Friday's Headlines: General Motors

(At 6:34 a.m. EDT)

Friday's Early Headlines

¿ BankUnited Becomes Largest Bank Failure in 2009. - BankUnited (BKUNA) was seized late Thursday by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which said the Florida bank "was critically undercapitalized and in an unsafe condition to conduct business." The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimated that the cost to its deposit insurance fund will be $4.9 billion.

¿ U.S. Steering GM into Bankruptcy. - The Washington Post reported Friday that the Obama administration is preparing to send General Motors (GM) into bankruptcy under a plan that would give the automaker tens of billions of dollars more in public financing. The report, which cited sources familiar with the discussions, said GM would receive nearly $30 billion in federal loans under the drafted plan. After surging 32% Thursday, GM shares were a penny higher at $1.93 in Friday's premarket session.

¿ TARP Warrant Sale Could Help Banks, Hurt Taxpayers. - Bloomberg reported Friday that banks negotiating to reclaim stock warrants they granted in return for Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, money may shortchange taxpayers by almost $10 billion if the first sale is any indication. While 17 financial institutions have repaid TARP funds, only one has come to terms with the U.S. on the value of the rights to buy stock that taxpayers received for the risk of recapitalizing the industry, Bloomberg said. Old National Bancorp (ONB) gave the Treasury Department $1.2 million for warrants that may have been worth $5.81 million, according to Bloomberg's data.

¿ Bank of Japan's View of Economy Improving. - Japan's central bank modestly upgraded its economic assessment Friday, saying the economy was still deteriorating, but exports and production are beginning to level out. It was the first time the Bank of Japan raised its assessment of the economy in nearly three years.

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