General Motors Corp. may be more likely to end up in bankruptcy based on the Obama administration’s willingness to place Chrysler LLC into court protection to safeguard union health-care benefits. With GM and its biggest bondholders at odds over resolving $27 billion in unsecured claims by a June 1 deadline, the Chrysler model indicates that President Barack Obama may resort to bankruptcy to en...

Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday afternoon in New York, a move President Obama said would give the company a “new lease on life.” The president also announced that Chrysler has met his demand to strike a partnership with Italian automaker Fiat and said he thinks the alliance has a “strong chance of success.” You can order swine flu masks here &g...

The Obama Administration said Tuesday it will throw an additional lifeline to struggling homeowners by giving lenders incentives to reduce borrowers’ monthly payments on second mortgages. “With these latest program details, we’re offering even more opportunities for borrowers to make their homes affordable under the administration’s housing plan,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithn...

BANGALORE–U.S. regulators have told Bank of America Corp (BAC: 8.331, -0.579, -6.5%) and Citigroup Inc (C: 2.92, -0.17, -5.5%) they may need to raise more capital following stress testing of the two banks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The shortfall amounts to billions of dollars at BofA, the paper said on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the bank, adding it is likely the Fede...

General Motors Corp., struggling to restructure itself amid increasing odds of a bankruptcy filing, said it plans to skip a $1 billion debt payment due June 1, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday. GM’s (GM: General Motors Corp News , chart , profile , more Last: 1.67-0.03-1.76% GM 1.67, -0.03, -1.8...

Banks trying to return bailout funds find doing so isn’t quite as quick and easy as they might have hoped, due to problems on how to handle warrants. Bankers itching to put TARP in the rearview mirror are finding it hard to make a quick getaway. Seven banks have repaid funds they received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said this week. But that doesn&...

U.S. banks will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they performed in government “stress tests,” before the results are made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing government officials. Some estimates of likely losses that were used in the stress tests were tougher than expected, the newspaper said. “Under a more adverse scenario, which assumes a...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner defended the government’s financial stability plan Tuesday, arguing that he has enough capital to implement measures under it. Geithner told a congressional panel charged with oversight of the bank bailout that there is $109.6 billion remaining of a $700 billion bailout package, with an additional $25 billion expected to...

President Obama was pretty clear on March 30th that Chrysler as we know it is finished. “If they and their stakeholders are unable to reach such an agreement, and in the absence of any other viable partnership, we will not be able to justify investing additional tax dollar to keep Chrysler in business.” That blunt message was directed at Chrysler, the United Auto Workers union, Chrysler’s p...

Converting the government’s preferred Troubled Asset Relief Program shares into common stock remains an option if stress tests determine that certain banks need more capital, a Treasury Department spokesperson said Monday. Treasury took that very measure with Citigroup (C: 2.86, -0.09, -3.05%) earlier this year when Citi needed to shore up its capital reserves. Common shares count ...