to seek protection from creditors in recent months.
The step, brought on by a
precipitous decline in advertising revenue, means both of Chicago's major daily
newspapers are operating under bankruptcy protection. Tribune Co., the parent
company of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, filed
for Chapter 11 in December.
Oil prices rise along with
rejuvinated Wall Street
HOUSTON (AP) -- Crude prices
rose along with equity markets Tuesday as oil traders shook off new indications
that energy spending will be hobbled by consumer fears and also slowing growth
in developing countries.
Benchmark crude for May
delivery rose $1.25 to settle at $49.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices had declined for the past two trading days after a sustained rally throughout
March.
In London, Brent prices rose
$1.23 cents to $49.23 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Cardinal Health to cut 1,300
jobs at clinical unit
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cardinal
Health Inc. said Tuesday its clinical and medical products unit will eliminate
1,300 jobs, with most of the cuts made over the next six months, as hospitals
cut back on equipment purchases.
Cardinal plans to spin the
unit off later this year under the name CareFusion Corp. Cardinal said the
business will lay off 800 people and eliminate 500 more jobs through attrition.
The region most affected by the job cuts is southern California, with 200 jobs
in San Diego being eliminated.
French workers hold bosses
at Caterpillar plant
GRENOBLE, France (AP) --
Angry French workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar factory held four of their
bosses Tuesday at the U.S. manufacturer's plant in the Alps to protest job
cuts, a regional official said.
It is the third time in the
past few weeks that French workers have seized their bosses to protest job
losses stemming from the global economic crisis.
Last week, workers at a 3M
plant south of Paris held the company boss for two days, and earlier this month
workers at a Sony plant held a similar protest.
US corn acreage expected to
drop slightly
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- The
nation's farmers are expected to plant fewer acres of corn and wheat -- staple
ingredients in a wide variety of foods. But industry experts say consumers
should not expect a big jump in prices at the grocery store.
The Agriculture Department's
planting report Tuesday does nothing to change last week's Economic Research
Service forecast of a 3-4 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for food
this year, said Terry Francl, senior economist with the American Farm Bureau,
which tracks retail food prices.
Last year, when market
prices for staple commodities skyrocketed, the increase in the index was 5.5
percent.
By The Associated Press
The Dow Jones industrial
average rose 86.90, or 1.2 percent, to 7,608.92.
The Standard & Poor's
500 index gained 10.34, or 1.3 percent, to 797.87, while the technology-heavy
Nasdaq composite index rose 26.79, or 1.8 percent, to 1,528.59.
Benchmark crude for May
delivery rose $1.25 to settle at $49.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent prices rose
$1.23 cents to $49.23 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
In other Nymex trading,
gasoline for April delivery rose 2 cents to settle at $1.40 a gallon while
heating oil rose less than a penny to settle at $1.3436 a gallon. Natural gas
for May delivery rose 3.7 cents to settle at $3.776 per 1,000 cubic feet.