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Stocks rose sharply on Monday as investors cheered news of Canada joining a trade deal with the United States and Mexico. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 264 points as American Express and Boeing outperformed. The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, led by 1 percent jumps in materials and industrials. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7 percent as Amazon and Apple both climbed more than 1 percent. "The biggest risk factor [in the market] is a trade war and we've dialed that down a bit," said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners. Bailey noted, however, the market may...

President Donald Trump has officially arrived at a public event where he debuted his new presidential limo—"The Beast," as it's known colloquially. Like the previous Beast, first used by President Barack Obama in 2009, the new version is built by General Motors and visually denoted as a Cadillac, and its latest iteration adopts more modern styling cues and surely packs more advanced technology. Although the details are kept secret, the new Beast is, like its predecessor, a heavily armored stretch limousine that, despite looking like a stretched CT6 or XTS sedan, is actually built on a heavy-duty GMC TopKick truck...

...snip... Weaver was a teenager in March 1968 when his dad offered to “buy me something new.” They lived in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and first visited Grabiak Chevrolet “down the road,” where the 19-year-old spotted a black 427 Corvette coupe that he “was interested in getting.” Except, “My God, the insurance was over $1,000 a year,” which was “a fortune” in those days. “So we went up to Yenko [Chevrolet] to see about getting a Camaro.” They entered a candy land of “at least 50 Z/28s, different colors, different gear ratios—4.10s, 4.56s, 4.88s.” Weaver recalled it like it was yesterday. “I...

Florida Congressman Carlos Curbelo is getting ready to introduce a bill repealing the gas tax in exchange for a carbon tax. It seems rather odd the Miami Republican wants to chart this path, especially after the House GOP overwhelmingly denounced the notion of a carbon tax last week, but Curbelo isn’t backing down from his proposal. He told Miami Herald his proposal is just a “first step” in the discussion. When you ask this question in a vacuum, is any tax detrimental to economic growth? It’s usually going to be yes…But when you put it in context and you...

Minutes after GM announced that the Blazer would be making a comeback in the 2019 model year, the labor union issued a statement blasting the plan to build the new Blazer at the Ramos Arizpe factory in Mexico. "This news that the iconic Blazer nameplate will be built in Mexico is disappointing to UAW families and communities across this country," stated Terry Dittes, vice president at the UAW. "GM employs over 15,000 production workers in Mexico, pays the workers less than $3 per hour and exports over 80 percent of the vehicles to the U.S. to sell here. This is...

Ford's plan to reduce its passenger car lineup to just two models, and GM's difficulty selling passenger cars in the U.S. show how much tastes are drifting toward trucks, SUVs and crossovers. Ford will only update the Focus Active crossover and Mustang for the U.S. market, while GM called out a challenging passenger car environment. ====================================================================================================== So is it really the end of the American car on its home turf? From the way Detroit's major executives are talking, it would seem so. Ford said Wednesday it will only offer two new cars in North America over the coming years —...

The New York Times reports that Christopher Liddell, former Microsoft and General Motors executive, and current White House official, is being considered to take over as President Trump's top economic adviser, following Gary Cohn's resignation. About Liddell: Per the Times, he "has worked closely with Jared Kushner," and has "the sort of experience" Trump is looking for, as having been the CFO for both Microsoft and General Motors. He helped GM bounce back after going bankrupt, the Times reports, and executed "the company's return to the public market."

Upon hearing that former President Barack Obama recently boasted that he had a scandal-free administration, my first thought after regaining my faculties was: How can I possibly cram all the evidence refuting this in a little bitty column? Then I read that what he actually said was, "We didn't have a scandal that embarrassed us." At first blush, that sounds better, right? Because I assume he doesn't mean he's incapable of being embarrassed. After a little more thought, though, it occurred to me that this construction just highlights the real reason he has apparently deluded himself into thinking he served...

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile . The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people paddling and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people steering and 2 people...

After nearly a century of building vehicles powered by fossil fuels, General Motors — one of the world’s largest automakers — announced Monday that the end of GM producing internal combustion engines is fast approaching. The acceleration to an all-electric future will begin almost immediately, with GM releasing two new electric models next year and an additional 18 by 2023. At a media event at GM’s technical campus in Warren, Mich., on Monday, Mark Reuss, the company’s chief of global product development, said the transition will take time, but the course has been set. “General Motors believes in an all-electric...

General Motors has put six of its cars under review, including its once breakthrough Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, and is evaluating whether to cancel them in the coming years, according to a report from Reuters. The news comes as sales of cars continue to plummet in the U.S. and as consumers increasingly turn to SUVs and pickups. Besides the Chevrolet Volt hybrid, other vehicles believed to be under consideration for elimination iinclude the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet Sonic, according to Reuters. GM spokesman Jim Cain declined to comment on the report. UAW President Dennis...

WASHINGTON - Exxon Mobil Corp. and other large oil companies are backing a carbon tax proposal put forward earlier this year by a group of former Republican leaders including James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state and a Houston attorney. The Climate Leadership Coalition, a group that includes Baker, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and former Secretary of State George Shultz, announced a list of "founding members" Tuesday that includes Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Total, General Motors and Johnson & Johnson. "We support @TheCLCouncil as a founding member and are working to support its policy development process," Exxon...

The Arlington facility will consist of two manufacturing and warehouse buildings spanning more than 1.2 million square feet. General Motors has outlined plans to build a new supplier park to help support its Arlington Assembly plant in Texas. The facility will consist of two manufacturing and warehouse buildings, spanning more than 1.2 million square feet. The company expects the park to house up to 1,250 employees and bring 850 new jobs to Arlington. "GM estimates nearly 600 of the new manufacturing and professional jobs created in these facilities will replace work previously done outside of the US," the company says....

General Motors' (GM.N) Venezuelan subsidiary has sent a message to almost 2,700 staff informing them that they are no longer employed by the company and had received severance pay in their bank accounts, according to two employees. A Venezuelan court last week ordered the seizure of the company's Valencia plant, ruling in favor of two dealers that had filed a case in 2000 against the subsidiary on grounds they had not complied with an agreed sale of 10,000 vehicles. Workers say that before the seizure was announced, GM had been dismantling the plant, which has not produced a car since...

General Motors Co. says it plans to launch 10 electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in China by 2020 amid government pressure on the industry to promote alternatives to gasoline. The president of GM’s China unit, Matt Tsien, said Friday during the Shanghai auto show that the company will start production of a pure-electric model in China within two years. …

This news broke overnight and it undoubtedly comes as a shock to anyone who hasn’t been paying to socialism in general and the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in particular. The government of Venezuela came in and seized control of the General Motors plant in the city of Valencia, taking over the property, assets and accounts. The automotive giant responded by saying that they were immediately halting operations. (CNN) General Motors says it will immediately halt operations in Venezuela after its plant in the country was unexpectedly seized by authorities.GM (GM) described the takeover as an “illegal judicial...

General Motors has stopped doing business in Venezuela after authorities took control of its only factory there in what GM called an illegal judicial seizure of its assets. The plant was confiscated on Wednesday as anti-government protesters clashed with authorities in a country that is roiling in economic troubles such as food shortages and triple-digit inflation. The Detroit automaker said in a statement Thursday that other assets such as vehicles were taken from the plant, causing irreparable damage to the company. It’s not the first time the Venezuelan government has seized a foreign corporation’s facilities. In July of last year,...

General Motors said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia and vowed to "take all legal actions" to defend its rights. The seizure comes amid a deepening economic crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies. "Yesterday, GMV's (General Motors Venezolana) plant was unexpectedly taken by the public authorities, preventing normal operations. In addition, other assets of the company, such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from its facilities," the company said in a statement. It said the seizure would cause irreparable damage to the company, its 2,678...

General Motors Co. this week will announce plans to invest at least $1 billion across several U.S. factories, two people familiar with the plan said, a move aimed at underlining its commitment to U.S. manufacturing jobs in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s criticism of the auto maker’s imports from Mexico. GM’s announcement could come as early as Tuesday, the people briefed on the plan said. The company will cite a number of new jobs in excess of 1,000 stemming from the investment but doesn’t plan to specify which of its factories are in line for more work, one person...

General Motors was under fire this weekend after a casting call for Cadillac sought members of the controversial alt-right movement. According to an image of the casting call posted by the news agency Reuters and many, many others, the notice said an agency filming the ad was looking for "any and all real alt-right thinkers/believers." "This is a beautifully artistic spot that is capturing all walks of life of America," the casting call says, adding that it would be filmed later this month. "Standing together as a union. This is not meant to be offensive in anyway. Just a representation...