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Ever since the negotiations between the government and Chrysler's debtholders began to bog down, ultimately leading to today's bankruptcy announcement, I've been trying to figure out who the holdouts are. Big banks that took TARP funds accepted the government's offer, but a group of smaller players, including a trio of hedge funds specializing in distressed debt refused to play ball.

Under pressure from pork industry lobbyists, the U.S. government has stopped referring to "swine flu" and will instead refer to the outbreak as the "H1N1 virus." While "swine flu" may have been misleading—eating pork is not a risk factor for contracting it—H1N1 is a mouthful. The PR move on pork's part was probably necessary, but it doesn't seem as though the new name is going to stick. Some suggestions floating around the Web for alternative names:

A couple months ago, I investigated some of those get-your-own-stimulus ads that were popping up all over the Internet. Eventually, I tracked down one of the companies to 305 West Broadway in New York, only to find their address was actually a P.O. Box, likely an American front for a scammy outfit out of the Philippines. Last week, I got an e-mail from TBM reader Jimmie Ott, who was being pestered by these scammers despite not actually giving them any money.

According to the Washington Post, Chrysler has overcome the last hurdle on its path to government-funded, Fiat-partnered, maybe-kinda-possibly salvation: The banks holding nearly $7 billion in secured debt have agreed to reduce it to $2 billion and also abandoned the prospect of an equity stake in the company.

Chrysler's negotiations with the UAW, the banks that hold its secured debt, and the federal government have dominated the news these past few days because Chrysler has reached the put-up-or-shut-down point: the drop-dead date to prove viability, partner with Fiat, and qualify for a further $6 billion in government loans is just two days away. Meanwhile, General Motors (GM) is struggling through its own debt negotiations, but the numbers are much larger. Well, sort of.

Last fall, I was on panel with a Portfolio writer who made a cutting remark about the vulnerability, in the age of Wall Street's evaporation, of new business publications such as the one you're reading. I challenged him to a bet: I'd wager $100 that TBM would outlast the print version of Portfolio. He declined to take the bet, which tells you just about everything you need to know about the sad, incredibly expensive history of that magazine: Even the people who continued to work there didn't, in recent months, think it could last.

With General Motors (GM) CEO Fritz Henderson continuing to endorse a "four brand" strategy for the restructured carmaker, it was only a matter of time before the company officially turned out the lights on Pontiac, which it had taken to calling a "niche" brand. GM doesn't do niche. The wake begins next week.

The New York Times is reporting today that Chrysler is headed for bankruptcy next week. But before we start to play taps for the Pentastar, it might be worth considering that the players in this drama with the most to lose are Chrysler's creditors. They currently hold $6.9 billion in secured debt and have balked at a government offer to downgrade it (to take a "haircut," in the parlance of the trade).

Is this the endgame for two of the Detroit Big Three? GM is about to default on a $1 billion debt payment, a likely precursor to the bankruptcy that everyone seems to want. Chrysler, meanwhile, has a week to cement a deal with Fiat—and that deal is beginning to look precarious. The core problem is the same for both automakers: Their bondholders just won't budge on debt concessions.

The Big Money's Chadwick Matlin and I were trading e-mails a few days ago about Obama and Saturn. He made an excellent point: Saturn is a very Obama kind of car brand. Or was, anyway. Back when Saturn burst onto the scene—and burst is the correct word, because Saturn really was something different in the U.S.

Just how much trouble is Steven Rattner in?

In general, we at TBM are resisting the tremendous temptation to turn our theoretically profit-driven Web site into an organ of Communist propaganda. 

And so far, so good. 

But the folks at Last Exit magazine asked me for some thoughts about Marx, and I had to oblige. Especially given the bogus Marx floating around out there, you can't be too careful.