Obama Rejects ‘Car Czar’; Geithner, Summers Head

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=news

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama opted against naming a “car czar,” instead asking Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers to head a task force on revamping the U.S. auto industry, according to people familiar with the decision.

Ron Bloom, a United Steelworkers union adviser and former Lazard Ltd. vice president, will join administration members on the team, according to the two people, who declined to be named because the announcement hasn’t been made publicly.

The president was under pressure to say who would handle the issue before tomorrow, when General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC must give progress reports on plans to restructure as a condition of $17.4 billion in U.S. Treasury loans. The task force puts an end to reports Obama would recruit a well-known figure from outside to serve as the so-called car czar, an approach that had some support in the auto industry.

“There needs to be a trail boss here,” said Andrew Gross, chairman and chief executive officer of Automotive Consulting Services LLC in Clackamas, Oregon, in a phone interview today. “Typically when you have a committee set up it provides cover. Everyone’s responsible, but no one’s accountable.”

Geithner has “got his hands full” trying to rescue the banking industry, Gross said.

After Congress failed to approve a bailout for the automakers, former President George W. Bush’s administration authorized loans Dec. 19. That effectively made the Treasury secretary the car czar, with responsibility for making sure the companies meet deadlines and authority to revoke the loans.

Geithner will remain Obama’s official “designee” to oversee the restructuring. The Treasury secretary will have authority to recall the aid if the automakers fail to show they have a plan by March 31 to become profitable.

Call for Sacrifice

“It’s going to be something that’s going to require sacrifice not just from the auto workers, but also from creditors, from shareholders and the executives who run the company,” senior White House adviser David Axelrod said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Representatives from Cabinet departments and White House offices will serve on the Presidential Task Force on Autos along with Bloom, who was described by administration officials as an expert in restructuring who also has experience in manufacturing and in working with unions.

“President Obama has asked his most senior economic advisers to be involved in this effort, and that is a signal of the importance he gives to its role and responsibility,” Representative Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement today.

Steven Rattner

Absent from the administration’s team is Steven Rattner, co-founder of private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC in New York. He had been under consideration for the post of car czar, people familiar with the matter said last month. Rattner declined to comment, spokesman Adam Miller said today.

Members of Congress, automakers and industry analysts have spent weeks discussing who might be chosen from outside Washington to serve as the car czar and what expertise that person should bring to the task.

“GM welcomes the creation” of the task force, the company said in a statement today. “We expect to meet soon with this team to share GM’s detailed restructuring plan.”

Five Senate Democrats, including Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, wrote a letter on Feb. 5 urging Obama to name an expert in manufacturing as part of a panel to help oversee the auto loans.

Bloom’s Experience

Bloom, who will be a senior adviser at the Treasury, has experience with an issue at the heart of the restructuring -- health-care costs. Bloom helped negotiate the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. health-care fund, union spokesman Wayne Ranick has said. In 2005, Bloom met with UAW officials who were then evaluating GM’s request for health-care concessions.

Terms of the Dec. 19 loan agreements require GM and Chrysler to persuade the United Auto Workers to accept half of scheduled payments into a union-run retiree health-care fund next year in equity instead of cash.

Bloom counseled airline pilots in the $4.9 billion employee buyout of UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines. That 1994 deal included wage and work-rule concessions in exchange for 55 percent of the company.

He also helped steelworkers negotiate an agreement with Goodyear in 2003. The deal preserved 85 percent of union jobs at 12 U.S. plants in exchange for agreements on productivity improvements, health-care cuts and other issues to save Goodyear at least $1.15 billion.

Task Force Members

The Presidential Task Force on Autos will include officials from the Treasury, Labor, Transportation, Commerce and Energy departments, as well as from the National Economic Council, the White House Office of Energy and Environment, the Council of Economic Advisers and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The industry’s preference for an overseer with a mastery of its workings and culture was voiced by Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., on Jan. 11.

“It would be really helpful to have somebody in there who would take the time to have a deep understanding of our industry,” Ford said then at a dinner with reporters covering the Detroit auto show.

To contact the reporters on this story: John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net.

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Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama opted against naming a “car czar,” instead asking Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers to head a task force on revamping the U.S. auto industry, according to people familiar with the decision.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/15-Companies...s-14279875.html

Rite Aid. blah blah blah

Claire's Stores. (blah blah blah

Chrysler. (Privately owned; about 55,000 employees). It's never a good sign when management insists the company is not going out of business, which is what CEO Bob Nardelli has been doing lately. Of the three Detroit automakers, Chrysler is the most endangered, with a product portfolio that's overreliant on gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs and almost totally devoid of compelling small cars. A recent deal with Fiat seems dubious, since the Italian automaker doesn't have to pony up any money, and Chrysler desperately needs cash. The company is quickly burning through $4 billion in government bailout money, and with car sales down 40 percent from recent peaks, Chrysler may be the weakling that can't cut it in tough times.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group. (DTG; about 7,000 employees; stock down 95%). This car-rental company is a small player compared to Enterprise, Hertz, and Avis Budget. It's also more reliant on leisure travelers, and therefore more susceptible to a downturn as consumers cut spending. Dollar Thrifty is also closely tied to Chrysler, which supplies 80 percent of its fleet. Moody's predicts that if Chrysler declares Chapter 11, Dollar Thrifty would suffer deeply as well.

Realogy Corp. blah blah blah

Station Casinos. (Privately owned, about 14,000 employees). Las Vegas has already been creamed by a biblical real-estate bust, and now it may face the loss of its home-grown gambling joints, too. Station - which runs 15 casinos off the strip that cater to locals - recently failed to make a key interest payment, which is often one of the last steps before a Chapter 11 filing. For once, the house seems likely to lose.

Loehmann's Capital Corp. (Privately owned; about 1,500 employees). This clothing chain has the right formula for lean times, offering women's clothing at discount prices. But the consumer pullback is hitting just about every retailer, and Loehmann's has a lot less cash to ride out a drought than competitors like Nordstrom Rack and TJ Maxx. If Loehmann's doesn't get additional financing in 2009 - a dicey proposition, given skyrocketing unemployment and plunging spending - the chain could run out of cash.

Sbarro. (Privately owned; about 5,500 employees). It's not the pizza that's the problem. Many of this chain's 1,100 storefronts are in malls, which is a double whammy: Traffic is down, since consumers have put away their wallets. Sbarro can't really boost revenue by adding a breakfast or late-night menu, like other chains have done. And competitors like Domino's and Pizza Hut have less debt and stronger cash flow, which could intensify pressure on Sbarro as key debt payments come due in 2009.

Six Flags. (SIX; about 30,000 employees; stock down 84%). This theme-park operator has been losing money for several years, and selling off properties to try to pay down debt and get back into the black. But the ride may end prematurely. Moody's expects cash flow to be negative in 2009, and if consumers aren't spending during the peak summer season, that could imperil the company's ability to pay debts coming due later this year and in 2010.

Blockbuster. (BBI; about 60,000 employees; stock down 57%). The video-rental chain has burned cash while trying to figure out how to maximize fees without alienating customers. Its operating income has started to improve just as consumers are cutting back, even on movies. Video stores in general are under pressure as they compete with cable and Internet operators offering the same titles. A key test of Blockbuster's viability will come when two credit lines expire in August. One possible outcome, according to Valueline, is that investors take the company private and then go public again when market conditions are better.

Krispy Kreme. (KKD; about 4,000 employees; stock down 50%). The donuts might be good, but Krispy Kreme overestimated Americans' appetite - and that's saying something. This chain overexpanded during the donut heyday of the 1990s - taking on a lot of debt - and now requires high volumes to meet expenses and interest payments. The company has cut costs and closed underperforming stores, but still hasn't earned an operating profit in three years. And now that consumers are cutting back on everything, such improvements may fail to offset top-line declines, leading Krispy Kreme to seek some kind of relief from lenders over the next year.

Landry's Restaurants. (LNY; about 17,000 employees; stock down 66%). This restaurant chain, which operates Chart House, Rainforest Café, and other eateries, needs $400 million in new financing to finalize a buyout deal dating to last June. If lenders come through, the company should have enough cash to ride out the recession. But at least two banks have already balked, leading to downgrades of the company's debt and the prospect of a cash-flow crunch.

Sirius Satellite Radio. (SIRI - parent company; about 1,000 employees; stock down 96%). The music rocks, but satellite radio has yet to be profitable, and huge contracts for performers like Howard Stern are looking unsustainable. Sirius is one of two satellite-radio services owned by parent company Sirius XM, which was formed when Sirius and XM merged last year. So far, the merger hasn't generated the savings needed to make the company profitable, and Moody's thinks there's a "high likelihood" that Sirius will fail to repay or refinance its debt in 2009. One outcome could be a takeover, at distressed prices, by other firms active in the satellite business.

Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings. (TRMP; about 9,500 employees; stock down 94%). The casino company made famous by The Donald has received several extensions on interest payments, while it tries to sell at least one of its Atlantic City properties and pay down a stack of debt. But with casino buyers scarce, competition circling, and gamblers nursing their losses from the recession, Trump Entertainment may face long odds of skirting bankruptcy.

BearingPoint. blah blah blah

No one it seems, is expecting Chrysler to make 2010. Why do we need a car czar when the fact is it will likely be a GM czar. Anyone not know what GM's primary problem is? Why do we even need to waste the time to appoint this or that. Let GM go thru bankruptcy and get it over with.