Top 10 News Items 4/27-5/1: Chrysler to Restructure Under Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Protection; Swine Flu Creates Worldwide Pandemic Fears; US Economy Shrank 6.1% During Q1

May 1, 2009 4:15 PM EDT

Here is a recap of the top news items for Wall Street this week:

1. Marking a truly historic day for the American manufacturing industry, President Obama announced Thursday that automaker Chrysler will be restructured under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Obama has estimated that the restructuring will be completed in 30 to 60 days with the help of the federal government and Italian automaker Fiat. According to sources, the federal government will take an 8% stake in the reorganized company in exchange for about $8 billion in additional funding, while Fiat will take a 20% stake in the new Chrysler. Although bankruptcy is certainly the last step for this automaker, investors and regulators alike are optimistic that the company will emerge from bankruptcy in far better shape.

2. Worldwide cases of H1N1 influenza were reported this week, prompting the World Health Organization to raise its global pandemic alert level to phase 5, just one shy of the highest level. Mexico is being considered the epi-center of the infection, with more than 300 confirmed cases in the country, as well as 12 deaths. 100's of cases have been reported across the U.S., Europe and Asia.

3. The first GDP reading of 2009 came in this week on Wednesday. Economists reported that the US economy contracted by 6.1% during Q1, much worse than the Street's estimate of a 4.7% contraction. While this number was very concerning, stocks rose Wednesday as better-than-expected consumer confidence figures had investors in a cheery mode.

4. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shareholders elected to split the Chairman and CEO positions, making Ken Lewis "merely" a chief executive. Dr. Walter Massey has been named as Lewis' replacement for the Chairman role.

5. Positive action in the pharma sector continued this week, with news that Dendreon's (Nasdaq: DNDN) PROVENGE trial returned positive results. Just before the news was released, shares of Dendreon plummeted more than $13 or 50% as someone obviously thought they found a leak of bad data. The Nasdaq, however, investigated these trades and, given the positive data, concluded that no tomfoolery occured.

6. Shares of MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM) surged as much as 60% on Thursday following news that it has reached a deal with Dubai World and CityCenter's lenders, immediately funding the full $1.8 billion senior secured credit facility. The CityCenter project, which has caused concerns for shareholders for some time, will now officially be completed.

7. The Q1 earnings season rolled on this week: Corning (NYSE: GLW), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), US Steel (NYSE: X), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), Visa (NYSE: V), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Viacom (NYSE: VIA.b), Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM), DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS), MasterCard (NYSE: MA).

8. Late Friday, the Fed announced that it will expand its TALF Program to include commercial mortgage-backed securities.

9. General Motors (NYSE: GM) updated progress on its viability plan early this week, announcing that it will phase out its Pontiac brand and the commencement of a $27 billion exchange for unsecured public notes. Amid the Chrysler bankruptcy, shares of GM finished this week about 7% higher than last Friday's closing price.

10. IBM (NYSE: IBM) disclosed Wednesday a 10% boost to its quarterly dividend and the authorization of a $3 billion stock buyback. The dividend will now be $0.55 per common share, yielding 2.2%

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• Chrysler LLC
• Banc of America
• Dividend
• StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week
• Bankruptcy
• Barack Obama

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