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Canwest Global Communications Corp. is denying a published report that it is putting its big-city daily newspapers across the country on the auction block and one of its senior executives has lined up financial backers to make a bid.

"The papers are not for sale," said Canwest spokesman John Douglas in a phone interview.

"The papers are part of the Canwest company and this story is pure speculation."

He was referring to a report today by Canwest (TSX: CGS) rival The Globe and Mail that said Paul Godfrey, CEO of Canwest's National Post daily in Toronto, has been approached by private equity funds that want to buy some or all of the Winnipeg media company's papers.

While the newspaper assets aren't officially up for sale at this point, the news report, which cites unidentified sources, said that they're expected to hit the auction block within two months.

Godfrey had little to say about the report, when contacted by The Canadian Press.

"As far as I'm concerned… I'm employed at Canwest and I'm loyal to Canwest," Godfrey said. "I have nothing further to say than that."

Godfrey, the businessman who orchestrated a buyout of the former Toronto Sun Publishing Corp and helped bring major league baseball to Toronto, has been known for taking an unconventional, but successful, approach to reworking the media landscape.

He took the reins at the National Post in January after leaving his role as president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays.

"Godfrey knows newspapers, and he also knows how to take newspaper chains private and then break them up and sell the assets, restructure them and make them insanely profitable again," said Duncan Stewart, director of research and analysis at DSam Consulting.

"From that perspective this makes a lot of sense."

A major sale of the Canwest papers would make the company look much like it did 20 years ago before it purchased the group of prominent big city publications like the Ottawa Citizen, the Calgary Herald, and both Vancouver dailies.

Back then, Canwest focused primarily on its broadcast television assets, run through Global TV.

Canwest's bought the former Southam chain nearly a decade ago for more than $3 billion at the top of the market. Those same assets would fetch far less than that now with the North American newspaper industry facing rough economic times, continued losses and industry-wide consolidation.

DBRS senior vice-president Chris Diceman said a sale of the newspapers wouldn't impact the D-rating that the ratings agency has on Canwest's debt.

He estimates that Canwest could sell its newspapers division, which excludes the National Post, for between $800 million to $1 billion – which is four to five times the company's annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a non-standardized accounting tool used by most companies.

"A recapitalization, or a sale that would likely lead to cents on the dollar, would not put (Canwest) back in a position of rectifying that default," he said lowest fee payday loans.

Diceman added that the newspaper division at current market prices would probably only bring in enough money to pay Canwest's secured creditors, which leaves little or no remaining cash for subordinated noteholders.

But selling the newspapers could still be a pivotal move in rescuing a company which has been struggling to repay $2.5 billion owed to its creditors.

Canwest has managed to restructure its operations and finances without seeking court protection from creditors, even though it has defaulted on debt payments.

To survive, the company has been reselling pieces of the business to show lenders that it's making progress on reworking its operations.

Most recently it sold off its majority stake in Australian broadcaster Ten Network Holdings, in addition to past sales of its E!-branded TV stations and U.S. political magazine The New Republic.

"Like the Ten Network sale, this would represent a significant contribution to the bottom line which would offset their debtload, and give them the financial breathing room they so desperately seek at this point in time," said Carmi Levy, an analyst at AR Communications Inc.

"If it comes to fruition, it will be another significant step in Canwest's journey toward, if not financial freedom, then at least financial survival."

Levy said that Godfrey has a solid track record with media companies, which would likely help him secure support from the financial community.

"He understands the business from the inside and out, both journlaistically as well as financially," Levy added.

"He is well-respected by both of those constituent groups, which is absolutely critical here. The last thing Canwest wants is to simply spin off these assets and then watch them spin into oblivion."

Despite the denial of a sale from Canwest representatives, the company's shares closed the session dramatically higher than they have been for months.

Canwest shares ended at 27 cents, up 6.5 cents or more than 30 per cent, amid heavy trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Earlier, the stock hit 30 cents, which was the highest intraday price since May 21.

The company is controlled by the Asper family through their special voting shares, though they're expected to lose that status as part of the restructuring process.

Canwest has also outsourced some of its advertising production work done in Calgary and Regina to a company with operations in India and the Philippines. The company also inked a distribution contract with Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.A, TSX:QBR.B), publisher of the Sun Media papers, which has one carrier delivering competing newspapers in some cities.

On Thursday, the National Post announced a deal to share content with the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Most of the news content under the agreement would only be republished on their websites.

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To work force trainer Dan Andrews, the plans for a new Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 headquarters represent a logical extension of the heating and air conditioning industry’s commitment to sustainable energy.

The union, which represents workers in the heating and air conditioning industry, announced plans this week to renovate and move into a former manufacturing plant at the intersection of Chouteau and Jefferson avenues in south St. Louis late next year.

Upon completion, the $15 million headquarters will draw a portion its power from solar panels and windmills and use some recycled rainwater to flush toilets.

Part of the building’s roof will be covered with vegetation.

Andrews said the building — once the home of Missouri Boiler — will showcase what the heating and air conditioning industry has long preached about energy efficiency.

"If you look close enough, we’ve been doing this a long time," said Andrews, recalling his first training in the installation of low energy heating and air conditioning systems nearly 30 years ago. "But we never really looked at it as green."

The 50,000 square feet set aside for instruction at Local 36’s new headquarters, Andrews said, will take training to the next step with large "mock-ups" of the intricate heating and a/c systems used in today’s homes and offices.

The new training facility, he added, will also emphasize the processes heating and a/c specialists have adopted to audit home and office energy use.

Local 36 represents 3,200 sheet metal workers.

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Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration’s housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

A Treasury report showed 360,165 people had their monthly payments reduced through August, up from 235,247 through July, but a senior Treasury official conceded much more must be done to soften the impact of a severe and prolonged housing crisis.

“The recent crisis in the housing sector has devastated families and communities across the country and is at the center of our financial crisis and economic downturn,” Michael Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, told a House Financial Services subcommittee.

Treasury has begun releasing monthly reports on the loan modification program, called the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, that it launched in February. At the time, it was suggested that millions of Americans might be able to get some relief through negotiations with their mortgage lenders.

But the program, which pays cash incentives to mortgage servicers to reduce monthly payments to 31 percent of a borrower’s income, is off to a relatively slow start.

In July, Treasury said that just 9 percent of the estimated number of homeowners eligible had had their payments reduced, so August’s 12 percent total represents only modest progress.

Barr said that Treasury was on track to achieve 500,000 trial modifications by November 1. The modification becomes permanent once a borrower makes three reduced monthly payments free credit report online.

Barr said that “even if HAMP is a total success, we should still expect millions of foreclosures” as administration and industry efforts continue to stabilize a crisis-stricken housing sector.

BANKRUPTCY REVISION BILL THREATENED

Lawmakers expressed frustration at the slow progress as unemployment-driven foreclosures rise and threatened to revive so-called “cram-down” legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage loan amounts owed.

“I am disappointed at the pace of this program,” said Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

The House last year passed a cram-down bill but it was defeated in the Senate, which at the time had a narrower Democratic majority.

“The best lobbyists we have for getting bankruptcy legislation passed are the servicers who are not doing a very good job of modifying mortgages,” said Frank. “If they do not improve their performance, then they improve the chances of that legislation.”

Barr said President Barack Obama supports the idea of allowing bankruptcy judges to alter mortgage terms, but “the first and best answer has got to be ‘let’s figure out a way of keeping people in their home with a modification’ and that’s where we’re focused.”

A Federal Reserve economist, however, said that an effective plan to mitigate foreclosures must deal with rising unemployed borrowers. 

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Missouri’s is Aug. 7-9 and applies to:

— Clothing with a taxable value that is not more than $100

— School supplies, not exceeding $50 per purchase

— Computer software under $350

— Computers and computer equipment that doesn’t cost more than $3,500

Some cities and counties elect not to participate in the holiday, which means buyers must still pay local sales tax cash advance lenders.

For more information, visit www.dor.mo.gov/news/2009/072909.

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Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Deutsche Bank AG were issued subpoenas by a U.S. Senate panel looking for evidence of fraud in the 2008 mortgage-market meltdown, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The paper said the focus of the investigation is on whether internal communications show executives at the banks had private doubts on the soundness of the mortgage-related securities they were putting together.

The people told the paper Washington Mutual Inc, which is now mostly owned by JP Morgan Chase & Co, was also issued a subpoena by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

The paper said several other financial institutions may also have received subpoenas from the sub-committee that is headed by Senator Carl Levin business card templates.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment on the subpoena to the paper, while Deutsche Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the paper. Subcommittee investigators declined to comment to the paper.

A subcommittee subpoena raises factual questions and asks for various company correspondence, the paper said, citing a person who reviewed it.

The U.S. Senate and Goldman Sachs could not be reached for comment by Reuters after regular U.S. business hours, while a Deutsche Bank spokeswoman in Hong Kong declined immediate comment.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

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On some level, we always knew it: Every company has its price. If someone is willing to pony up enough cash, a reluctant company can be forced to give up and sell.

We knew this.

And yet, it still shocked us a year ago Monday, when Anheuser-Busch’s board of directors — after a month of stiff resistance — yielded to a hostile takeover bid by Belgian brewer InBev.

One year later, St. Louis is still coming to terms with the takeover deal, which became official after shareholders approved the offer last November.

The loss of St. Louis icons wasn’t new. TWA was purchased by American Airlines. Ralston Purina became a unit of Nestl

Boeing Co. will pay $580 million for a plant that makes large sections of its 787 jetliner, an apparent effort to rein in supplier problems that have led to costly delays of the next-generation aircraft and hurt the company’s credibility.

The plant, owned by Vought Aircraft Industries, makes barrel-like sections of the 787’s fuselage that fit between its wings and tail and are composed primarily of lightweight materials.

Deliveries of the 787 have been postponed by nearly two years partly because of problems with components made by suppliers and work that suppliers didn’t complete. Those hang-ups are expected to cost the airplane maker billions of dollars in added expenses and penalties.

Boeing took a new approach to building airplanes when it announced its 787 program in 2004. Instead of building the plane’s parts in the United States, it used suppliers around the world to build sections of the plane that are later assembled at the company’s commercial aircraft plant near Seattle. Ill-fitting parts and other problems have hamstrung production ever since.

Vought, owned by private equity firm Carlyle Group, says financial problems, not production glitches, prompted the sale, expected to close in the third quarter. Under Tuesday’s deal, Boeing will release Vought from obligations to repay money advanced earlier by Boeing.

Vought President and CEO Elmer Doty said that his company’s investment in 787 parts was far greater than expected, and that the financial demands of the program "are clearly growing beyond what a company our size can support."

But Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Teal Group, an aerospace consultancy in Fairfax, Va., said, "This clearly is more about securing the supply chain and undoing numerous mistakes.

"It’s a good move, it’s a proactive move, it undoes some damage," he said. "But on the other hand, it shows this program still has more than a few challenges to overcome. … I don’t think Carlyle quite knows what to do with this asset, and they might not have been prepared to give it the necessary resources payday loans guaranteed no fax."

Despite those problems, Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said Tuesday that the company had no plans to change its 787 production plan. "We remain committed to the business model and the global strategy for the 787," he said.

The mid-sized, long-haul 787 will be able to carry 210 to 330 passengers. Its design includes wider seats and aisles, larger windows and a ventilation system that will allow for higher humidity, all of which Boeing says will make the cabin feel more comfortable.

It’s Boeing’s first all-new aircraft since the 777 and the first commercial jet made mostly of carbon-fiber composites instead of aluminum. Boeing says it will be about 20 percent more fuel efficient than other planes of comparable size.

Boeing, based in Chicago, has booked orders for a record 850 of the planes, but some 60 have been canceled so far this year, including the cancellation of 15 and the delayed delivery of another 15 by Qantas Airways last month.

Adam Pilarski, an aviation economist with consulting firm Avitas, based in Washington, said Boeing might want the Vought plant, in North Charleston, S.C., as part of a plan to start a second 787 production line. The added capacity is in response to strong demand for the plane.

"Boeing made it very clear that they need a second line," he said. "They need it more now than they did before because they are behind."

It remains unclear when Boeing will conduct the first test flight of the 787, previously scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

Vought will continue to run other plants that work on different 787 components as well as parts for Boeing’s 737s, 747, 767, 777, C-17 and V-22 aircraft.

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After a modest spring comeback for consumer stocks, there’s a reluctance to make any big new bets on the resilience of the American consumer, according to some fund managers with strong recent track records.

Many managers are trimming their consumer stock holdings, believing any broad U.S. recovery will be driven by business spending, with consumers staying on the sidelines and away from malls and restaurants. This recession has been so far-reaching and has changed spending habits so fundamentally that the tight grip we’ve had on our wallets may not loosen anytime soon.

"The American consumer that the global economy loved for the last few decades is going to be substantially different for at least the next five years, and maybe even longer," said Randall Greer, manager of the First Focus Core Equity Fund.

Greer’s large-value category fund holds less than 6 percent of its $81 million in assets in consumer discretionary stocks, below that category’s nearly 9 percent weighting in the fund’s S&P 500’s benchmark. With its modest consumer holdings, the fund has posted a 4 percent year-to-date return, outpacing the S&P 500 and the average large-value fund.

Greer and other consumer comeback pessimists weren’t surprised this week when the Consumer Confidence Index showed a June drop that most analysts hadn’t expected. The index had been rising steadily from a historic low in February. But after June’s decline, it remains well below a level that’s considered healthy.

Despite consumers’ continuing anxiety and slow retail sales, consumer stocks have recently revived. Consumer goods stocks rose nearly 23 percent in the second quarter, and consumer services stocks were up nearly 20 percent, according to Morningstar. That compares with a 15 percent jump in the S&P 500.

Some say retailers face a long road back to profitability.

Absent inflation — now around zero — this recession has virtually all the elements needed to induce pain in the pocketbook. Unemployment is at a 26-year high approaching 10 percent, leaving even those with jobs afraid and spending-averse. Plunging markets have eroded retirement nest eggs. The housing slump has deprived Americans of much of the home equity that they had relied on coming out of the 2001 recession, when home prices held up despite troubles across the rest of the economy.

Consumer debt remains high, and most forms of credit are still pricey and hard to come by. And although $4-a-gallon gas hasn’t set in this year, fuel prices have lately been on the rise, with last year’s spike still a fresh memory.

Americans have responded by taking the uncharacteristic step of saving, which doesn’t help consumer-dependent retailers and restaurants first cash advance. The personal savings rate now stands at a 15-year high of 6.9 percent. The latest monthly jump marked a sharp turn toward frugality after annual savings rates had been below 1 percent from 2005 through 2007.

Ron Muhlenkamp figures the trend is long-term, and is keeping less than his usual consumer stock weighting in his $621 million Muhlenkamp Fund.

"My suspicion is that now that people have cut back, they’re finding out their new spending level isn’t all that bad, and they might just stay there," said Muhlenkamp, whose large-value fund has rebounded from underperformance the past three years to an 8 percent return year-to-date, topping the S&P 500, which is now almost exactly where it started the year.

The consumer stocks that Muhlenkamp, Greer and Turner Investment Partners’ Jason Schrotberger are sticking with these days are uniquely positioned to survive the recession, the managers say.

Greer likes stocks such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Pepsico Inc. with large international markets. He figures growing middle-class populations in countries such as Brazil and India offer more opportunity than the U.S. market.

Schrotberger, who covers consumer stocks at Turner and co-manages some of the firm’s funds, is focusing on retailers such as department store operator Kohl’s Corp. that began cutting costs and inventory soon after signs of an economic slowdown emerged, rather than waiting.

"Those companies will be able to come out of this stronger, with more market share," Schrotberger said.

And Kohl’s, the No. 5 overall holding at Turner’s family of funds, has traded around $42 recently — about the same price the stock was a year ago, before last fall’s market swoon.

As for Muhlenkamp, his favorite consumer pick is Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., whose shares are down sharply from a couple years ago, but have tripled from an early March low of $3.17 to about $11.50 a share now.

Muhlenkamp notes that tire manufacturers make a bigger profit from selling replacements than from tires that come on new cars. And consumers these days are more likely to buy replacement tires for an old car than they are to get a new car.

"People," Muhlenkamp says, "will be cautious spenders for quite a while."

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HELSINKI–Nokia Siemens Networks said Saturday it will buy the wireless operations of Canadian-based Nortel Networks in a $650 million (euro465 million) deal to strengthen its position in North American markets.

The Finnish-German joint venture said it will purchase the LTE and CDMA assets of Nortel, a former telecom equipment giant now operating under bankruptcy protection.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is a rival standard to the dominant cellular standard GSM, or global system for mobile, while Long Term Evolution, or LTE, is a next-generation wireless network technology.

The transaction is subject to the approval of U.S. and Canadian courts because of Nortel’s bankruptcy process, Nokia Siemens said, adding it expected such approvals by July. It described the planned acquisition as "a significant step towards strengthening its leadership" in LTE wireless technology.

"The acquisition of Nortel’s profitable CDMA business would significantly improve Nokia Siemens Networks’ presence in North America and make it a leading supplier of wireless infrastructure products in the region," the Espoo, Finland-based company said.

Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture of Nokia Corp., the world’s top mobile phone maker, and German Siemens AG free business cards.com. It employs 60,000 people worldwide.

Under the deal more than 2,500 Nortel employees, mostly in Canada and the United States, would be transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks. Canada’s government-owned export credit agency, Export Development Canada, would support the transaction with a $300 million loan commitment, Nokia Siemens said.

Toronto-based Nortel reported a first-quarter net loss this year of US$507 million with revenue falling by 37 per cent from 2008 to $1.7 billion.

Nortel’s customers, including Bell – Canada’s leading telecommunications company – welcomed the deal which Nokia Siemens said would ensure the continuation of Nortel’s research and development sector.

"As Nortel’s largest customer in Canada, Bell supports Nokia Siemens’ plan to continue to foster Nortel’s long history of research and development in Canada," said Stephen Howe, spokesman for Bell Mobility.

"This news eliminates industry uncertainty and enhances CDMA … today and in the future," said Dan Hesse, CEO of Kansas-based Sprint Nextel.

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Gas prices have risen for 50 days in a row and the pain at the pump is taking a toll on household budgets across the nation.

Nationwide, gas prices now average $2.679, motorist group AAA said Wednesday. Prices have risen every day since April 29, when the national average stood at $2.05 a gallon.

Drivers in every U.S. state, with the exception of South Carolina, now pay an average of at least $2.50 a gallon. In the Palmetto State, gas averages $2.49 a gallon.

The runup in gas prices comes at a time when drivers are already struggling with record high unemployment and an abysmal housing market.

"The rise is gas prices is putting a large dent into our household budget at a time when we are already feeling some pain," said Michael Clark, a technologies business analyst in Phoenix.

Clark, who said prices at his local station have gone up more than 90 cents since May, was recently asked by his employer to accept a 15% pay cut.

"I do not understand how the stock market can be up and the price of oil rising when everybody I know is hurting so badly," he said.

Many economists worry that consumers like Clark will be forced to cut back on spending on other items to make up for higher pump prices.

That could pose a serious threat to the already battered economy, since consumer spending makes up the bulk of U faxless cash advance.S. economic activity.

The spike in gas prices comes on the back of a surge in the price of crude oil, which is the main ingredient in retail gasoline.

The price of oil has more than doubled since late December, climbing from a low of $33.87 a barrel to more than $70 recently. Meanwhile, gas prices have followed a similar trajectory, jumping more than $1 a gallon over the same time period.

Oil prices have been driven higher as investors bet the world’s once-robust demand for energy is poised for a rebound. However, many analysts say the recent runup is overdone, and that oil prices at current levels are not justified based on sound economic fundamentals.

Has the rebound in gas prices caused you financial hardship? Are you spending less on other items to help with the cost of driving? Have you postponed summer driving plans? We want to hear your experiences. E-mail your story to realstories@cnnmoney.com and you could be part of an upcoming article. For the CNNMoney.com Comment Policy, click here. 

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