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LONDON–British Airways PLC yesterday reported a first-half net loss of 49 million pounds ($77 million U.S.), as record fuel prices and a global slowdown hit its bottom line.

But shares soared 15 per cent after the airline announced cost trims, issued a confident revenue forecast and predicted a lower 2009 fuel bill.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said the dire economic straits that caused several airline failures and BA’s first-half ills were in the past 1 hour cash advance.

He said talks with Spanish carrier Iberia continue, and that BA is also speaking with the consortium trying to salvage Alitalia.

Associated Press

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Chrysler LLC is rapidly burning through cash and being driven to prepare for a possible break-up if it can’t clinch a merger with General Motors Corp or get government funding needed to ride out the economic crisis, people with knowledge of the situation said.

Without new funding or a wrenching restructuring, executives have raised concern about the automaker’s ability to finance its operations from existing cash beyond the first half of 2009, said the sources, who were not authorized to discuss Chrysler’s performance.

Chrysler has had to pay out over $100 million a month to support strained suppliers on top of a total $200 million support to sales through dealers in August and September as it suspended vehicle lease financing, the sources said.

The $11.7 billion the struggling automaker said it had as of end-June has seen a substantial decline because of the company’s deteriorating performance marked by a 35 percent slide in October sales and increasing cash incentives, they said.

Chrysler and its owner Cerberus Capital Management LP declined to comment.

Cerberus and GM had agreed last month on the broad terms of a merger of Chrysler’s loss-making auto operations and those of its crosstown rival but the deal foundered when the Bush administration rebuffed a request for some $10 billion to support it, sources have said.

That setback has put the focus on winning support for a broader federal rescue package for GM, Chrysler, Ford Motor Co and their suppliers that the industry argues would save jobs and protect benefits for retirees fast payday loan no faxing.

But Chrysler has been forced to consider a more drastic set of backup plans that could include selling off key business lines — including Jeep, considered its most valuable brand. It may also outsource its finance and human resources, sources said.

As a step toward that hard-landing scenario, the automaker is moving to split up its replacement parts business based on brand so that its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge operations could be completely separate, one source briefed on that plan said.

That could make it easier to sell off an individual brand.

LOBBYING WASHINGTON

Chrysler Chief Executive Bob Nardelli joined GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally on Thursday in meetings with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed.

The three automakers lobbied the Democratic lawmakers — who increased their power in Tuesday’s election that also saw Barack Obama elected president — for up to $50 billion in federal aid, sources said.

The push for aid has been accompanied by increasingly dire warnings from industry executives and their political allies about the cost of inaction and the risk of a failure that would cost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

Chrysler does not release financial information. 

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Ameren Corp. may halt construction of pollution controls at a St. Charles County power plant as part of a broader plan to defer up to $1 billion of 2009 capital and operating expenses in response to the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets.

The budget cuts come as St. Louis-based Ameren grapples with a weakening economy that has depressed wholesale electricity prices and the global credit crisis that has made it more difficult and expensive for it and other companies to borrow.

"These events have (affected) our company and we believe they will continue to (affect) us throughout 2009 and perhaps longer," Chief Executive Gary L. Rainwater said on a conference call with analysts and investors.

Plans call for deferring $400 million to $500 million in capital and operating expenses at the company’s wholesale power unit. The cuts will be accomplished, in part, by delaying maintenance on power plants. That also will allow Ameren to run the plants more and generate additional revenue.

Ameren also said it has identified $400 million to $500 million of capital expenditures that could be deferred in its regulated utility businesses in Illinois and Missouri. Included in those costs is at least one big-ticket item: the installation of emissions controls at the Sioux coal-fired plant in St. Charles County.

The company’s Missouri utility, AmerenUE, began the $500 million project to install scrubbers at its 32-year-old Sioux plant last year to help meet more stringent federal air quality regulations — rules overturned by a federal appellate court judge this year. The project also was part of the utility’s $1 billion Power On initiative.

Ameren officials are considering stopping construction at Sioux. If that decision is made, the utility would continue engineering work and pick up the project at an undetermined date, Rainwater said.

The company also is contemplating a third step to reduce capital spending in the coming years. Ameren said it will seek authority from the Illinois Pollution Control Board to delay the installation of scrubbers at some coal-fired power plants in the state no fax pay day loan. Doing so would let the company defer an additional $500 million of expenditures between 2009 and 2012.

Ameren said the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has agreed not to challenge the application to the Pollution Control Board. In exchange, Ameren has ensured the Illinois EPA that project deferrals won’t increase emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides during the next decade. Basically, Ameren will delay pollution reductions, but make deeper cuts in later years.

"We believe these steps are simply prudent actions made during these uncertain and volatile capital market conditions," Chief Financial Officer Warner Baxter told analysts and investors.

Ameren isn’t the only utility with plans to cut spending, said Mark Barnett, a utility analyst at Morningstar in Chicago. Just last week, Florida utility owner FPL Group Inc. announced plans to cut 2009 capital spending by $1.7 billion, including the deferral of 400 megawatts of wind energy projects.

"The issue is industrywide," said Mark Barnett. "When the cost of borrowing significantly increases, utilities struggle because their business is so capital intensive."

Ameren announced plans to curtail 2009 capital spending as the company reported a 16 percent drop in third-quarter profit, reflecting milder summer weather and increased fuel costs.

Baxter said Ameren had $1.45 billion of cash and available liquidity at the end of October, up about $550 million from the same time last year. He said the company has no significant near-term debt maturities and isn’t actively considering changes to the dividend.

"We can’t guarantee any future dividend levels, but, as you know, that’s an important aspect of our investment profile and we will continue to be mindful of that," he said.

jtomich@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8320

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The European Commission forecast Monday that the economy in the 15 countries that use the euro will barely grow next year, expanding just 0.1% as the financial crisis hits hard.

The currency zone’s largest economies will come to a standstill or shrink, it said in its latest economic outlook, with Germany, France and Italy not growing at all at 0.0%.

Ireland and Spain will see output fall and jobless lines and government deficits swell, the EU executive said.

Among EU members that don’t use the euro, Britain’s economy will slip into recession with minus 1% growth, while Baltic states Estonia and Latvia will also see negative growth.

The 27-member EU warned that things may get even worse as forecasters could not rule out a deeper credit crunch that would brake the economy, strain government finances and put a near-freeze on household spending.

Even slightly higher costs for borrowing — an extra risk premium of 0.5% on interest rates - would tighten credit available to households and could "trigger an outright recession, a decline of 1% of GDP in the euro area," it said.

The labor market should deteriorate sharply next year, it said, with unemployment in the euro-zone climbing to 8.4% in 2009 from a decade-low of 7% at the end of 2007.

Spain will see the worst of this as a housing bubble bursts and tourism slows. The jobless rate may shoot up to 15.5% in 2010 from 10.8% this year, the EU says.

EU economists said the outlook for the euro area and the wider 27-nation European Union "remains bleak" with growth contracting this winter before recovering gradually toward the end of next year as exports start to pick up loan until payday.

It says the euro area likely shrank in the third quarter of 2008 and may grow 1.2% for the entire year, 0.1% next year and 0.9% in 2010. It forecast EU gross domestic product this year at 1.4% , falling to 0.2% in 2009 and 1.1% in 2010.

The only silver lining it picks out is a slide in inflation, down from record highs to an average of 2.2% next year as oil prices cool swiftly. This may increase the amount of money people have to spend but they may be less likely to shop if they fear job losses. Private consumption is nearly stagnant, it says.

Oil prices should fall from a 2008 average of $104 a barrel to $86 next year, it says. But food and metal prices will probably stay at high levels.

The cost of bailing out troubled banks while tax revenues shrink and welfare payouts swell will see governments pile on debt and run bigger deficits, the EU executive warns.

It says France and Ireland will break EU budget rules in 2009 by running a yearly government deficit of more than 3% of GDP. The ceiling is intended to keep their shared currency stable. Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Hungary will also likely exceed the limit. 

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The nation’s economy slammed into reverse in the third quarter and suffered its biggest decline in seven years, according to a government report Thursday.

The gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell at an annual rate of 0.3%. That compared with a 2.8% growth rate in the second quarter, when growth was boosted by economic stimulus checks and strong exports.

The third quarter decline wasn’t quite as bad as experts had forecast. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had estimated GDP would fall 0.5%.

Still, the latest report is yet another warning sign of recession and marked only the fifth quarter in more than 17 years in which GDP did not increase. The report, which covers the three months that ended Sept. 30, did not reflect the full impact of the recent crisis in financial and credit markets.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told CNNMoney.com Thursday that the nation is likely looking at a couple of difficult quarters ahead, although he wouldn’t comment on whether the economy has already fallen into a recession.

"I won’t get into the labeling debate," he said, while conceding that a negative GDP reading is a worry.

"It is what it is," he said. "It’s not what we like to see."

The White House issued a statement pointing to numerous factors that contributed to the weakness, including record high energy prices, housing and credit concerns, two major hurricanes, and a prolonged Boeing strike.

"While we continue to face serious challenges, the United States remains the best place to do business, and we’re positioned to bounce back," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

There was a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday after the report on whether there should be a second economic stimulus package. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., spoke in favor of new help to consumers, the unemployed and local governments, while Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, criticized the idea, saying the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year had not done the job.

Gutierrez said the administration stands ready to discuss a possible stimulus plan with Congressional leaders but it wants to make sure that any help be short-term in nature. He said the administration would like to give the $700 billion Wall Street bailout passed earlier this month a chance to work.

"That is the single biggest stimulus we can do for the economy," he said. "We are already beginning to see indicators that the credit market is beginning to thaw a bit."

As bad as the GDP number was, deeper economic problems loom. Strong exports, spurred by a weak dollar, helped to mitigate the third-quarter downturn. Even Gutierrez conceded the recent rise in the dollar’s value and the slowdown of foreign economies will likely dampen gains from exports going forward, although he said he’s hopeful that exports can continue to stay strong.

"I would expect that looking down the road, that trade will be a significant part of our future unless we put in place policies that restrict trade," he said.

The report also showed that gross domestic purchases fell 1.3% - the worst reading in 17 years and the third quarter in the last four that has been negative freecreditreports. Spending on durable goods, such as automobiles, showed the biggest decline in 24 years. Meanwhile, spending on nondurables, such as gasoline and food, fell by the most in 58 years when adjusted for inflation as consumers, businesses and governments cut back in the face of higher prices.

Spending by consumers dropped by the largest amount since early 1980. The decline dragged the overall GDP down by 2.25 percentage points - worse than what occurred in the last three recessions in 1982, 1991 and 2001.

"We look at consumers being at 70% of growth and now they’re the engine of decline," said Jeoff Hall, chief U.S. economist for Thomson Reuters-IFR Markets.

At Thursday’s hearing, New York University economics professor Nouriel Roubini said the GDP report is the clearest sign yet that the country is in a recession and that there needs to be quick congressional action on a new stimulus plan.

"If it walks and quacks like a recession duck, it is a recession duck," he said. He added that the sharp fall in consumer spending is of particular concern.

"Everybody out there feels it," he said. "It’s obviously a recession. The only debate at this point is how severe, how protracted."

Roubini called for a stimulus plan that would increase government spending rather than give a new round of tax rebates and business tax incentives like the previous stimulus passed earlier this year.

"If the private sector does not want to spend, the government can spend. If we don’t do anything we’ll have most severe recession we’ve had in decades," he said.

But several Republican members of the committee, as well as Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder, argued that government spending plans have a poor record at spurring the economy and that it’s more important to keep deficits under control.

Vedder said that spending as much as $400 billion on a second stimulus package on top of the more than $1 trillion already committed by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department to address the credit crunch would not be a good idea.

"I think it’s a dangerous and somewhat fiscally irresponsible thing to do. In the long run it will inspire a decline in confidence," Vedder said.

Both presidential candidates said the report’s weakness was a further argument for their economic proposals and against those of their opponent.

"The decline in our GDP didn’t happen by accident - it is a direct result of the Bush administration’s trickle-down, Wall Street-first, Main Street-last policies that John McCain has embraced," said a statement from Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

The McCain campaign said Obama’s proposals represented change the economy could not afford.

"Obama’s ideologically-driven plans to redistribute income will impose higher taxes on families, small businesses, and investors; expensive, rigid, job-killing health mandates on employers," said the statement from McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin. 

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Judging from a leaked ad for day-after-Thanksgiving sales, major stores will tempt shoppers - whose help is desperately needed to bolster the economy - with huge discounts.

Brad Olson, founder of Gottadeal.com, a Web site that markets itself as one of many "official" Black Friday deals sites, said he recently received a copy of Sears’ circular.

His reaction: "The deals are definitely better than last year."

That’s not surprising given that most retailers -including Sears - have struggled all year with slumping sales amid a weak economy. Retailers are counting on a spending pick-up in the weeks ahead to salvage their year.

Sears, in a statement late Monday, said it was aware that its day after-Thanksgiving specials "are already creating tremendous buzz online" and that consumers should expect more deals to follow.

Black Friday - which falls on Nov. 28 this year - is one of the busiest shopping days for the nation’s retailers. It also sets the tone for the November-December holiday shopping period, which can account for more than half of merchants’ annual profits and sales.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the nation’s economy.

Details about Black Friday sales, which Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) and other retailers typically don’t officially unveil until mid-November, are awaited with great expectation by consumers.

Among the surprises in Sears’ ad are "doorbuster" deals, offered for a limited number of hours, on home appliances such as washer-dryers, a category that the retailer hasn’t heavily promoted in the past 1 hour cash loans.

According to the ad, Sears will offer early-bird shoppers a Kenmore high efficiency front-load washer-dryer set for $599.99 on Black Friday. That’s as much as 50% off the price of the individual washer and dryer.

"This really is an incredible deal, and it indicates how nervous retailers are about the season," said Britt Beemer, retail analyst and chairman of America’s Research Group.

The ad indicates the department store chain is also slashing clothing prices by as much as 50% to 60%, and has set doorbuster sales on flatscreen TVs such as a Panasonic Viera 42-inch 720P for $699.99, down from its original price of $999.99, and a Samsung Blu-Ray disc player for $199.99.

"If retailers don’t have shoppers bursting through their doors on Black Friday then they’ll be in big trouble by the end of January," said Beemer.

Even with Sears’ hefty discounts, Beemer said it’s Wal-Mart’s Black Friday discounts that he and many other consumers will be waiting for.

"Wal-Mart’s prices will set the floor on where prices will be on toys, electronics and other holiday items," he said. 

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Mounting job losses. Nations trying to avoid defaulting on their debt. A possible global recession.

Despite massive intervention by governments to stem an international credit crunch that has destabilized the global economy, markets this week experienced historic turbulence with mounting evidence that the contagion is spreading to Main Street and Joe the plumber.

"No country has been spared. Previously healthy emerging markets have seen years of gains brushed aside," said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns. "Similarly, Canada has been dragged alongside."

Yesterday, the Toronto Stock Exchange rebounded after a bungee-jump drop in early morning trading, as North American markets fared better than their global counterparts.

The S&P/TSX composite index ended relatively flat at 9,294, down 37 points or less than a percentage point after a nail-biting plunge of almost 700 points, or 7.5 per cent earlier in the day. The TSX lost 2.8 per cent during the week and is down 21 per cent so far this month.

Energy and financial stocks led the drop, countered in part by gains in materials stocks such as gold.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell also fell sharply in early trading, but rebounded to end the day down by 312 points, or 3.59 per cent.

Globally, this was one of the roughest weeks yet as investors fear the worst is yet to come.

Pakistan sought help from the International Monetary Fund to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt. In Asia, markets took a huge hit with Sony Corp. falling 14 per cent after the electronics giant cut annual sales and profit forecasts.

In the past two days alone there has been a deluge of job cut announcements in the United States, including Chrysler LLC saying it would slash 1,825 jobs after losing $1 billion (U internet payday loans.S.) in the first half of the year and Xerox Corp. announcing job cuts of 3,000 in a "tough business environment."

"The markets are realizing that despite all the fixes and intervention, that this is going to take time," said Rhonda Chang, vice-president and senior portfolio manager at MFC Global Investment Management. "You still have to deal with a slowing economy globally."

Major corporations are issuing reduced forecasts suggesting the start of a major slowdown, said Chang.

"They are giving guidance much lower for next year with no visibility."

In Japan, the Nikkei closed down 9.6 per cent yesterday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell by 8.3 per cent

The FTSE 100 in London slid by 5 per cent after a report that showed the U.K. economy shrank in the last quarter, the first time since 1992.

The German DAX was down 5 per cent after Daimler, maker of luxury automobile brand Mercedes-Benz, scrapped profit and revenue guidance for 2008.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar is on its way to its largest annual decline on record, ending the day yesterday down 1.08 cents at 78.56 cents. It started the week at 84 cents.

Bruised investors are showing less appetite to get back into the rocky market. But given the intense spate of bad news, it may be a good time to invest if it’s for the long term, said Chang who sees the U.S. market as having the biggest upside.

With files from Star wire services

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Alton Pointe Apartments opened several months ago on the former site of Sullivan Homes, a 1950s-era public housing complex that was decried in its latter years by police, community leaders and residents alike. Sullivan Homes was razed in early 2005.

The new development in Alton has drawn rave reviews from residents and community leaders. It looks like a neighborhood of tidy two-story houses, nothing like the run-down, crime- and drug-plagued public housing complex it replaced.

Developed by Gundaker Commercial Group of Chesterfield in cooperation with the Madison County Housing Authority, Alton Pointe is a collection of 28 triplex structures, each having two apartments and one townhouse.

Gundaker officials expected the development to be attractive, but the results exceeded expectations, said Greg Lee, a senior vice president with the company.

"It’s kind of majestic," he said.

Andrew Koenig of Rosemann & Associates in St. Louis was the project architect.

"We like to do affordable housing because we’re serving a demographic that needs great housing but doesn’t have much of it," he said.

Koenig said Alton Pointe was the firm’s first apartment project reflecting the "big-house" design trend.

Thirty-eight of Alton Pointe’s 84 units are designated for low-income tenants with the rest renting at market rates. The development also includes a clubhouse with management offices, computer and community rooms and a playground.

The $12.4 million project was financed with a combination of loans from the Illinois Housing Development Authority and about $9.4 million in tax credit equity. Gundaker will lease the 8.92-acre site from the county housing authority for 99 years and will maintain and manage it for at least 15 years.

John Hamm, the housing authority’s executive director, said Alton Pointed was a dramatic improvement for its residents and the larger community free credit report and score.

"It has worked out great" he said.

James Gray, president of the Alton Branch of the NAACP and a commissioner of the housing authority, called it "the best thing to happen in Alton for a long time."

He said the authority had replaced a "hellhole" with attractive, quality housing.

Mayor Don Sandidge said: "I think they’re great. Compared to what was there, what a difference!"

Sandidge said he thought the development would stimulate improvements in the surrounding neighborhood, which has been in decline, and said the city planned to repair and upgrade streets in the area.

Shannon Davidson, 34, was among the first residents of Alton Pointe, moving there in April after two years in a nursing home. She said she had heard about how bad the old project was.

"It’s definitely not like that now," she said. "It’s a wonderful area. The people are great."

Lee said Gundaker wants to keep it that way. He said the company conducts criminal and credit checks of prospective residents and talks to their employers and former landlords.

Lee said the company hopes to replicate the triplex concept in other communities and is in "quiet discussions" with other municipalities in Illinois and Missouri.

The county housing authority is also replacing another old public-housing project, Lee Wright Homes in Venice, with new, affordable housing.

The planned 78-unit development, Meachum Crossing, will be owned by a private entity called Meachum Crossing Limited Partnership and managed by the authority.

Completion is expected next year.

thillig@post-dispatch.com | 618-624-2526

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ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, says third-quarter profit rose 41% due largely to record oil prices this summer. The results easily topped Wall Street forecasts.

The Houston-based company said net income for the July-September period rose to $5.18 billion, or $3.39 per share, from $3.67 billion, or $2.23 per share, during the same period a year earlier guaranteed cash advance.

Conoco’s (COP, Fortune 500) revenue rose nearly 52% to $70 billion from $46.1 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting earnings, on average, of $3.06 per share. 

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A broad measure of the economy’s health rose unexpectedly in September after declining for two consecutive months, the Conference Board announced Monday.

The New York-based business research group said its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3% in September. Economists were expecting the index to have declined 0.1%, according to a survey conducted by Briefing.com.

In August, the index fell a revised 0.9% after a 0.7% decline in July.

Economic conditions started deteriorating this summer, and the recent volatility in the stock market and the credit crunch will "no doubt weaken the economy further," Ken Goldstein, a Conference Board economist, said in a statement.

"But latest data suggest that conditions in the non-financial economy are not falling apart," Goldstein said. "Data on hand reflect a contracting economy, but not one in free fall."

The "non-financial" economy consists of all businesses outside the financial services industry, including manufacturing and retail businesses, according to Frank Tortorici, a Conference Board spokesman.

The index registered growth in real money supply, consumer expectations, the interest rate spread and supplier deliveries. But its measures of building permits, stock prices and initial jobless claims remained weak last month.

"That was not the ‘all clear’ signal you heard," Tim Quinlan, economic analyst at Wachovia Economics Group wrote in a note to clients payday loan cash advance loan.

The surprise gain was boosted by "an outsized contribution from an increase in the money supply." And Quinlan says September’s data does not change his forecast for slower economic growth in the months ahead.

Over the last year, the overall economy has continued to show signs of moderate growth. But the "wild gyrations on stock market" are beginning to take a toll on the "non-financial" or real economy, Quinlan said.

"People are reading headlines about financial Armageddon and they’re putting their personal budgets on lock down," he said.

With consumer spending making up two-thirds of the nation’s gross domestic product, the outlook for overall economic growth is bleak as nervous consumers cut back.

"It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy," Quinlan said.

The index is designed to predict economic activity six to nine months into the future. It incorporates a variety of economic data including jobless claims, manufacturers’ new orders and personal income.  

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