Daimler, the maker of Mercedes Benz cars, has paid its dealerships 53 million euros for losses and has offered an additional 10 million euros so dealerships can buy showroom models. The report indicated that many of the company's dealerships are struggling due to also selling Daimler's truck models, which have seen much slower sales.

As part of a 2-year stimulus package, President elect Obama stated that he aims to create 2.5 million new jobs. Obama stated in his weekly address that the "financial markets faced more turmoil," which may lead a "deflationary spiral." New home purchases in October fail to the lowest in half a century, and 540,000 more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in over 18 years. Obama stated,... More

Wal-Mart unexpectedly announced the retirement of its current Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott. He will be replaced by Mike Duke. Scott will remain as chairman of the board. Wal-Mart remains one of the few companies actually benefiting from the recession as more buyers turn to the store in order to save. Mike Duke will be tasked with how to keep these new customers in the years to come.

The unemployment rate in California rose unexpectedly to 8.2 percent in October. The rise brings the unemployment rate to the highest for the state in 14 years, and the state's unemployment fund is about to run out of reserves. State officials are planning to ask the Federal Government for a loan in order to be able to keep paying unemployment benefits.

The U.S. unemployment rate continues to rise with some analysts predicting unemployment numbers as high as 8.5 percent by the end of 2009. The unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in October; however, more industries are expected to introduce more job cuts. Retail, transportation, hotels, and restaurants are expected to be among the hardest hit.

Salesforce.com reported a 55 percent increase its third-quarter profits. Salesforce reported net income of $10.1 million or 8 cents per share, significantly higher than $6.5 million or 5 cents per share for the same quarter a year prior. Salesforce provides monthly subscription based online management software.

Shares of Yahoo dropped over 20 percent Wednesday, after Steve Ballmer told shareholders that the company was no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo. He reiterated that a partnership between the two companies would provide for interesting opportunities; however, he noted that no current discussions have been taking place.

PetSmart expects its profits to be between 59 and 62 cents per share in the fourth quarter inline with analysts estimates. The company is expecting same-store sales to rise by a small percentage; however, it plans to cut its capital spending budget for 2009.

The Federal Reserve now expects the recession to last as long as one year with the risk that the slowdown may last even longer. Federal governors warned that the economy is expected to contract throughout the rest of this year and the first half of 2009. A year long recession would make this the longest recession since the 16-month recession in 1981.

After two days of negotiations, U.S. automakers may soon leave Washington without federal funding. Chief executives of General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler have been unable to convince lawmakers to provide funding from the $700 billion rescue plan.

Shares of Hewlett Packard rose over 14 percent Tuesday, after the company issued Q4 earnings guidance slightly higher than analysts were anticipating. HP's solid guidance comes at a time that businesses are trimming down their PC purchases and consumer spending continues to decline.

CEO Jerry Yang has agreed to resign from Yahoo. Yang helped co-found the company nearly 13 years ago; however, after refusing a takeover bid from Microsoft, Yahoo's stock has suffered. The next CEO will be tasked with a daunting task of rebuilding Yahoo's declining advertising business and regain lost market share.

Shares of Baidu dropped over 27 percent Monday as a Chinese media outlet released news that the company received money from medical companies to buy keywords. CCTV reported that non-accredited websites purchased medical keywords in order to appear creditable and boost their rankings. Analyst Piper Jaffray noted that the financial impact on Baidu is likely to much less than it appears as the total... More

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit announced, the bank is planning to eliminate 52,000 positions due to a surge in loan losses. Citigroup's stock is currently trading at its lowest level in 12 years on concerns that a global recession will cause further losses.

Adobe and ARM announced today plans to enable Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR support for ARM devices. ARM CPU's used across many mobile devices including the iPhone. The iPhone does not currently support flash back due to performance reasons. This move should provide the performance necessary to bring Flash to mobile devices.