Market Wrap: GM to Cut European Output; Jobless Claims Best Views; American Pleas to Cancel Contracts

Market wrap-up for March 22nd

End of the Day: Dow Jones down 78.5 to 13,046.14; Nasdaq down 12.0 to 3,063.32; S&P 500 down 10.1 to 1,392.78

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:

• Slimming down Europe: General Motors (NYSE: GM) is making moves to cut out the fat in Europe, a region which continues to weigh heavily on GM's numbers and shareholder sentiment. According to reports Thursday, GM may look to stop production at one or two Opel plants in Europe.
  
  The move won't be easy; Opel/Vauxhall reps and union officials have already voiced opposition to the move.
  
  GM was said to be eying Ellesmere Port, U.K. and Bochum, Germany plants, according to the WSJ.
  
  
• Speaking of trimming the fat: American Airlines, of AMR Corp. (OTCBB: AAMRQ), is seeking rejection of existing labor contracts from its bankruptcy judge, the company said Thursday. The move would provide $1.25 billion in savings for American.
  
  Expected to be filed next week, the WSJ points out that American would need to prove to its bankruptcy judge the contracts are "onerous and that it can't restructure without concessions."
  
  
• Initial claims stay better than views: According to the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday, initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 348,000 for the week ended March 17th. The number came in below expectations for a projected increase to 355,000, though Bloomberg noted its survey concluded the number could be about 350,000.
  
  The prior week reading was revised from 351,000 to 353,000.
  
  
• Someone had to pay for all of those calls: The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against AT&T (NYSE: T) over improper billing. On its official website, the DoJ specifically cites AT&T improperly billed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for its provision of Internet Protocol (IP) Relay services.
  
  The DoJ said AT&T did not adopt a registration system for identifying whether a caller was located in the U.S. or not. From the DoJ filing, "The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States."
  
  For more color, click here.

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