Industry

They are not so much alive as undead. Open for business, but only to take rather than give. Lumbering, blank-eyed and soulless, they only want more and more of our flesh - or at least the federal government's bailout money. Zombie banks - when there is no more room in hell, they walk on Wall Street! When did George Romero get hold of our economy? The man behind all those zombie movies, from Night of the Living Dead to the multiple Dawn of ... and Day of ... follow-ups, seems to have scripted the current meltdown, what with entire industries lurching about on their last legs.

After Rick Calvert started a political blog two years ago, he was startled when other Web logs, including some well-known ones, began linking to his within just a few weeks. He was even more stunned when he called to interview the journalist Fred Barnes about his biography of President Bush and Barnes was available, eager to chat. Then other publishers began sending Calvert their books for him to review. Calvert marveled at the ease of blogging and the authority it bestowed. To think he got into to it mostly to do something smarter with his spare time than play video games.

WASHINGTON -- Automakers slashed the number of cars and trucks recalled in the United States in 2006 by 38 percent, as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. made good on pledges to reduce safety-related defects in their vehicles. A Detroit Free Press analysis of federal data suggests that automakers have become more adept at catching problems earlier in production, before they affect a large number of customers. But their systems are far from perfect: Government investigations sparked many of the largest recalls last year.

WASHINGTON -- The federal government proposed new rules yesterday that would make it tougher for scientists with industry ties to offer advice about approving new drugs and medical devices. The Food and Drug Administration said that most scientists with $50,000 or more in stock, consulting fees or other financial links to companies should be barred from making recommendations to the agency about a related product. Scientists with smaller financial interests would be allowed to participate in agency advisory meetings but could not vote.

I'm not sure what to make of Alcoa Inc. Should I keep its shares in my portfolio? - K.G., via the Internet The world's largest aluminum producer is expected to turn in record revenues for the next couple of years. Global demand for aluminum is strong, even though that metal is not in as short supply as some other commodities. The company controls 13 percent of the world's aluminum smelting, used in products that include soda cans, industrial turbines and aerospace components. Alcoa is, for example, one of the largest suppliers to Boeing Co. Shares of Alcoa (AA)

Wagner's Point's two largest chemical manufacturers, each of which suffered a serious industrial accident last year, have quietly made a joint offer to help relocate residents of the tiny enclave and two smaller communities next to their plants in the Fairfield peninsula.Herbicide maker FMC Corp. and detergent ingredient producer Condea Vista delivered the proposal Friday to attorney Peter G. Angelos, who is representing Wagner's Point residentswithout a fee.Angelos is scheduled to brief residents tonight at the Community Environmental Partnership office in Brooklyn.

WITH THE JUSTICE Department preparing a federal lawsuit to recover the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses paid by federal programs, the tobacco industry faces the possibility of paying billions more in damages -- in addition to the $246 billion it has agreed to pay over 25 years to settle claims by all 50 states. The lawsuit, which President Clinton announced in his State of the Union address Tuesday, also could force further restrictions on advertising and federal regulation of nicotine.

WASHINGTON -- Days of reckoning seem to arrive so regularly for the nation's tobacco companies that potential legal catastrophe is almost routine.As the tobacco companies face an ominous government lawsuit while paying out millions of dollars in state tobacco settlements, a confrontation this week at the Supreme Court could decide the beleaguered industry's future.In a hearing set for Wednesday, the justices will examine a legal question that on the surface seems simple: Does the Food and Drug Administration have the authority to regulate nicotine as a drug, and cigarettes as a device for delivering nicotine into the human body?

LAS VEGAS -- More than 200,000 computer geeks spent last week ogling the latest high-tech hardware and rubbing shoulders with industry luminaries including Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates. The event was Comdex, the world's largest computer trade show.A few blocks from Comdex, inside a threadbare conference room at the Imperial Palace hotel and casino, another hot technology trade show was under way. And it too was drawing techies looking to ogle hardware and rub shoulders with industry luminaries.

AT&T Corp.'s bid for MediaOne Group Inc. represents another step in Ma Bell's effort to buy cable television lines to use for local telephone and other communi-cations services. AT&T agreed in June to buy another large cable company, Tele-Communications Inc. AT&T has also entered a partnership with cable firm Time Warner Inc.AT&T's campaign stands to redefine not only the nation's largest long-distance company, but also the telephone and cable industries themselves. What does this mean for consumers?

The new General Motors Co. is showing some old GM traits, say several industry analysts who question the automaker's plans to increase North American production next year by about 45 percent. GM has announced it plans to build about 2.8 million vehicles next year in North America. That's well below the number of vehicles GM built in 2008 but nearly 1 million more than the company expects to assemble this year. When an automaker builds more cars and trucks than consumers want, as GM has done in the past, it is forced to discount the vehicles, which cuts into profits.

Cal Dooley, president and chief executive officer of the American Chemistry Council, representing manufacturers, said the industry also wants the law "modernized" to boost public confidence in their products and to head off a growing patchwork of state laws and regulations. He said the principles outlined by Jackson were "in most respects very closely aligned" with proposals made last month by his industry group. "We are convinced through testing in our own industry that our products are safe," Dooley said.

When WBFF-TV dropped its high-profile morning anchorwoman Jennifer Gladstone recently, the news had a familiar ring to it. Across the country, TV and radio outlets are in the midst of a cost-cutting effort that is reshaping the industry and offering few hints of when - or if - it might end. Locally, TV stations are downsizing anchor desks, cutting overtime and looking at new models of content-sharing as ways of coping with a harsh economy. While Baltimore TV stations have largely been spared the kind of wholesale layoffs of on-air talent that stations in larger cities have endured, executive here say privately that this market will face some of the same if the advertising climate does not improve by fall.

Each of the largest automakers reported today U.S. sales declines in excess of 36 percent for March, as the slumping economy continued to keep buyers out of dealerships, deepening the industry's woes. General Motors Corp. said its monthly sales declined 45 percent compared with March 2008; last month, it sold 156,380 cars and light trucks. Chrysler's sales of 100,001 vehicles marked a 39 percent drop, the same decline as at Toyota, which delivered 132,802 autos. Ford Motor Co.'s sales were down 41 percent, with 125,107 vehicles moving in March, while Honda Motor Co. said its numbers were down 36 percent, to 88,379.

They are not so much alive as undead. Open for business, but only to take rather than give. Lumbering, blank-eyed and soulless, they only want more and more of our flesh - or at least the federal government's bailout money. Zombie banks - when there is no more room in hell, they walk on Wall Street! When did George Romero get hold of our economy? The man behind all those zombie movies, from Night of the Living Dead to the multiple Dawn of ... and Day of ... follow-ups, seems to have scripted the current meltdown, what with entire industries lurching about on their last legs.

In its final days, the Bush administration is poised to exempt poultry farms from reporting how much ammonia and other noxious pollutants they are releasing into the air from the millions of tons of manure their flocks generate. The Environmental Protection Agency has asked the federal Office of Management and Budget to give final approval to a rule that would exclude poultry farms from environmental reporting required of other industries. The budget office reviews all proposed federal regulations to see that their benefits justify their costs.

WASHINGTON - The heads of Detroit's Big Three automakers met more resistance from Congress yesterday in their quest for $34 billion in financial aid, but the possibilities strengthened for a stopgap compromise that would keep the industry afloat for now and keep several hundred thousand workers from losing their jobs at a time of deepening economic crisis. With the government reporting the worst month of job losses in 34 years, President George W. Bush called on Congress to act next week to save General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.

WASHINGTON - The economic team that President-elect Barack Obama unveiled yesterday, studded as it is with some of the most brilliant economists in the nation, reflects more than a confident leader's desire to surround himself with talent: It's a recognition that the nation faces troubles the likes of which it hasn't seen in almost three-quarters of a century. Sunday night's rescue of one of the world's biggest banks and the threatened collapse of the U.S. auto industry are the most recent examples of how great the problems are - and there are almost certainly more to come.

WASHINGTON - Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded with Congress yesterday for a $25 billion lifeline to save the once-proud titans of U.S. industry, warning of a national economic catastrophe should they collapse. Millions of layoffs would follow their demise, they said, as damaging effects ripple across an already-faltering economy. The frantic bid from Detroit for help was laid bare at a packed hearing of the Senate banking committee, in which two of the three automakers said they might run out of money by the end of the year.

The U.S. auto industry needs a 21st-century makeover. Its future depends on automakers finding the money and resources to quickly deliver a new generation of fuel-efficient and alternative energy cars such as the planned Chevrolet Volt that can commute up to 40 miles a day without using gas and can net 100 miles per gallon on some hybrid trips. But facing a deep recession and credit freeze that have hobbled their industry, they can't raise capital fast enough to overhaul their operations.