src='/AM/Images/headlines/headline.gif' />
September 28,
2005
name='1'>Airline Industry
Outlook Meeting to Be Held Today
The House
Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee will host a
hearing
on the current situation and future outlook of U.S. commercial airline
industry
today at 2 p.m. Witnesses include Standard and Poor Rating Services
Managing
Director Philip Baggaley; CRA International Inc. Associate Principal
Mark Kiefer;
Moody Investors Service Senior Vice President Maria Matesanz; Steve
Morrison,
professor and chairman of the department of economics at Northeastern
University;
and Stuart Sokel, the director of Deutsche Bank Commodities Group. The
hearing
will be held at 2167 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.
For more
information, contact (202) 225-9446 or
href='http://www.house.gov/transportation'>visit
the Web site.
id='2'>U.S.
Economy: Consumer Confidence, Home Sales Plunge
U.S. consumer
confidence
fell by the most in 15 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the
Gulf Coast
and pushed gasoline prices to a record this month, Bloomberg News
reported yesterday.
The consumer confidence index dropped to 86.6, the lowest in two
years, from
105.5 in August, the New York-based Conference Board research group
said. New
homes sold in August at the slowest pace since November, falling 9.9
percent
to a 1.237 million annual rate, the Commerce Department said in
Washington.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in a speech Monday, said that
asset
prices often fall after long periods of stability and
“euphoria,” echoing
warnings he’s issued over the past year that investors may be
too complacent
about risk.
href='http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_us&refer=news_index&sid=af…'>Read
the full story.
id='3'>Delphi
Seeks $6 Billion to Avoid Bankruptcy
Delphi Corp. has
asked General
Motors Corp. for an
href='http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=axN1tNgGAHFo&refer=…'>aid
package worth $6 billion to help avoid a bankruptcy filing,
Bloomberg News
reported today. Delphi aims to use the cash from GM to reduce expenses
by offering
some long-time workers bonuses to retire, quit or accept lower pay.
The money
would also be used to pay for pensions and health care for the
retirees. Delphi
CEO Robert S. Miller will
href='http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0509/28/A01-330541.htm'>recommend
to the board that the auto-parts supplier file under chapter 11
unless it
can reach agreement with General Motors to substantially cut labor and
benefit
costs before Oct. 17, the Detroit News reported. He also
reiterated that
Delphi can no longer afford to pay 4,000 union employees who are not
working
because of production declines. While negotiations are continuing,
Miller is
laying the groundwork for a possible chapter 11 filing by hiring
bankruptcy
lawyer Jack Butler.
id='4'>Anna
Nicole Smith Case to Be Heard by Supreme Court
Justices said
yesterday that
they would consider former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith’s
appeal over the
fortune of her 90-year-old late husband, Law.com reported today. The
stripper-turned-reality
television star stands to win as much as $474 million. The case will
be argued
before the justices early next year. Smith has not received any money
from the
estate of J. Howard Marshall II, an oil tycoon who married her in 1994
when
he was 89 and she was 26. Marshall died in 1995. The appeals court
decision—that
federal courts in California never had jurisdiction—reversed a
lower court
finding that she was entitled to compensatory and punitive damages
because Marshall’s
son tried to keep her from receiving money from his father’s
estate. The dispute
has involved a "a bizarre set of events," justices were told
in a
filing by G. Eric Brunstad Jr., who represents Marshall’s
son. Read
the full story.
Airlines
id='5'>US
Airways Out of Bankruptcy
US Airways Group
Inc. emerged
from its second bankruptcy in two years yesterday, but still faces
soaring fuel
prices and low-fare competition, as well as the challenge of merging
with another
airline, Bloomberg News reported today. US Airways will spend two
years merging
with America West Holdings Corp., an effort it says will help it
compete with
such rivals as Southwest Airlines Co.
href='http://www.nwherald.com/BusinessSection/361464617179017.php'>Read
more.
id='6'>SkyWest
Thrives as Its Larger Partners Endure Chapter 11
Relying on two
bankrupt airlines
for all revenue may seem like a dubious business strategy these days,
the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reported yesterday, but SkyWest, a Utah-based
regional
carrier that flies under contract for Delta Air Lines and United
Airlines, has
managed to thrive in recent years while its larger partners have
struggled.
Recently, the company even bought Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast
Airlines
from Delta.
href='http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=252618'>Read more.
id='7'>NRG
Talks Buyout With Texas Genco
Power-plant
operator NRG
Energy Inc. is in advanced discussions to purchase Texas Genco
Holdings Inc.
in a deal expected to be valued at $5 billion or more, the Wall
Street Journal
said today. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the newspaper
said that
NRG would use a majority of cash, with some stock, to buy Genco, which
is owned
by funds managed by four private equity investment firms. NRG would
also assume
more than $2 billion of Genco debt. Negotiations are continuing and
could fall
apart, the Journal said. As recently as last week, Genco was
expected
to file for an initial public offering of shares, a path it could
still pursue.
Other bidders for Genco also could emerge. Should an NRG deal come
together,
the private-equity firms stand to make more than five times their
original investment
in a little more than a year. Industry watchers have expected NRG to
make a
purchase now that it is flush with cash and out of bankruptcy.
href='http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/28/news/midcaps/nrg_texasgenco.reut/index…'>Read
the full story.
id='8'>Owens
Corning Motions Granted
The U.S. Bankruptcy
Court
approved Owens Corning motions to sell real property in Berlin, N.J.,
pursuant
to purchase and sale agreement and to pay related property taxes;
approving
stipulation and order regarding post-petition claim of Sungard
Recovery Services;
and approving the asset purchase agreement and related agreements and
actions
in connection with purchase of assets by Exterior Systems, Inc,
BankruptcyData.com
reported today.