Dramatic slump seen in vehicle sales
Fri Oct 14, 2005 DETROIT (Reuters)
- U.S. sales of new cars and trucks at the retail level appear to have fallen off the cliff in October, led by steep declines at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., J.D. Power and Associates said on Friday.
A report from the industry tracking firm's closely watched Power Information Network cited a lack of high-impact incentives from major automakers, high U.S. gasoline prices, low inventory levels and an apparent pullback by consumers after exceptionally strong sales over the summer for the dramatic slowdown.
Retail new-vehicle sales were down 33 percent across the industry in the first nine days of October compared with the same period a year ago, the Power Information Network said.
It said results were down at nine major automakers, but GM led the pack with a 57 percent decline followed by Ford, which saw its retail sales drop 45 percent over the first nine days of the month.
Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- It's one initial public offering some of Wall Street's finest wish they had never bid on.
Two months ago, New York-based futures broker Refco Inc. raised $670 million through its first public stock sale. This week, it said investors who put up that money hadn't been told the whole story.
Quickly, Refco Chief Executive Phillip Bennett was fired and put under arrest, charged with securities fraud. Refco said its published financial statements were suspect. The broker then blocked some customers from withdrawing money from accounts with an affiliate, Refco Capital Markets Ltd. It said this company represented ``a material portion'' of Refco's business and wasn't liquid enough to continue operating.
Refco's shares -- which were priced at $22 for the IPO and subsequently traded as high as $30.55 -- had plummeted to $7.90 yesterday before trading was stopped.
Looking foolish were the three securities firms that took Refco public: Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Refco auditor Grant Thornton LLP of Chicago certainly has questions to answer. Equally embarrassed is the buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, which took control of Refco last year for $507 million and garnered $191 million from the IPO.