Auto Industry Growth at Dead End

The U.S. car market ended 2008 on a dire note, according to new data released yesterday. Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times report that GM, Ford, and Toyota saw U.S. sales drop more than 30 percent last month, "capping one of the worst years for the industry in decades and solidifying the view that more turmoil lies ahead in 2009," writes the WSJ. Shares in GM and Ford actually rose on the news, which tells you just how little confidence remains on Wall Street for the fate of the Big Three. Indeed, with consumers shunning new-car showrooms, auto execs must ask themselves whether their industry, "will ever again have sales levels that it took for granted just a few years ago," the NYT writes. And it's not just U.S. companies feeling the pain. Along with Toyota, BMW and Honda both saw December sales fall more than 35 percent.

Obama went to Washington yesterday to sell his estimated $770 billion economic stimulus plan on Capitol Hill. While CNN Money recaps the president-elect's intention to push through some $300 billion in tax cuts for individuals and businesses, the WSJ digs into the details and finds a potential tax credit for the poor that "would grant an estimated 5.5 million poor children access to [an existing $1,000-per-child] tax credit for the first time, and expand the tax benefit for millions more poor children who currently qualify for only a partial credit, according to its advocates." Is $770 billion enough or too much? Many economists have urged a bill of $800 billion to $1.2 trillion even as some Republican lawmakers fret about the size of the package given the lack of accountability surrounding 2008's bank bailout, the NYT reports. Obama argues that now is not the time to get caught up in the details. "The economy is badly damaged—it is very sick. So we have to take whatever steps are required to make sure that it is stabilized," he told congressional leaders.

Prosecutors are seeking jail time for mega-Ponzi-schemer Bernhard Madoff after his sons reported that he mailed them "jewelry, watches and other items in violation of an asset freeze," Bloomberg reports. Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin said the objects, which included pens and $25 cuff links, were heirlooms innocently sent to Madoff’s children and other family members, but the WSJ reports that the U.S. government estimates the goods "were worth more than $1 million." The move to revoke Madoff's bail is viewed by the NYT as "a serious deterioration in relations between the government and Mr. Madoff, who ... had seemed to be cooperating with investigators trying to unravel the fraud."

The Steve Jobs health watch took a new turn yesterday after the Apple CEO disclosed that his recent dramatic weight loss that has been the subject of intense media and blogger speculation is due to a "hormone imbalance that has been robbing him of needed proteins," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Jobs' "rare personal statement on his health," in the words of the Guardian, was intended to allay the fears of "investors, analysts and gadget enthusiasts" who have been less than upbeat about Apple's prospects without Jobs at the helm. Even as Jobs insisted his present frailties were not due to a recurrence of the pancreatic cancer he suffered in 2004, the Los Angeles Times suggested otherwise. It writes: "Jobs may not be 'on my deathbed,' as he wrote in a letter posted on Apple's website Monday. However, his admission to having a hormone imbalance indicates he may be dealing with a recurrence of the disease, some doctors suggest."

Finally, even as unemployment and consumer bankruptcies continue to soar, the FBI has embarked on "one of the largest hiring blitzes in our 100-year history," CNN Money reports. The bureau has openings for 850 special agents and more than 2,100 professional support personnel. Could it be revving up for a new Depression-era "war on crime"?