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CA-BUSINESS Summary

11/01/09

Citi moves closer to brokerage deal: sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc. was getting closer to a deal on Sunday to join its Smith Barney retail brokerage business into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley , in a move that could see it get about $2.5 - $3 billion cash, a source familiar with the situation said. Citi would also gain $5 billion-$6 billion in tangible common equity as a result of revaluing the unit as part of the bigger venture rather than as a stand-alone business, the source said.

Conservatives plan C$40 bln budget: CTV

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Conservative Party plans to present a $40 billion (US$ 34 billion) deficit, the highest since 1993, in the federal budget to be unveiled this month, CTV television reported. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Thursday that Canada will run a "substantial" budget deficit in the next fiscal year as it enacts stimulus measures to help shelter the economy from the effects of the global economic downturn.

Ring in the new year? The party's over for automakers

DETROIT (Reuters) - Automakers put on a brave face at the world's biggest auto show on Sunday, with the sales outlook bleak for the coming year and fabled firms struggling for survival despite massive government aid. "All I can tell you is that demand is a little more robust than we expected," Ford Motor Co sales chief Jim Farley said of January sales at the North American International Auto Show. "I would say a little, not dramatically."

Takeover talk returns to oil patch

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Shares of Canadian oil producers, hard hit by crashing commodity prices and the credit crunch, have staged a quiet comeback since bottoming out in November and observers say the takeover chatter that roiled the market late last year may return as conditions improve. Plunging oil prices, which have retreated by more than $100 a barrel since peaking above $147 last July, have forced oil producers to retrench as their cash flows dwindle and credit markets remain tight.

GM says could seek further U.S. loans

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the struggling automaker had enough funding to last through March but could still seek additional U.S. government loans beyond the $13.4 billion it has already been pledged. Wagoner, speaking to reporters at the Detroit auto show, also said GM was still seeking a potential buyer for its Saab brand. "We're still looking," he said.

GM in talks over possible Saab sale: executive

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp has been in talks to sell its struggling Swedish brand Saab after the U.S. carmaker was approached two or three months ago by an investor looking to take it off the company's hands, GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster said on Sunday. Forster told reporters on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that GM was not looking for buyers and would not expect any possible sale to happen any time soon anyway, but said the Ford Motor Co disposal of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors could serve as a model for a divestiture.

U.S. retailers lose ground to rivals abroad: Deloitte

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. retailers lost ground to overseas store chains in terms of total sales in 2007, a trend that is expected to continue with a swift decline in consumer spending habits, according to a new study released on Sunday. The report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which ranked the world's largest retailers according to fiscal 2007 sales, found that several European retailers climbed at the expense of their U.S. peers.

Automakers roll out electric and hybrid hopes

DETROIT (Reuters) - Automakers are in a new race to be the first to market with an all-electric car so they can claim the mantle as the world's greenest automaker. General Motors Corp , Ford Motor Co , Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> and Honda Motor Co Ltd <7267.T> updated plans on Sunday at the North American International Auto show in Detroit to offer consumers all-electric or hybrid-powered vehicles in the next few years.

India installs new Satyam board

HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - The Indian government installed a new board at Satyam Computer Services Ltd on Sunday as authorities stepped up efforts to limit the damage from a fraud that has become India's biggest corporate scandal. The three-member board will meet at Satyam headquarters in the southern city of Hyderabad at about 0400 GMT on Monday to lay out a roadmap for restoring confidence of clients and staff following revelations of a massive accounting fraud.

Canada sees big job losses, need for more credit

TORONTO (Reuters) - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned on Friday of significant Canadian job losses in 2009 and said he was not ruling anything out as he prepares a stimulus package for a budget that he said would run a large deficit. "We're in for a very difficult year," the Conservative government minister said. "We are going to have substantial job losses. We need to respond to the needs of people who will lose their jobs this year."

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