Financial News from Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast from 8/4/2009

“… Motors: -19.4% to 189,443. Chevrolet was the best-performing brand at -9.3% to 124,948. Saturn, the worst performer, was -66.1% to 5,968.-HONDA (HMC): -17.3% to 114,690. Truck sales -20.6% to 37,996.-Toyota (TM): -11.4% to 174,872, up 27.7% M/M. Lexus division -16.5% to 18,517. Hybrids +19.3% to 24,295.-Nissan (NSANY): -24.6% to 71,847. Trucks -48.4% to 20,448.-Daimler (DAI): -24% to 17,646 for the Mercedes-Benz car …” – HMC on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… selling pace to 11.24M vehicles vs. June’s rate of 9.69M, and a slump in luxury auto demand showed signs of lessening. Here’s the breakdown:-FORD (F): +2.3% to 158,838 vs. consensus of -5%, making it the first U.S. manufacturer to report a monthly sales increase this year.-Chrysler: -9% to 88,900. Car sales -14% to 22,109. Sales up 30% M/M. "We are seeing encouraging signs that consumer confidence is building, and more consumers are …” – F on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… brand at -9.3% to 124,948. Saturn, the worst performer, was -66.1% to 5,968.-Honda (HMC): -17.3% to 114,690. Truck sales -20.6% to 37,996.-TOYOTA (TM): -11.4% to 174,872, up 27.7% M/M. Lexus division -16.5% to 18,517. Hybrids +19.3% to 24,295.-Nissan (NSANY): -24.6% to 71,847. Trucks -48.4% to 20,448.-Daimler (DAI): -24% to 17,646 for the Mercedes-Benz car division.-Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK): +0.7% to 20,590. Diesels accounted for more …” – TM on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… -24% to 17,646 for the Mercedes-Benz car division.-Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK): +0.7% to 20,590. Diesels accounted for more then 30% of total sales. CIT sweetens buyback offer. CIT Group (CIT) raised its tender offer on $1B in notes to a purchase price of $875 per $1,000, up from $825. CIT also lowered its minimum tender condition to 58% of notes, and has already received tenders for 64.97% of notes. The improved terms all but guarantee the buyback’s success, pulling CIT one step farther away from bankruptcy court. (Read CIT’s press release) AIG gets new chief. Robert Benmosche will become CEO and President of AIG (AIG), replacing Edward Liddy as of August 10. Benmosche is the former CEO of MetLife (MET), and will be AIG’s fifth chief since 2005. Manufacturing still contracting. The ISM Manufacturing Index came …” – CIT on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… to 174,872, up 27.7% M/M. Lexus division -16.5% to 18,517. Hybrids +19.3% to 24,295.-Nissan (NSANY): -24.6% to 71,847. Trucks -48.4% to 20,448.-DAIMLER (DAI): -24% to 17,646 for the Mercedes-Benz car division.-Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK): +0.7% to 20,590. Diesels accounted for more then 30% of total sales. CIT sweetens buyback offer. CIT Group (CIT) raised its tender offer on $1B in notes to a purchase price of $875 per $1,000, up from $825. …” – DAI on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… chief Barbara Desoer and Goldman Sachs veteran Tom Montag. Shares -1.4% premarket (7:00 ET). (Read BoA’s press release) BoA settles Merrill suit. BANK OF AMERICA (BAC) agreed to a $33M settlement with the SEC over charges that it made false and misleading statements to investors about bonuses at Merrill Lynch. The settlement was announced almost immediately after the allegations, which the bank neither confirmed nor denied, but the SEC …” – BAC on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… time," with candidates including Moynihan, who is the front runner for the position, Krawcheck, CFO Joe Price, home-lending chief Barbara Desoer and GOLDMAN SACHS veteran Tom Montag. Shares -1.4% premarket (7:00 ET). (Read BoA’s press release) BoA settles Merrill suit. Bank of America (BAC) agreed to a $33M settlement with the SEC over charges that it made false and misleading statements to investors about bonuses at Merrill Lynch. The …” – GS on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… Lewis’ once-golden reputation far more than BoA’s bottom line. (Read the SEC’s complaint (.pdf) and statement on the settlement) No surprises from UBS loss. UBS (UBS) posted a Q2 net loss of 1.4B Swiss francs ($1.32B), its third consecutive quarterly loss, on costs related to job cuts and charges related to the company’s debt. Its wealth and asset management divisions saw outflows of 39.4B francs. CEO Oswald Gruebel said markets improved in the second quarter but a sustainable economic recovery ‘is not yet visible.’ Shares -8.3% premarket (7:00 ET). (Read UBS’ letter to shareholders (.pdf)) Bank regulators oppose financial reforms. Several top banking regulators, including the FDIC’s Sheila Bair, will testify in Congress today against some key elements of Obama’s proposed financial reforms. The regulators feel parts of Obama’s plan are unnecessary, …” – UBS on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… last autumn. Speculation that the recession may be ending helped commodities surge and sent Treasurys and the dollar down. Google’s Schmidt leaves APPLE board. Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from APPLE’s (AAPL) board of directors, with APPLE releasing a statement that "as Google enters more of APPLE’s core businesses… Eric’s effectiveness as an APPLE Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest." The resignation, which APPLE described as mutual, highlights not just the growing overlap between APPLE and Google, but also increased antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission. The move failed to mollify the FTC, which said it "will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies." ANZ picks up Asian assets. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group …” – AAPL on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast

“… highest levels since last autumn. Speculation that the recession may be ending helped commodities surge and sent Treasurys and the dollar down. GOOGLE’s Schmidt leaves Apple board. GOOGLE (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from Apple’s (AAPL) board of directors, with Apple releasing a statement that "as GOOGLE enters more of Apple’s core businesses… Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest." The resignation, which Apple described as mutual, highlights not just the growing overlap between Apple and GOOGLE, but also increased antitrust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission. The move failed to mollify the FTC, which said it "will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies." ANZ picks up Asian assets. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZBY.PK) …” – GOOG on Seeking Alpha Wall St Breakfast