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DETROIT — General Motors Corp. completed an unusually quick exit from bankruptcy protection on Friday with ambitions of making money and building cars people are eager to buy.

At a news conference, CEO Fritz Henderson said the revamped automaker will be faster and more responsive to customers than the old one. It will generate cash and repay billions in government loans ahead of a 2015 deadline.

The new company will build more cars and trucks that consumers want and launch them faster than in the past, Henderson said. GM also announced plans to experiment with auctioning new cars on eBay, expanding on an existing partnership covering certified used vehicles.

"We recognize that we’ve been given a rare second chance at GM, and we are very grateful for that. And we appreciate the fact that we now have the tools to get the job done," he said.

The new company will focus on customers, cars and culture.

"If we don’t get this right, nothing else is going to work," Henderson said at GM’s Downtown Detroit headquarters. "Business as usual is over at General Motors."

GM, in a viability plan presented to the government, said it would break even before interest and taxes next year, and be slightly above break-even for 2011 on a pretax basis.

"Sitting here today, I don’t have any reason to disbelieve those numbers," Henderson said, giving no details of when the company would make a net profit business cards online.

Henderson said the U.S. government, which owns a majority stake in GM, has vowed that it would not get involved in day-to-day decisions. GM received $19 billion to $20 billion more in federal aid on Friday, the remainder of the $50 billion in aid it will receive, he said. A large part of the money will be held in escrow.

The Treasury Department released a statement Friday crediting GM’s restructuring with saving both the automaker and "tens of thousands" of jobs.

GM makes the GMC Savana and Chevrolet Express full-size vans at its Wentzville facility. A week after GM filed for bankruptcy, it told the local work force that it would cut one of two production shifts on Aug. 10.

One shift of workers will return to work on Monday, after a nearly five-week extended shutdown. A week later, on Aug. 3, workers on both production shifts will come back to transition the plant, said Bob Wheeler, the plant communications manager. By Aug. 10, about 890 hourly workers will be laid off.

A side effect of GM’s reorganization is that about 1,100 dealerships are expected to lose their franchises.

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A major video-game company that made $111.5 million in global profits last year on popular titles such as Assassin’s Creed is getting a $263 million grant from the Ontario government to open a new studio in Toronto and create 800 jobs over a 10-year period.

The deal was announced yesterday after a three-year courtship of Ubisoft, which is based in France and employs 2,200 in Montreal.

Other games in its stable include Prince of Persia, Far Cry and the Tom Clancy titles Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six.

But Ontario taxpayers won’t get a share of the company’s profits from games developed at the new Toronto studio to open later this year, Premier Dalton McGuinty said.

"Do we get a piece of the action? No, no," the Premier said. "What we’re talking about here is an investment in jobs and in strengthening the industry as a whole.

"To begin to demand an equity stake in private-sector enterprises is a step too far," added McGuinty, who said that the equity stakes Ontario has taken in General Motors and Chrysler as a result of hefty government bailouts were something that "just kind of happened" in negotiations to save the troubled automakers.

Ubisoft will invest another $500 million in its Toronto operation, where it will draw on resources in the local film industry for production of video games.

It’s a fast-growing field that has already outpaced the movie box office tallies in the United States, for example, according to NPD Group, as the biggest players are in the 40-plus age group with healthy disposable incomes cash loans.

As traditional manufacturing industries such as automobiles decline, Ontario has been targeting the fast-growing world of digital media, which includes computer graphic imaging for the genre of animated movies.

Ubisoft becomes the province’s first major video-game company.

McGuinty called digital media "a new kind of manufacturing" that is worthy of support to build a more diversified, knowledge-based economy.

"This is an anchor investment … it will catapult us a great distance forward," the Premier said.

He noted the investment will help keep graduates of local community college computer animation and similar programs from leaving the area, which is already the third-largest digital media hub in North America.

"Rather than the brain drain … the opening of Ubisoft Toronto is all about a brain gain," said Yannis Mallet, chief executive of the company’s Montreal and Toronto operations.

Ubisoft has operations in 28 countries, including 20 studios, and sells its products in 55 nations.

"It’s a competitive world out there." McGuinty said.

"We were determined to land a video-game publisher-developer of Ubisoft’s stature."

The company, which also has small studios in Quebec City and Vancouver, will have to open its books to the province on a quarterly basis to make sure it is creating the jobs promised before receiving the $263 million in chunks over the 10-year period.

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HOUSTON–Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges he swindled investors out of $7 billion (U.S.) and a judge set bond for his release, pending trial, at $500 million.

Stanford entered his plea during arraignment here in federal court. The financier was indicted on charges that his international banking empire was really just a colossal Ponzi scheme, in which early investors were paid off with funds supplied by later investors.

Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt, three executives with now defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group indicted with their ex-boss, also entered not guilty pleas.

Court was told Stanford should be held without bond for trial on fraud charges. Prosecutor Paul Pelletier said investigators found a secret Swiss account Stanford controlled that was drained of more than $100 million in December 2008.

Jeffrey Ferguson, a forensic examiner hired to review the records of Stanford Financial Group and its affiliated Caribbean bank in Antigua and Barbuda, testified nearly $1.2 billion of the $7 billion the defendants are accused of bilking from investors is not accounted for.

Prosecution documents say Stanford faces a potential life sentence, has access to a private jet and an international network of wealthy acquaintances ready to help him. Dick DeGuerin, Stanford’s lawyer, objected to Pelletier characterizing the account as secret, saying it was known to Stanford’s staff. "It’s just wrong and it’s designed to prejudice potential jurors …"

DeGuerin argued Stanford is not a flight risk and highlighted his charity efforts, including his work with a foundation for single mothers in Antigua, strong ties to his children and amicable relations with the mothers of his children as examples of his strong character.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy set bond at $500,000, including a $100,000 cash deposit instant cash advance. Her order also requires Stanford to wear a global satellite tracking device.

Unable to post bail immediately, he was returned to jail. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in Virginia on June 18. He denies allegations he defrauded investors and even tried to surrender to federal authorities before his indictment was handed down last week.

He was returned to Texas on Tuesday and is being held in the Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, just north of Houston. He arrived at court in leg irons, handcuffs and an orange prison jumpsuit.

Each serious count that Stanford faces carries prison terms of up to 20 years. The defendants are accused of misusing most of the $7 billion they advised clients to invest in certificates of deposit from Antigua’s Stanford International Bank.

Also indicted is Leroy King, 63, the former CEO of the Caribbean state’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission. Fired on Tuesday, he was arrested by island authorities. King is accused of taking more than $100,000 in bribes to turn a blind eye to irregularities.

Anthony Armstrong, director of public prosecutions for Antigua and Barbuda, said King would be handed over once the U.S. sends documents required to extradite.

All are charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Stanford, Pendergest-Holt and King are also charged with conspiring to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission probe.

The indictment states Stanford and the others falsely claimed to have grown $1.2 billion in assets in 2001 to roughly $8.5 billion by Dec. 31, 2008. Roughly 30,000 investors had put money into the scheme.

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ADELAIDE, Australia – The iconic Australian food spread Vegemite is getting a makeover.

Kraft Foods Australia announced Sunday that a creamier variation of the product would be on store shelves July 5 alongside the original, which has been a staple in pantries Down Under almost since its invention here in 1922.

"With such a well-loved, iconic brand, we wouldn’t create something using the Vegemite name unless we were absolutely sure Australians would love it," said Simon Talbot, Kraft Australia’s head of corporate affairs.

Vegemite – a salty, slightly bitter spread made from brewer’s yeast – is such a part of Australian lifestyle that it even made mention as a sandwich in the 1980s hit song "Down Under" by Men at Work. Australians spread it on toast or crackers, top it with tomatoes or avocados, use it to flavour soups and gravies, pack a jar when travelling and write home for more when living abroad.

Kraft decided to make a new product after conducting a census of 300,000 Australians and New Zealanders to find out how they use Vegemite, Talbot told The Associated Press on Monday.

"We received a wish list of what Australians would like and decided to create a new version to complement the original," he said.

The end result is a Vegemite mixed with cream cheese for a smoother, more spreadable consistency. Talbot said the new product was given to 600 homes for testing and came back with overwhelmingly positive results loan until payday.

"It’s a milder version, more suited to dipping celery or carrots, easy to spread," Talbot said. "It’s a different flavour profile but still distinctly Vegemite."

It’s not the first time Kraft Australia has blended cheese and Vegemite. Noticing that some consumers made sandwiches of Vegemite and a slice of cheese, the company briefly introduced Vegemite singles – a flavoured cheese – in 1991.

Vegemite was concocted 87 years ago by Australian chemist Cyril Callister for the Fred Walker Cheese Company in Melbourne, which wanted a vitamin B-rich spread that could compete with Britain’s popular Marmite.

Walker later partnered with American businessman James L. Kraft, and the company ultimately became Kraft Foods Australia, a division of the international U.S.-based company.

Kraft touts the still-unnamed product as "the new Vegemite experience."

Just like the original, which was named in a national poll in 1923, the new version will also be named by a public contest. Jars that go on sale next month will carry the label: "Name Me."

The contest is open-ended as Kraft selects the best name for the Vegemite partner.

"It’s in the hands of the Australian and New Zealand people," Talbot said.

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U.S. prosecutors have broadened their criminal investigation of the Bernard Madoff case beyond the friends and family of the confessed swindler to at least eight investors and associates, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The paper named three investors under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Jeffry Picower and Stanley Chais, two philanthropists who are the target of lawsuits brought by the trustee liquidating the Madoff firm.

Carl Shapiro, a women’s clothing entrepreneur and close friend of Madoff, is also under criminal investigation, the article said.

Investigators have gathered evidence of Picower and Chais telling Madoff how much in returns they wanted and that their accounts would reflect the amounts, the paper said. It said investigators were also reviewing evidence suggesting Shapiro knew his returns were fraudulent.

The paper said prosecutors have not charged any Madoff investors with criminal wrongdoing.

The Journal quotes a lawyer for Chais, 82, and a representative of Shapiro, 96, as saying the men had no knowledge of the fraud no fax pay day loan. A lawyer for Picower, 67, told the paper his client was not complicit in the scheme and had suffered billions in losses.

Madoff, 71, has pleaded guilty to 11 criminal charges including securities fraud, money laundering and perjury for a scheme in which he used money deposited from new clients to finance the withdrawals of earlier customers.

The scheme fell apart as a wave of clients sought to withdraw their money in 2008 amid the financial crisis.

Five months after Madoff’s massive fraud was revealed, little of his victims’ money has been found, and it appears increasingly likely that the worldwide hunt for their missing billions will drag on for years.

Reuters was unable to contact the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Anurag Kotoky in Bangalore; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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More evidence emerged Friday that the recession is easing, with output by the nation’s factories, mines and utilities falling at the slowest pace in six months.

At least one area of the economy is flat, but that’s welcome news. Consumer prices were level in April after a slight dip the prior month.

Inflation usually doesn’t pick up until well after a recovery begins, noted Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia. If the economy rebounds late this year, as many analysts expect, prices likely will be stable until 2011, he said.

Some economists have been concerned about the possibility of deflation. But most say that possibility appears remote because the Federal Reserve has responded with force to combat the downturn.

The Fed said output at factories, mines and utilities fell 0.5 percent last month, after revised declines of 1.7 percent in March and 1 percent in February. Analysts had expected a drop of 0.6 percent last month.

Still, the report showed U.S. industry remains weak. Industrial production has fallen in 15 of the 17 months since the recession began in December 2007 and is down 16 percent since then.

"Overall, yet another report that fits within the picture of an economy contracting more slowly but still far from an actual recovery," Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, wrote Friday.

A 1.4 percent increase in auto production, which came after huge reductions earlier this year, boosted overall results pay day loans. But that won’t last as Chrysler and General Motors Corp. are shutting plants in May and June, which could send industrial production lower, economists said.

Also Friday, a Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment rose to an eight-month high in May.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said its consumer price index was flat last month, meeting expectations. The tame inflation performance reflected a second monthly drop in energy costs and a third straight decline in food prices.

Over the last year, consumer prices have fallen 0.7 percent, the largest 12-month decline since a similar drop for the year ending in June 1955.

Falling prices can be good for shoppers. But over the long term, they can erode wages and cause consumers to postpone purchases, leading to steep drops in production. But broad price declines aren’t affecting goods outside food and energy, economists said. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3 percent last month. It was the biggest jump since July, but about 40 percent of the gain came from a huge rise in tobacco prices, reflecting higher federal taxes.

"Inflation’s not a problem if you don’t smoke," Vitner said.

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A recovery in U.S. consumer spending on discretionary goods could take “many, many years,” the chief executive of U.S. No.2 bookseller Borders said on Thursday.

“Our view increasingly is that in certain discretionary categories the total market has shifted down — depending on the category, by between 15 and 25 percent,” Ron Marshall told the World Retail Congress.

“It may be many, many years before we regain the spending levels we enjoyed just last year.”

Marshall said confidence in the U.S. housing and equity markets had been shaken, and consumers could take many years to reduce their debts.

As well as the consumer downturn, Borders has been hit hard by intense competition from online rivals like Amazon free credit report and score.com and Marshall has slashed costs, including axing jobs and closing stores, in a bid to revive the group’s fortunes.

“We’ve worked very, very hard to reduce our permanent cost structure and improve our financial structure so that we could be profitable at that lower level (of consumer activity).

“If you’re too pessimistic, you’re well placed for operating leverage on the upside,” he said.

(Reporting by Mark Potter, Editing by Sarah Morris)

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Anheuser-Busch plans to outsource two small operations that supply signs and trinkets, a change that will put about 100 employees in Missouri and Illinois out of work.

The company expects to close a warehouse in Mt. Vernon, Ill. later this year. The company said it is working with local leaders and “interested parties” to identify an appropriate use for the facility about 80 miles southeast of St. Louis. The Mt. Vernon site housed the company’s “Point-of-Sale Fulfillment” operation - a fancy title for the signs and displays on store shelves and aisles. “Direct Premium,” an operation that managed small promotional items and was based at A-B’s St. Louis campus, will also shut down.

Neither change will be immediate, and all affected employees will be offered a severance package, according to Anheuser-Busch instant cash loans. The cuts are included in the 1,400 layoffs Anheuser-Busch announced in early December.

“Before this decision, we had identified a need to make significant infrastructure upgrades that would have required a substantial investment,” Dan Hoffman, vice president of brand creative services at Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement. Hoffman said the decision stemmed from “an extensive review” of the company’s business model that began more than a year ago.

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Nokia Siemens Networks’ (NSN) key attraction to Nortel Networks Corp is its quarter share of the North American telecom gear market, analysts said on Wednesday.

NSN, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens, made an unsolicited offer in March for large parts of Nortel’s carrier network group, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report, published on Tuesday, said the bids being offered for Nortel’s various units are believed to be low.

NSN and Nortel representatives declined to comment.

Last month, a source familiar with the talks told Reuters the two firms had held talks on a possible deal.

Nokia Siemens has bought a few smaller companies — mostly to expand its services and software offering — since starting operations in 2007, and has not ruled out further acquisitions consistent with its focus on profitability and cash flow.

Bernstein Research said Nokia Siemens could pay $500 million to $1 billion for Nortel’s wireless business, which would hike its North American market share to 33 percent from 7 percent.

“Alcatel-Lucent would be the likely loser, missing the opportunity of gaining share,” Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said in a note.

Shares in Alcatel-Lucent were 2.8 percent lower by 0830 GMT, while Nokia was down 1.5 percent, roughly in line with a weaker DJ Stoxx European technology index.

NSN generated revenue of 198 million euros ($261 100% approval faxless payday loans.1 million) in North America in the fourth quarter, just 4.6 percent of total sales. Nokia has for years struggled to gain a significant presence in the operator-dominated North American handset market.

“Could this possible deal open doors for Nokia in North America? That is the big question,” said eQ Bank analyst Jari Honko.

Nortel, once the largest North American maker of telecommunications gear, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. federal court and for creditor protection in Canada’s Ontario Superior Court of Justice in January.

The Wall Street Journal said Nokia Siemens is also interested in Nortel’s LTE business, a new high-speed wireless technology intended to replace the current networks.

The technology is slated to be deployed in the coming years by large wireless telecommunications carriers including Vodafone Group Plc and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Vodafone and Verizon Communications Inc.

An auction of Nortel’s enterprise unit last week attracted bids from Avaya Inc and Siemens Enterprise Communications, according to sources cited in the Wall Street Journal. An Avaya representative was not immediately available for comment.

($1=.7582 Euro)

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki and Alexei Oreskovic)

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Research In Motion Ltd. has taken another page out of Apple Inc.’s playbook with the launch of a mobile website featuring a catalog of BlackBerry specific applications that can be downloaded to users’ devices.

Just as the BlackBerry Storm’s touchscreen mimicked the iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry App World attempts to capitalize on the success enjoyed by Apple’s App Store by offering a collection of applications made by developers for free or for purchase.

RIM said the site’s contents, which range from applications like video games designed for handheld devices to social networking tools, are available immediately to BlackBerry subscribers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, with launches in other countries to follow.

Subscribers whose BlackBerrys are equipped with a track ball will be able to download the applications directly from their wireless devices.

"BlackBerry App World provides a fantastic new resource for consumers and an equally exciting progression of business opportunities for our developer and carrier partners," said Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-CEO, in a statement free business cards.

"We are launching BlackBerry App World with a solid selection and we look forward to working with our partners to continue delivering the types of apps that best suit our customers’ personalized needs and interests."

RIM said it expects approximately 1,000 applications to be posted by partners on BlackBerry App World this week, including applications from Bloomberg, Lonely Planet, the New York Times and other well-known brands.

By contrast, Apple’s App Store boasted about 15,000 applications as of January.

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