Free Republic

GM capital injections likely very dilutive; suspending equity rating. What's changed: Following GM’s 3Q2008 $6.9 bn operating cash outflow, which left it with only $16.2 bn on its balance sheet, the need to secure government funding has significantly accelerated. We think GM needs an infusion of at least $22 bn in capital to bring operations back to positive FCF territory. We have suspended our investment rating and price target on GM because there is not currently a sufficient basis for determining an investment rating or price target for this company. Our previous investment rating and target are no longer in...

401(k)s: Employer Contributions Get the AxBy Amy Feldman – 30 mins ago When times are tough, companies find cost savings wherever they can. Now some employers are doing away with the 401(k) match, a benefit once considered almost sacred. **SNIP** Lesser of Two Evils The psychological impact of these cuts may be almost as damaging as the financial harm. Coming at a time when many Americans are struggling to save for retirement and face shrunken stock portfolios, the cutbacks make the goal of a secure retirement even more elusive. Yet for all the unhappiness over slashed 401(k)s, employees understand the...

Since the Democrats came to power in 2007 America has had nothing but grief and heartache with a 6000 point drop in the Dow and trillions of dollars of lost home value. First they hit us with punch one: their phony energy crisis. Now just as were getting up off our knees from that punch, they have slammed us with a second powerful punch to our mid section: their corrupt Fannie and Freddie mortgage mess crimes that threaten our whole economy. America is a powerful country. We can take one Democrat punch but maybe not two. The Democrat line, “We...

The latest proposal by Democratic lawmakers to aid ailing automakers includes $25 billion in emergency loans, but that practically amounts to spare change compared to the federal government's total tab for the continuing credit crisis, Forbes reports. The magazine, citing the research firm CreditSights, said the federal liability so far is at $5 trillion — and it's still rising. The total is the cumulative price tag of the various government bailouts, loans and assistance packages intended to shore up the financial industry and revive the flagging economy. It includes efforts spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben...

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Wednesday the city will have its employees cut their hours — and pay — by 10 percent each week to help weather an expected budget shortfall of $50 million to $60 million. The pay and hour cuts affect 4,600 city employees. She also said the city will have to cut back some services, dip into its reserves and make other personnel moves.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week to 516,000, the highest level since the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. The figure outstripped forecasts, with analysts polled by Reuters expecting initial claims to be only 484,000. The claims were last at this high a level in the week ended Sept. 29, 2001, when they were 517,000.