GM CEO announced his resignation
General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced his resignation as a part of the bailout deal. Wagoner said: “On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I ’step aside’ as CEO of GM, and so I have,”. He is being replaced by Fritz Henderson.
IBM’s outsourcing plans draws criticism
After IBM announced their plans to lay off thousands of U.S. workers and outsource many of those jobs to India, employees started to ask IBM about the plans, because it’s doesn’t sit well with employee rights advocates. Lee Conrad, the national coordinator for Alliance@IBM said that “We’re outraged that jobs cuts are happening in the U.S. and the work is being shifted offshore. This comes at the same time IBM has its hand out for stimulus money. This to us is totally unacceptable.”
From CNN.com
Japan’s exports decreased to 50%
Japan’s import-export calculation showed the country’s largest deficit on record in January, reaching 172.8bn yen. It was Japan’s first deficit in the last 13 years. The country is being hit by falling demand for its products abroad, as the global recession takes hold.
Another three bank closed in the USA
Another three bank closed on the week. Bank regulators closed the banks and the FDIC estimates that the combined cost of the bank failures to its deposit insurance fund will be approximately $207 million. Two of the banks now saved, but the third bank failed to find a buyer.
In all of 2008, 25 banks failed. Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC, said Friday that she expected bank failures to cost about $65 billion over the next five years.