Posts Tagged ‘loan’
Remember when journalists published corrections when they screwed up facts? Not anymore, man!
What happens if you can’t find an actual scandal? Make one up. The Fisker “scandal” that started at ABC News has jumped to Fox and right wing blogs, where the idea that the U.S. bumbled into paying for cars built overseas is gaining steam.
ABC’s report incorrectly stated that Fisker had made off with U.S. taxpayer funds in a kind of bait and switch, promising jobs in America then outsourcing to Finland. Since that report rolled out last week, Fox has jumped on the issue with a story headlined “Federal Loan… for Finland?” Fox’s Neil Cavuto jumped in to add that, two years after the payments to Fisker, “those jobs still are not here, they’re in Finland.” Attempts to turn the Fisker loan (not a grant) into a scandal have become entangled in Republican primary politics, with candidate Mitt Romney calling for an investigation and claiming that loans to both Fisker and Tesla were payback for political donations.
All of which conveniently ignores some important facts. Yes, Fisker’s first model, the Karma plug-in hybrid sports car, is currently being assembled in Finland. However, the first $169 million in loans provided to Fisker were not for the assembly of the Karma. The loans went toward the design and engineering of the car, activities that took place at Fisker’s Pontiac, MI headquarters.
The bulk of the loan for Fisker was provided not for the Karma, but to support the upcoming Nina model, which will be built at the company’s new factory in Delaware starting in 2013. There are already 100 plant workers in Delaware employed by Fisker in preparation for the Nina and millions have been invested in preparing the Delaware assembly lines.
…Fisker has stated that “not a single dollar” of the money it received from the government has been spent overseas…[The federal funds were] used soley in the U.S. to fund design, engineering and integration work.”
Even real journalists hate to admit they screwed up. Retractions and corrections would appear in a follow-on edition – usually a tiny paragraph buried next to city council notes or something equally boring. Not anymore.
With the advent of the Web taking over news distribution, the original crappy article stays online. That’s where the correction should be posted. Which also serves to reinforce how the original writer was wrong.
When right-wing bloggers, Fox Noise and other know-nothings have already leaped into the abyss of being wrong with all four feet flailing in the wind, the likelihood of a correction continues to diminish – if you’re a chicken outfit like ABC News. How can they admit they’re wrong when so many ideologues are using that failure as the premise for political attacks.
Poisonally, I think it’s time for ABC News to act like grown-ups and own up to their lousy reporting – and quit worrying about where that leaves Rupert’s army of toy noisemakers.
G.M. withdraws application for Energy Department Loan
General Motors said on Thursday that it was withdrawing its application to borrow $14.4 billion from a pool of federal money intended to help automakers build more fuel-efficient vehicles.
G.M., whose request had been pending with the Energy Department for 15 months, said the decision was based on improved cash reserves and a desire to avoid more debt. The company was profitable in 2010 and had $33.5 billion in cash and marketable securities as of Sept. 30 — much of it the result of federal loans related to its 2009 bankruptcy filing — up from $22.8 billion a year ago.
“This decision is based on our confidence in G.M.’s overall progress and strong, global business performance,” Christopher P. Liddell, G.M.’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. “Withdrawing our D.O.E. loan application is consistent with our goal to carry minimal debt on our balance sheet…”
Congress created the $25 billion fund in 2008, and the Energy Department has lent about $8.5 billion of it so far. The Ford Motor Company received $5.9 billion — about half the amount it requested — with smaller amounts going to Nissan, Tesla and Fisker…
G.M. said that, even without the retooling loans, it had invested $3.4 billion in its American plants since emerging from bankruptcy, creating or retaining 11,000 jobs. Much of the upgrade was related to the manufacture of new high-mileage cars like the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt as well as batteries…
Separately Thursday, G.M. said it was accelerating the introduction of the Volt, a plug-in hybrid, in response to customer demand. Dealers in all 50 states will be able to take orders in the second quarter and start receiving the cars in the second half of the year. Previously, G.M. had said the Volt would not be available nationwide until mid-2012.
They’re also talking about doubling production of the Volt. Reception from retail customers has been better than anything they might have hoped for – at least what automotive journalists stuck into the carbon cycle thought they would get. 
Ex demands money back for breast implants or he’ll repo boobs
A German woman who splashed out on breast implants with a loan from her then boyfriend now fears her assets could be re-possessed after she failed to fully reimburse him, the 20-year-old woman told Bild newspaper.
Her ex-boyfriend is demanding that she return the 4,379 euros he gave her to pay for her breast enlargement surgery in 2009 or he’ll call the police and get the repossessors involved, Bild reported on Wednesday.
“It’s true that Carsten signed a loan agreement shortly before the operation,” the woman named only as Anastasia is quoted saying. “The condition was that I wouldn’t have to pay him back if I stayed with him for a year.”
But the pair split shortly after she underwent the plastic surgery. The woman said she had transferred 3,000 euros into her ex-boyfriend’s account last week.
Does that mean he only gets to repossess one boob?
Eeoough! Half of one boob?
GM loans repaid – launching Volt in October
I think he hand-delivered the check
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced that GM paid back its bankruptcy bailout loans of $5.4 billion to the US Treasury Department, and $1.1 billion to the Canadian government. This payback is five years ahead of schedule and completes repayment of $7.8 billion in total loans.
The government also paid GM $50 billion in exchange for 60% ownership stake in the company. Whitacre later stated he also believes US taxpayers will be made whole too after GM issues an IPO possibly later this year.
“I think the stock could be worth a lot and the taxpayers could get all their money, plus,” Whitacre told reporters. “I’m an optimistic guy.”
“We are encouraged that GM has repaid its debt well ahead of schedule and confident that the company is on a strong path to viability,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
Whitacre made the announcement at a Kansas GM plant where he also announced GM would be putting an additional $120 million investment into the Detroit-Hamtramck plant where the Volt will be built.
Ostensibly, the new money will go into expanding that plant’s production capacity so that GM could use it to build additional Chevrolet Malibus. Though in theory, the increased production capacity could be used to build more Volts if demand is greater than predicted, or more Malibus if its less than expected.
Buried in Whitacre’s discussion was an additional nugget. He appeared to verified previous comments he made to GM-Volt that Volt would roll out early. He specifically stated the car will be released one month early, in October.
Looking forward to real world figures on Volt use/performance. The extended-range concept has grown new supporters since GM adopted it. Notably Honda.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister fights for political life
Happier days – on camera at least
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
Northern Ireland’s first minister, Peter Robinson, is fighting for his political life over claims that he failed to inform the authorities about a £50,000 loan his wife passed on to her then 19-year-old boyfriend.
Robinson said he had agreed to an independent inquiry into his actions by a QC appointed by Stormont after calls from within the power sharing coalition for him to consider his position.
In a statement tonight he said he would fight “smears” against his personal integrity, adding that he had been “tried in the media and the press”…
The main allegations against the Robinsons include:
• That Iris Robinson gained £50,000 for McCambley from two major property developers, Ken Campbell and Fred Fraser.
• That Iris Robinson lobbied on behalf of Campbell for a building scheme he was involved with in her Strangford constituency.
• That she took £5,000 of the money for herself.
• That when Peter Robinson found out about the loan and his wife’s affair he insisted she pay the money back, but did not inform the authorities about her conduct.
• That when her relationship with the young man broke down she demanded the loan back and wanted £25,000 paid into the account of her church, the Light and Life Free Methodist church in east Belfast…
RTFA. It goes on and on.
I didn’t realize the U.S. Republican party had a branch in Belfast.
Student won’t have to repay loan – court says bank’s mistake!
A Canadian bankruptcy court ruled a Nova Scotia ex-student with bank loans worth $50,000 doesn’t have to pay it back as the bank wasn’t wise in issuing them.
What!?
Alfredo Abdo, now 23, took out the first loan worth $20,000 from the Royal Bank of Canada in Halifax in his second year studying engineering at Dalhousie University in 2004, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Despite having a grade point average of 4.06 and a scholarship, Abdo lost much of the loan through bad online investments, the court heard.
The bank then offered him a second loan of $30,000, which he took. After switching to commerce from engineering, Abdo told the court he began experiencing stress-related dizzy spells and he dropped out of school and couldn’t find work.
He filed for bankruptcy a year ago and now lives with his mother, the report said.
Bankruptcy registrar Richard Cregan ruled against the bank’s claims for at least a partial repayment.
Another good reason – I guess – for keeping my Canadian options open. Like if I ever want a loan I intend to default on.
GM will start loan repayments 6 years ahead of schedule
Production version of the GM/Chevy Volt
Almost 90 days after coming out of bankruptcy, General Motors is showing signs of getting healthy and moving closer to getting back in the black.
And there’s no doubt, the “new” GM is doing far better than the old GM:
All encouraging signs. But critics will point out some other troubling signs at GM.
GM lost $261 Million before special charges
All of which brings up the question: How much has really changed at GM?
Actually, quite a bit.
So what should we take away from GM’s third quarter financial results?
This company is definitely in better shape than it was before bankruptcy and is better position to get back in the black as auto sales pick up. In other words, it’s steady progress. Not spectacular, but steady.
Beancounters are happy – I’m happy. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop offering advice; but, who listens to me, eh?
Would you pledge your soul as collateral for a loan?
Ready to give your soul for a loan in these difficult economic times? In Latvia, where the crisis has raged more than in the rest of the European Union, you can.
Such a deal is being offered by the Kontora loan company, whose public face is Viktor Mirosiichenko.
Clients have to sign a contract, with the words “Agreement” in bold letters at the top. The client agrees to the collateral, “that is, my immortal soul.”
Mirosiichenko said his company would not employ debt collectors to get its money back if people refused to repay, and promised no physical violence. Signatories only have to give their first name and do not show any documents.
“If they don’t give it back, what can you do? They won’t have a soul, that’s all,” he told Reuters in a basement office, with one desk, a computer and three chairs.
Uh, OK. Maybe that works – if you believe? I think it’s useless for all the right reasons: non-definable collateral, worthless on the open market.
The Fed bails out AIG with $85 billion loan
Looking for a new sponsorship deal?
In a stunning turn, the Federal Reserve Board is lending as much as $85 billion to rescue crumbling insurer American International Group, officials have announced.
The Fed authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) up to $85 billion. In return, the federal government will receive a 79.9% stake in the company…
The bailout marks the most dramatic turn yet in an expanding crisis that started more than a year ago in the mortgage meltdown. The resulting credit crunch is now toppling not only mainstay Wall Street players, but others in the wider financial industry .
The line of credit to AIG, which is available for two years, is designed to help the company meet its obligations, the Fed said. Interest will accrue at a steep rate of 3-month Libor plus 8.5%, which totals 11.31% at today’s rates. AIG will sell certain of its businesses with “the least possible disruption to the overall economy.”
Taxpayers will be protected, the Fed said, because the loan is backed by the assets of AIG and its subsidiaries. The loan is expected to be repaid from the proceeds of the asset sales.
Doesn’t it feel great to be so “protected”?
