Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

The rumors were true: Ford Motor Company has just published financials from the third quarter of 2009, and without being overly optimistic, it's fair to say that the data is moderately rosy. Among several bright spots in the report, one that seems particularly impressive is that July - September of 2009 saw Ford North America's first profit since the first quarter of 2005, four-and-a-half years ago.

In addition to Ford's North American pre-tax profit of $357 million, the company recorded a total net income of $997 million during Q3. That's a substantial improvement on the roughly $200 million loss posted one year ago, during Q3 of 2008...

When Westerners think of Sharia -- the strict code of Islamic law -- we tend to think of...unpleasantness. Stonings, beheadings: that sort of thing. However, Sharia also covers financial issues, including lending practices. Specifically, Sharia prohibits the charging of interest on loans. That's been bad news for many Western automakers who provide financing, but Daimler recently reached an agreement with with several Middle Eastern companies to offer Sharia-compliant lending in that part of the world. Daimler may not earn interest on those auto loans, but given the Middle East's appetite for Mercedes-Benz rides, it's still an awfully big...

With the recent restructuring of Chrysler and General Motors, there's been a lot of focus on auto dealers -- particularly those who were axed from the two companies' networks. Considerable time and energy on Capitol Hill has been dedicated to protecting dealers during the bankruptcy process, but now, new legislation is being developed to scrutinize them. And it has nothing to do with the auto industry bailout.

Indeed, this new legislation is related to a different bailout altogether: that of the financial industry. Pushed by an array of consumer groups, including the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, and the National Council...