An investment arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is poised to invest about $250 million in Geely Automotive - China's largest privately-owned carmaker - by purchasing the company's convertible bonds and warrants.

Geely Automotive is the Hong Kong-listed arm of Chinese automaker Geely Holding. Goldman Sachs Capital Partners will buy convertible bonds and warrants issued by Geely's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary. The deal is almost complete, but some technical details of the investment are still pending. Confirmation of the deal could be announced as early as this week.

Geely plans to use the proceeds from the Goldman investment to boost its production capacity, which could free up capital for its parent to bid for Volvo. Geely's parent company has made global headlines in recent weeks after contemplating a bid for Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by Ford Motor Co. (F). A successful deal would boost Geely's profile and

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The bankruptcies of Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GRM) provided Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE ADR: TM) with an unparalleled opportunity to increase U.S. market share. But now patent-infringement claims could result in a U.S. import ban on some of the company’s most popular hybrid cars.

McLean, Virginia-based Paice LLC has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that claims the Toyota Camry infringes on its patents, Bloomberg News reported. An investigation into the claim could be completed within 15 months and result in a ban of some Toyota imports.

Paice, a developer of hybrid electric power train technology, in 2005 won a similar case against Toyota involving the Japanese carmaker’s Prius, Highlander and Lexus RX400h hybrid models. Paice claimed those vehicles used its drivetrain technologies, and a jury agreed, awarding the company $4.3 million

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 3, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Panasonic Corp. (PC), SANYO Electric Co Ltd. (SANYY), Sony (SNE), Hitachi (HIT) and Toyota Motor Corp. (TM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Panasonic Still Awaits Approval

Panasonic Corp. (PC), one of the leading manufacturers of electronic and electrical products, systems and components, recently said that it is still waiting for regulatory approval for acquiring SANYO Electric Co Ltd. (SANYY).

Panasonic entered into a capital and business

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Asia is poised to become the “new” Detroit.

Here in the United States, at a cost of a mere $3 billion, the “Cash-for-Clunkers” program appears to have given new hope to the U.S. auto industry.

But that new hope is destined to be short-lived.

It’s true that - in terms of value delivered for the money invested - “Cash for Clunkers” has eclipsed every other stimulus program that has been tried. But the program has a projected lifespan of only three months, meaning it can’t reverse the powerful global forces that are destined to turn the U.S. auto market from leader to laggard on the global stage.

Financial Crisis Fallout Reshapes Sector

Thanks to the financial crisis whose impact continues to be felt, worldwide automobile demand had dropped on an overall basis since 2008.

But regional differences are already emerging.

In the United States, for instance, the benchmark seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR)

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General Motors unveiled plans to build a plant in Michigan with an investment of $43 million. The facility will manufacture lithium-ion battery packs for General Motors’ upcoming model Chevrolet Volt and other electric vehicles.

The plant in Michigan will be the first US battery pack plant to be operated by General Motors. The plant is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2009 with a capacity of 70,000 battery packs per annum. The facility will employ about 100 people.

The Volt is on track to become the first mass-market, plug-in hybrid in the US with its launch in November 2010. Unlike Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM) Prius and other traditional hybrids, Volt is designed to run for 40 miles on a single battery charge, and can be recharged overnight at a standard electric outlet.

The carmaker expects to manufacture 10,000 Volt cars in its first 12 months of production, ultimately ramping up to

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 9, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Colgate Palmolive (CL), China Mobile (CHL), ICICI Bank (IBN), Tele Norte (TNE) and Toyota Motor Corp. (TM).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

IMF Grows More Optimistic

While the U.S. is gaining share of the world economy relative to the other advanced economies, it is losing share to the developing parts of the world, most notably China and India. While the two emerging giants have not been immune to the world

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Reports Point to Housing Market Bottom; Big Three Automakers Beat Estimates; Microsoft Will Unveil New Operating System in Time for XMAS; Dallas Fed President: Economy ‘Getting Less Worse’; European Jobless Rate Climbs;  Pepsi Bottling Chief Could Cash In

The housing market showed further signs of bottoming in April, as pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes saw their biggest monthly gain in seven and a half years, the National Association of Realtors reported. The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes climbed 6.7% in April, more than forecast and the fourth increase in five months. The report supports the case for a housing bottom made in Money Morning on Monday, where it was noted that housing prices are starting to move upward in western U.S. markets and should soon slowly begin to rise in hard-hit east coast markets.  “Based on what we just ...

Is actually the name of an econblog off of which Alpha.Sources get a substantial amount of backlinks. However, it is also a fitting emblem on a day when the hitherto biggest automaker in the world (GM) finally, one is tempted to say, files for bankruptcy. Of course, it will not sink into the eternal wastebin of companies gone bust, but rather emerge as a "new" GM, significantly slimmer and with significantly more state capital (and ownership). 60% is the current number flying around concerning the stake of the US federal government whereas Canada will control 12% according to Bloomberg in exchange for a 9.5 billion loan.

General Motors Corp., the world’s largest automaker for 77 years, will file for bankruptcy today, and emerge with majority ownership by taxpayers and liabilities reduced by more than 50 percent, the U.S. government said. The “new

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The competition to buy General Motors Corp.’s (NYSE: GM) Opel and Vauxhall units heated up last Friday as the three primary suitors were reportedly joined by an unidentified Chinese automaker.

Meanwhile, a bankruptcy filing is not certain in the GM restructuring case, and reports that the Obama administration will steer the automaker into bankruptcy as early as this week are premature, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a source familiar with the situation.

Negotiations will likely continue right up to the May 31 deadline, the source said, with the Chrysler LLC case - where the process continued until the deadline - serving as a good comparison.

Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA) appeared to gain the early edge Friday in the race to buy Opel, surpassing rival bidders Fiat S.p.A. (OTC: FIATY) and RHJ International Inc. (PINK: RHJIF).

German officials said they were

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Japan’s Cabinet Office said today (Wednesday) that economic output fell to its worst levels ever, tumbling an annualized 15.2% in the first quarter, as the worst recession in 60 years hammered exports and consumer demand.

Despite the disturbing news from Japan - the world’s second largest economy - some analysts are optimistic that the record gross domestic production (GDP) decline may be the low point, with business activity picking up from here.

“There was a collapse across the board,” Yoshiki Shinke, a senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News. But there’s “light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding that he believes the economy will rebound this quarter as companies replace inventories and stimulus plans begin to take effect.

Prime Minster Taro Aso has set forth the largest stimulus plan in Japanese history, promising to pump $160 billion into the economy, mostly

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