Business

Nearly $760 Billion in Credit Extended Since TARP Investment Began

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 9 -- Today, Bank of America issued its third quarterly Lending & Investing Initiative report, which outlines the company's progress in driving economic recovery through 10 key areas, including lending to consumers and businesses of all sizes, support for municipalities and nonprofits, community development and other initiatives.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050720/CLW086LOGO-b )

The report, which delivers on a commitment to provide greater transparency into the company's lending and investing efforts across the enterprise, demonstrates how Bank of America is using the government's investment in the company to support the U.S. economy.    » read more »

Search for New CEO Underway

November 10, 2009 -- DETROIT – Nick Reilly, GM executive vice president and president, GM International Operations, will immediately assume responsibility for the operations of Opel/Vauxhall Europe while an external search for a new CEO commences, it was announced today.    » read more »

750 families will be positively impacted by the partnership

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, Nov. 10, 2009 – As a part of their commitment to women’s empowerment, Walmart and CARE announced the launch of a Cashew Value Chain Initiative. As part of the Walmart Foundation’s $1 million grant to CARE, a leading humanitarian organization, this project marks the first of a series of initiatives to elevate women from poverty worldwide.

Over the next year, Walmart and CARE will create a women owned-and-operated community-based institution to provide more equitable and consistent incomes for approximately 750 women in the cashew farming and processing sector in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu State in Southern India, Cuddalore and Nagapattinam.    » read more »

"Anti-Competitive and Anti-Consumer"; Criticizes Verizon Wireless plan to double Early Termination Fees for new smart phone customers

November 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who introduced the Cell Phone Consumer Empowerment Act in the 110th Congress, sent a letter to the Verizon Wireless President and CEO Lowell C. McAdam, criticizing the company’s decision to increase its Early Termination Fees (ETFs) for new smart phone customers. Klobuchar also sent a letter to Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) Julius Genachowski, urging a review of the Verizon Wireless decision to raise these fees.    » read more »

John Masiello wins Association of Energy Engineers’ 2009 award

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (November 5, 2009) – For his outstanding work in the area of renewable energy, John Masiello, Progress Energy Florida’s director of Demand Side Management, has been internationally recognized as the Association of Energy Engineers’ (AEE) 2009 Renewable Energy Innovator of the Year.    » read more »

Pandemrix™ data on co-administration with annual seasonal influenza vaccine (Fluarix®)

09 November 2009, London UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced the results from the clinical trial assessing Pandemrix™, GSK’s adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, administered at the same time as the annual seasonal influenza vaccine, Fluarix ® . The trial showed that co-administration of one dose of both vaccines in separate arms, induced a strong response in adults for both the H1N1 pandemic vaccine as well as the seasonal vaccine. The trial involves 168 adults aged over 60 years of age, and was designed to evaluate the tolerability and immunogenicity of the co-administration of Pandemrix and Fluarix.    » read more »

Approval marks an important milestone in the process of replacing 50 year-old egg-based flu vaccine production with modern biotechnology

November 05, 2009 -- Basel, November 5, 2009 - Novartis announced today that it received approval from the German regulatory authorities for its adjuvanted cell culture-based Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, Celtura®. Novartis continues to pursue registration in other major countries, including Japan and Switzerland.    » read more »

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 9, 2009 -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) moves closer to its first international sale of RACR (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar) following approval for the company to move forward with technical discussions with at least two potential customers.

Both countries are looking to upgrade their F-16 fleets within the next two years in order to keep their force structure at the cutting edge of today's complex battlespace. RACR is designed for all F-16s and is approved for export.

The program is on schedule to fly production hardware on an F-16 during the first half of 2010.    » read more »

Shows Nearly 200 Models Available That Achieve 30mpg Or More On Highway

November 5, 2009 -- According to the recently released Department of Energy-Environmental Protection Agency Fuel Economy Guide, for 2010 there will be 193 models available that achieve fuel economy ratings of 30 miles per gallon or greater on the highway. This signifies a 47 percent increase over 2009 and further underscores automakers’ commitment to bringing cleaner, safer and more fuel efficient vehicles to consumers.    » read more »

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION (TMC) announced financial results for the six months ended September 30, 2009.

On a consolidated basis, the net revenues for the first half of the fiscal year totaled 8.378 trillion yen, a decrease of 31.3 percent compared to the same period last fiscal year. Operating income decreased from 582.0 billion yen to a loss of 136.9 billion yen, while income before income taxes and equity in earnings of affiliated companies was a loss of 63.0 billion yen. Net income* decreased from 493.4 billion yen to a loss of 56.0 billion yen.
* Net income attributable to Toyota Motor Corporation    » read more »

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 5, 2009 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that it delivered the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) third F/A-18F Block II Super Hornet three months ahead of schedule on Sept. 30, after completing production on the multirole fighter at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' St. Louis facility.

Boeing publicly debuted the first of the RAAF's 24 Super Hornets in St. Louis on July 8. Each of the three completed aircraft has been delivered three months ahead of schedule.    » read more »

NEW YORK -- Nov. 6, 2009 -- American International Group, Inc. (AIG) today reported a profit in the third quarter of 2009, as certain of its businesses continue to stabilize and the company’s results reflected positive market valuation changes.

For the third quarter ended September 30, 2009, AIG reported net income attributable to AIG of $455 million, including net income attributable to AIG common shareholders of $92 million, or $0.68 per diluted common share, compared with a net loss of $24.5 billion or $181.02 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2008. Third quarter 2009 adjusted net income was $1.9 billion, compared with an adjusted net loss of $9.2 billion in the third quarter of 2008.    » read more »

November 10, 2009 -- Shanghai – General Motors Company announced that the automaker and its joint ventures in China today surpassed 1.5 million units in sales for 2009. With a strong October, the GM China family continued its string of record monthly sales that began at the start of the year.

“This has been a year of records for GM in China,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “It is GM’s priority to put the customer at the center of everything we do. This is reflected in our vehicle design, engineering and production.”    » read more »

Upstate General Contractor Named, Will Hire Up To Two Thousand

Columbia, S.C. - November 6, 2009 - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on Boeing Company’s decision to use BE&K Building Group of Greenville as its general contractor to build the North Charleston facility for a second production line for the 787 Dreamliner.    » read more »

CAMBRIDGE, MD -- November 5, 2009 – CSX today was recognized as the first transportation provider to join the Maryland Green Registry, a voluntary self-certification program that promotes and recognizes sustainable practices by organizations throughout the state.

The Maryland Green Registry includes organizations that complete a best practices profile covering environmental management and leadership, waste reduction, energy and water conservation, transportation, and green building design. The selection was announced by Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley at a Maryland Chamber of Commerce Business Policy Dinner in Cambridge, Maryland.    » read more »