January 252007

 

name='1'>Senate Hearing, Study Scrutinize Credit Card Industry
Practices

As the Senate Banking
Committee prepares to hold a hearing today on disclosure, marketing and
billing strategies of credit card firms, a Homeland Security and
Government Affairs subcommittee headed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) has
launched a probe into misleading credit card practices, the
Wall Street Journal
reported today. In a study requested by Levin, the
Government Accountability Office recently noted a significant jump in
the number of consumers facing interest rates over 25 percent, big
increases in average fees charged for late payments or exceeding a limit

and glaring omissions in how fees are disclosed to consumers. 

href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116972593824587565.html?mod=home_whats_news_us'>Read

more. (Registration required.)

href='http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=246'>Click

here for the Senate Banking Committee’s hearing page to view
the witness list as well as a link to access the hearing live via
Webcast.

name='2'>Troubled Small Businesses Turning More to State
Courts

Legal experts are saying
that a growing number of financially distressed small businesses are
turning to state courts to settle their bankruptcy cases, avoiding the
arduous insolvency proceedings of federal courts, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported yesterday. According to the Small Business
Administration (SBA), the total number of small-business failures has
held steady around 650,000 since 1989. In a separate study, Columbia
University professor Edward Morrison notes that
SBA data show that less than 20 percent of failing small businesses use
federal law to reorganize or liquidate. The study found that using state

insolvency systems is faster and less expensive in most cases as many
state courts don't require court filings. 'Actions available under
federal law are also available under state law,' said Morrison. 'It's a
much less public event than a federal bankruptcy filing, and thought to
be very quick and relatively cheap.' 

href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116961550503886122-search.html?KEYWORDS=bankruptcy&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month'>Read

more. (Registration required.)

name='3'>Senate Panel Examines Airline Merger
Proposal

The fight over US
Airways’ proposed $9.8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines moved
to Capitol Hill yesterday, where lawmakers on the Senate Commerce
Committee questioned the top executives of both companies about what the

deal would mean for travelers, Reuters reported yesterday. US Airways
Group’s chairman, Doug Parker, was questioned by committee
members, who expressed concern that the takeover, rejected by Delta
management, could lead to cuts in service and more industry
consolidation. Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein said that nearly 10,000 jobs
would have to be cut for US Airways to achieve the gains it
anticipates. 

href='http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/business/25air.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print'>Read

more.

name='4'>District Judge Freezes Implementation of Adelphia
Plan

A federal judge delayed the
implementation of Adelphia Communication Corp.’s
chapter11 plan,
granting the bondholders a stay to ensure a meaningful appellate
review, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. U.S. District Judge

Shira Scheindlin granted the group’s request for a stay as the
bondholders argued that the bankruptcy judge was wrong to confirm
Adelphia’s reorganization plan. Judge Scheindlin also will require

the bondholders to post a $1.3 billion bond to offset any harm to
Adelphia and the creditors in case the stay would diminish the value of
the bankruptcy estate. 

href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=17128'>Read

more. (Registration required.)

Autos

name='5'>Ford Loses Record $12.7 Billion in
’06

Ford Motor Co. lost $5.8
billion in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring

costs, pushing the automaker's deficit for the year to $12.7 billion,
the Associated Press reported today. The Dearborn, Mich.-based company
expects more losses for this year. It expects to burn up $10 billion in
cash on automotive operations through 2009 and spend another $7 billion
to invest in new products. The fourth-quarter loss was the worst
final-quarter loss in Ford's 103 year history and its second-worst
quarterly performance. Ford lost $6.7 billion in the first quarter of
1992, due mainly to accounting rule changes on health care
liabilities. 

href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Ford.html?ei=5094&en=39c5efd783c59085&hp=&ex=1169787600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print'>Read

more.

name='6'>Judge Approves Revised Dana Expenses

Dana Corp.'s bankruptcy
lawyers and consultants received court approval yesterday for three
months of expenses after they trimmed the initial $1.4 million bill by 9

percent, the
size='3'>Toledo
size='3'>(
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Ohio

size='3'>) Blade reported today. Judge
Burton Lifland

size='3'>of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Manhattan
size='3'>, who previously criticized their July-through-August billings,

approved revised expenses after the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Toledo auto
supplier's professionals pledged to take steps to keep expenses down.
Dana also received permission to borrow an additional $200 million
during its chapter 11 reorganization, increasing its total available
credit to $1.55 billion. 

href='http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070125/BUSINESS03/701250340'>Read

more.

name='7'>Collins & Aikman Strikes Deal over Litigation
Trust

Bankrupt auto parts maker

Collins & Aikman Corp. reached an agreement with its pre-petition
lenders and unsecured creditors regarding the proceeds of several
pending lawsuits the company has filed against various parties,
Bankruptcy Law360
reported yesterday. The creditors objected to a
stipulation in the company’s first amended joint reorganization
plan and disclosure statement, filed in December, stating that unsecured

claimants were expected to share a portion of the net proceeds from
civil actions to be held in a litigation trust established by the plan.
Collins & Aikman had to resolve the dispute before moving forward
with its plan and disclosure statement. 

href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=17064'>Read

more. (Registration required.)

w:st='on'>
name='8'>Iowa
size='3'> Diocese Creditors Ask to Hire Law
Firm

A creditors’
committee of alleged victims of clergy abuse in the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Davenport bankruptcy wants to hire a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>California law
firm that was involved with the Spokane Diocese proceeding,
Bankruptcy Law360
reported yesterday. In court papers filed Tuesday in the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa, the committee
asks for a court order approving the hire of Pachulski Stang Ziehl Young

Jones & Weintraub LLP to attempt to maximize the money that will be
made available to be distributed to the personal injury and tort
claimants of the diocese. The case is

size='3'>Diocese of Davenport, case number
06-02229 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
Iowa. 

href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=17106'>Read

more. (Registration required.)

International

w:st='on'>
name='9'>European
CourtCalls U.K. Pension Rules
Inadequate

The European Court of
Justice (ECJ) said that U.K. pension rules offer
'inadequate' protection for redundant workers whose final salary schemes

collapse, but it ruled that it was up to the British courts to decide
whether the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>UK
size='3'>government should make up the shortfall, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>London Guardian
size='3'>reported today. The ruling was made in a case brought by unions

representing around 1,000 former employees of Allied Steel and Wire
(ASW), who saw their expected pensions cut when the company filed for
insolvency in 2002. Some of the pension scheme members are expected to
receive less than 20 percent of their promised pensions, despite having
made contributions for 30 years or more. They are not entitled to
payouts from the government's pension protection fund either, which was
introduced in 2004 after the scheme's collapse. 

href='http://money.guardian.co.uk/occupationalpensions/story/0,,1998232,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1'>Read

more.

name='10'>TROUBLED COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

1000’s of companies lose
money or experience some form of difficulty each
quarter. 

The business news
articles below are taken from the

size='3'>Daily Summary of Troubled & Fast Growing U.S. Companies and

Other Business News published by Bastien
Financial Publications. 

To begin receiving the COMPLETE

Daily e-Summary, that emails you information on over 70 such companies
each morning, email
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Adtran Inc., a

size='3'>Huntsville,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Ala. provider of
network-access products and services, reported its fourth quarter net
income tumbled 47%--to $17 million.  Revenue declined 22%--to $110
million. For the year, its net income slumped 23%--to $78.3 million, on
an 8% revenue decline--to $474 million.

size='3'>Advanced Micro Devices Inc., a

size='3'>Sunnyvale,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Calif. chip
manufacturer, reported a fourth quarter net loss of $574 million. 
Sales slipped 3.5%--to just under $1.8 billion.  The tech firm
added that operating profit at its microprocessor unit slumped 77%,
because of competition from rival Intel Corp.  For the year,
Advanced Micro lost $166 million on a 3% decline in sales--to $5.6
billion. Both the quarterly and fiscal results included writedown
charges of $416 million.

size='3'>BDO Seidman LLC, a big accounting
firm, says that its survival is at stake in a legal battle with
investors of a now-defunct financial-services firm in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Florida. 
Plaintiffs are seeking $170 million from BDO, which plaintiffs allege
was responsible for not uncovering fraud that ultimately led to the
collapse of the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Florida
company. BDO, denying all charges against it, has
countersued.

size='3'>Centex Corp., a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Dallas,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Texas
size='3'>homebuilder, reported a third quarter net loss of $228 million,

including $435 million in writedowns. Revenue declined 7%--to $3.3
billion.

size='3'>Dell Inc., the Round Rock,

size='3'>Texas maker of
computers, won approval from the Nasdaq Stock Market to have its stock
remain listed on the exchange.  Dell, which must provide Nasdaq
with certain information regarding its delayed reports, said that it
will be able to provide information from an audit-committee probe by a
3/1 deadline but it won't be able to file late financial reports by that

time.

size='3'>New York Times Co.'s Boston Globe
newspaper unit announced it will shutter its last three overseas bureaus

as a result of budget cuts.