daimler-ag

Geithner Lays Out His New Plan

cityfile · 03/23/09 05:51AM

• Tim Geithner has unveiled his latest plan to deal with the financial crisis. This one involves a partnership between the government and private investors, and could eventually involve buying up to $1 trillion in toxic assets from banks, although it isn't generating unanimous support. "It fills me with a sense of despair," says the Times's Paul Krugman. [WSJ, NYT, BN, NYT]
• New documents over the weekend indicate AIG paid out $218 million in bonuses, more than the previously disclosed $165 million. [Reuters]
• Here's another way to look at the AIG mess: If those bonuses hadn't been paid, the U.S. government may have had $1.7 trillion to worry about. [NYP]
• That trip to AIG on Saturday? Lots of reporters, many fewer protesters. [AP]
• Obama reiterated his support for Geithner on 60 Minutes. [Dealbreaker]

The New Mini Cooper

cityfile · 08/15/08 12:24PM

Those teeny little smart cars that seat two people and look like they'd collapse like an accordian if you had a fender bender with a taxi? Despite plenty of criticism of Daimler's new Fortwo ("FOR-twoh")—"I felt I was in a car priced at about $10,000 and built in some Eastern European factory devoid of modern robotics," and "It feels a bit like a kit car, one my Dad and I might have built in the driveway," writes BusinessWeek—the model has been selling briskly. Between January and July of this year, Daimler has sold 13,958 of the eight-footers, which if you weighed them all, would still only equate to about four Hummers.

Street Talk

cityfile · 07/24/08 05:01AM
  • Ford announced an $8.7 billion loss for the second quarter—its worse ever—and an $8 billion write-down. [NYT]