german auto works
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology
- Big Three survival bailout requests rise to $34B
Humbled and fighting for survival, Detroit's once-mighty automakers appealed to Congress with a retooled case for a bailout as large as $34 billion Tuesday, pledging to slash workers, car lines and executive pay in return for a federal lifeline. GM and Chrysler said they needed an immediate cash infusion to last 'til New Year's, and warned they could drag the entire industry down if they fail. - WaMu to lay off 3,400 in Seattle; bank to empty most of its leased space downtown
As it shrinks staff, JPMorgan will empty most of the leased space in downtown Seattle used by WaMu, the biggest occupant of downtown office property. - Entellium files for bankruptcy protection
Entellium, a troubled Seattle software company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, paving the way for some assets to be sold to financial software maker Intuit. - Clearwire makes its WiMax broadband brand Clear
Kirkland-based Clearwire is rolling into the WiMax market with the brand name Clear. The company will sell its wireless broadband services under that name, replacing the Xohm brand that partner Sprint Nextel has used since September. - Delta details planned capacity cuts
Delta Air Lines Inc. hinted Tuesday that more job cuts could be on the way as it disclosed that it will reduce consolidated system capacity by 6 percent to 8 percent in 2009, compared to the current year. - Obama vows to help states weather economic woes
President-elect Barack Obama promised swift action Tuesday on an economic plan "to solve this crisis and to ease the burden on our states," and he cast governors as his partners in crafting a recession-rebound strategy. - Stocks rebound in seesaw session
Investors staged a stock-market rebound today, seesawing through the session trying to recoup some of the ground from the previous session's enormous decline. - Targeted Genetics lays off staff, shifts focus
Targeted Genetics (TGEN) said today that it has cut about 10 percent of its workforce and shifted its research efforts in a bid to survive a cash crunch. - Former Entellium CEO, finance chief may be near plea deal
Former Entellium executives Paul Johnston and Parrish Jones may be close to reaching a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on charges... - Funds to pour salt on investors' wounds
Investors in the $4 billion Templeton Foreign Fund already have lost more than 50 percent of their money this year and now they'll be forced to pay taxes on as much as $1 billion of gains from the sales of investments. - Feds retreated from reining in lenders
The Bush administration backed off proposed crackdowns on no-money-down, interest-only mortgages years before the economy collapsed, buckling to pressure from some of the same banks that have now failed. It ignored remarkably prescient warnings that foretold the financial meltdown, according to an Associated Press review of regulatory documents. - Manufacturing index drops to 26-year low
The Institute for Supply Management's monthly-manufacturing index dropped to a 26-year low Monday — another dire read on the economy that helped send stocks sharply lower in the U.S. and Europe. - Auditors fault Treasury oversight of bailout funds
The government must toughen its monitoring of the $700 billion financial bailout to ensure that banking institutions limit their top executives' pay and comply with other restrictions, federal auditors said Tuesday in the first comprehensive review of the rescue package. - Potlatch to spin off pulp and paper business
The board of Potlatch (PCH) has approved a plan to create a spinoff company called Clearwater Paper to separate the forest product company's pulp and paper business from its timber holdings. - Premiums for workers' comp insurance to rise 3%
The state Department of Labor and Industries said Monday that premiums for workers' compensation insurance will rise an average 3 percent... - SPEEA members approve Boeing contracts
The white-collar engineering union accepted Boeing's contract offers after a vote count Monday showed 79 percent of engineers and 69 percent of technical staff approved the pacts. - World markets close mostly higher on US rally
A rebound on Wall Street provided a lift Tuesday to most world stock markets outside of Asia, where shares slumped overnight. - Alcatel-Lucent to unveil strategic plan Dec. 12
Alcatel-Lucent SA said Tuesday its recently appointed chief executive Ben Verwaayen will unveil at a conference on Dec. 12 a new strategic plan for the hobbled telecommunication equipment maker. - AP Analysis: Obama free to change US-Cuba policy
Barack Obama will be the first American president in nearly 50 years to have a relatively free hand in deciding whether to ease punitive Cold War-era policies toward communist Cuba, and the foreign policy team he announced this week seems predisposed to make it happen. - Australia slashes interest rate to avert recession
Australia's central bank slashed its key interest rate by one percentage point Tuesday in the latest bold move by the country's top finance officials to stave off a recession. - Australia's main stock index slides 4.2 percent
Australian stocks slumped Tuesday as weak economic data internationally reached the Asia Pacific region. - Beazer Homes 4Q loss balloons as revenue plunges
Homebuilder Beazer Homes USA Inc. gave Wall Street a double-shot of discouraging news Tuesday: Its fiscal fourth-quarter loss more than tripled from a year ago and it expects to lose money throughout 2009. - BMW names Friedrich Eichiner new CFO
Carmaker BMW AG said Tuesday it has appointed Friedrich Eichiner as chief financial officer, taking over from Michael Ganal, who will remain on the board. - Body-swap illusion tricks mind in new study
Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much. Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body. - Boeing engineers, tech workers ratify contracts
Boeing Co. engineers and technical workers