Following a massive second-quarter loss of $1.6 billion, Capmark Financial Group, a lender owned by Goldman Sachs and KKR & Co, among other companies, has filed for bankruptcy protection. As of June 30, Capmark had consolidated debt of around $21 billion and assets of $20.1 billion.
Capmark is one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States with more than $10 billion in originations. The company, formerly known as GMAC Commercial Holding Corp., controls more than $360 billion in debt and has struggled due to the rapid increase of the default rate on commercial mortgages held by …read more

Vice President Joe Biden is expected to visit a closed General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday, where he is expected to announce that same plant’s reopening. According to reports, Biden will also announce that the plant will focus on constructing plug-in hybrid electric cars instead of traditional vehicles.
Fisker Automotive Inc, a California-based venture capitalist firm, has decided to purchase the former GM assembly plant and renovate it so that it is capable of mass-producing hybrid vehicles. The information comes from a source that is reportedly close to the reasons surrounding Biden’s visit to the Wilmington plant.
Fisker’s chief executive …read more

Senator Charles Schumer stated today that he believes that federal credit card legislation set to become law in 2010 should be enacted earlier in order to prevent credit card companies from raising their rates in the present. The senator cited a Pew Charitable Trusts study that found that credit cards companies raised their rates by 20 percent in the first half of 2009 while federal interest rates dropped.
Schumer has accused credit card companies of using the period of time before the new laws are enacted to gouge consumers with the same practices that will be banned in 2010 when the …read more

A bitter battle between Disney and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has finally ended, with victory seemingly going to the CCFC for finally achieving their goal of getting Baby Einstein products off the market. Anyone who bought a Baby Einstein product between June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009 will be able to get their money back, while consumers can also trade in their DVDs for other products or for future discounts.
The CCFC, which is a group that has dedicated itself to fighting to “reclaim childhood for corporate marketers,” has been trying to get Baby Einstein products off the …read more

In case any small business owners have had any doubt about the president’s priorities when it comes to the economy, President Obama has stated that small businesses are essential the American economy and has noted the problem that small businesses have nowadays in getting credit.
Obama’s weekly radio and Internet address gave the President the opportunity to urge America’s banks to step up their lending to creditworthy small businesses, stating that it is the banks’ responsibility to finance the small business engine. He also announced several programs that would spur lending, such as capital injections into community banks that would allow …read more

If you want to take advantage of the Obama administration’s housing initiative that allows first-time homebuyers to receive a federal income tax credit of up to $8,000 upon purchasing a home, time is running out. While the initiative has certainly helped home sales across the country, homebuyers have until December 1 to close a sale to take advantage of the credit.
Any loan that closes before November 30th is still eligible for the credit, a fact that many homebuyers may or may not be aware of as they pursue the purchase of their first home. However, most loans take about thirty …read more

After taking billions of dollars of taxpayer money as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Bank of America has now positioned itself to repay the money to the federal government as part of the agreement. However, Bank of America’s plans to repay the funds have been halted over a disagreement concerning how much additional capital the bank must raise to satisfy regulators.
The timing of the disagreement is difficult for the bank, as President Obama’s so-called “pay czar” has just set a variety of restrictions on executive compensation that has lowered compensation for the top employees of Bank of America …read more

Microsoft Corp. has posted an 18 percent decline in quarterly profits, results that are not desirable on their own but actually hint at the possibilit of a larger recovery in the ailing technology sector of the economy. While business spending for Microsoft products was weak in the last quarter, Microsoft saw increased demand for personal computers and videogames.
Microsoft’s results have provided optimism to the rest of the technology sector that consumer demand may be on its way to making a full recovery, especially after the impact that the economic recession has had. Investors also took Microsoft’s results as a sign …read more

The CIT Group, which is the middle-market lender that has struggled under the weight of the financial crisis, has unveiled a management-sponsored restructuring plan and has strongly urged investors to get behind the plan. In fact, CIT has told its investors that passing the plan is the only way to avoid losses of 63 to 94 cents for every $1 invested.
According to its restructuring presentation, CIT will have to resort to bankruptcy unless this specific plan is not passed, a situation that would involve great losses for the CIT investor and sacrifice control of the changes. The plan would involve …read more

Appliance maker Whirlpool has posted third quarter results that managed to beat Wall Street estimates, even though these estimates were conservative predictions based on Whirlpool’s timid guidance. Even then, Whirpool’s increase in profits came together with a decrease in revenue, which can only mean that cost-cutting measures created the profit.
In the last quarter, Whirlpool was forced to shut down an Evansville, Indiana plant, eliminating 1,200 jobs as part of its cost-cutting measures. It may have come as no surprise to the plant’s employees, though, as Whirlpool announced last year that it would need to cut around 7 percent of its …read more