Feed Editor 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST The AGMA News Brief provides industry-specific news and information to the gear manufacturing marketplace. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps decision makers informed of topics that impact the gear manufacturing industry. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/agma/newsbrief.xml en General Motors Co., signaling confidence in its recovery from bankruptcy, said it generated $3.3 billion in cash in the third quarter and plans to start repaying government loans early. The biggest U.S. automaker said today it lost $1.15 billion after its July 10 exit from a restructuring engineered by the Obama administration. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b0169380db17 1 Manufacturing and transportation companies have seen falling order levels flatten out over the last six months and some sectors can expect a limited recovery in 2010, according to several analysts with Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird & Co. that cover those sectors. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b017473284a1 2 The hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government spent to buy thousands of vehicles from metro Detroit's three automakers under the $787-billion federal stimulus act didn't retain or keep a single job, a Free Press analysis shows. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b01716653a87 3 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Capitol Hill's nonpartisan green eyeshaded experts, believe Washington will continue to boost funding for purchases, loans and other activities under the Defense Production Act, from $150 million in 2010 to $300 million by 2014. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b0170f2bd03f 4 Sales at retailers rose more than expected in October, boosted largely by auto sales, but the previous month's figures were revised sharply downward. In a report that points to a gradual improvement in spending, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose 1.4 percent last month, largest advance since August, after dropping a revised 2.3 percent in September. Sales in September were previously reported as declining 1.5 percent. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b016e455ad63 5 Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers have resolved disputes over work issues at a Missouri plant that prompted workers to hold a strike authorization vote, a Ford spokeswoman said. A team of senior Ford executives, national UAW leaders and leaders from UAW Local 249 reached agreement to resolve the concerns raised by local members and the matter has been closed, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b016f03934fd 6 While General Motors says it may be able to pay back the federal government by 2012, Arizona Sen John McCain has a less optimistic outlook for Chrysler: Eventual failure. McCain said that the federal government never should have bailed out either automaker, according to the Detroit News. "We should have let them go into bankruptcy, emerge and become viable corporations again," he said. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b016fcb19b80 7 Small and midsize manufacturers in Wisconsin are eligible for up to $6,000 in grant funds to improve performance and stimulate growth as the economy recovers from the recession, the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership said. The grants authorized by the Commerce Department are targeted to small and midsize manufacturers with less than 500 employees. 16 Nov 2009 13:30:47 CST http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4b01a09e4f3a1 8