General Motors Corp. could be majority owned by the federal government under a massive restructuring plan laid out Monday that will cut 21,000 U.S. factory jobs by next year and phase out the storied Pontiac brand. See our stock pick of the week HERE The plan, which includes an offer to swap roughly $27 billion in bond debt for GM stock, would leave current shareholders holding just 1 percent of t...

DETROIT–General Motors Corp (GM: 2.03, 0.35, 20.83%) on Monday announced plans to close plants, cut hourly workers and dealers and to eliminate its Pontiac brand in an effort to meet government demands for a quicker and deeper restructuring. The new viability plan was announced as GM filed plans for an exchange of $27.2 billion of bonds for common stock, warning that it would seek ban...

U.S. automaker Chrysler LLC showed signs of progress with its unionized workers in its battle to stay alive on Sunday with just days left to complete deals to slash labor and debt costs or face bankruptcy. No. 1 U.S. automaker General Motors Corp (GM: 2.06, 0.38, 22.62%) is also restructuring in an effort to secure the government funding it needs to stay in business, and was expected to ann...

If you think your grocery bill was less last month, you’re right. The total cost of the FOX Business Shopping Cart fell $1.16 or 1.5% in March – the largest month to month decline since January 2004. The price for the 31-item basket was $75.48, the lowest since last May. The cost of the shopping cart has fallen for six straight months for the first time since June-November 2005. See our st...

Durable goods orders returned to a downward slide in March, according to a U.S. Commerce Department report issued Friday, as businesses and consumers cut back even more on the purchase of high-cost goods during this recession. See our stock pick of the week HERE The U.S. Commerce Department, durable goods orders, or orders for goods expected to last three years or longer, fell by 0.8% to a seasona...

Initial jobless claims rose in the latest week, while continuing claims rose again as the labor market continued to offer sparse opportunities for those seeking work. The Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 to 640,000 in the week ended April 18. However, the previous week had been shortened by the Good Friday holiday, so its dip in claims appea...

U.S. home prices rose 0.7 percent in February from January, the first consecutive monthly gain in two years, a sign that low interest rates may be moderating declines in real estate values. Prices fell 6.5 percent in February from a year earlier, the second-smallest drop in six months, led by a 19 percent decrease in the region that includes California, the most populous U.S. state, the Federal Ho...

Wells Fargo (WFC: 19.58, 0.88, 4.71%) reported increased profit in the first quarter on Wednesday, largely on the basis of its acquisition of Wachovia last year. Wells said its net income was $3.05 billion, or 56 cents a share in the first quarter, up from $2.0 billion, or 60 cents a share, in the same period the prior year. This was the first quarter in which Wachovia results were included...

In a speech to the Economic Club in Washington D.C., Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. bears a “substantial share” of the responsibility for the global financial crisis, and he believes the U.S. must recover first in order to return the rest of the world to growth. Despite saying that the U.S. did have a substantial role to play in any global economic recovery, Geithner ...

NEW YORK–A push by homeowners to lock in near record-low interest rates drove mortgage applications higher last week, as refinancing demand overshadowed a drop in loan requests to buy homes, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. Average 30-year U.S. mortgage rates edged up 0.03 percentage point to 4.73% last week, slightly above the all-time low of 4.61% three weeks earlier. ...