Special items of $9.1 billion contributed to General MotorsÔÇÖ $15.5 billion second quarter loss, the third biggest quarterly loss in its history, as US sales continued to plunge.  ┬á GM took a $3.3 billion charge for buying out the contracts of 19,000 hourly workers who left at the end of June, and $2.8 billion for its exposure to bankrupt former parts unit Delphi Corp. It also wrote off $1.3 billion because the falling price of used vehicles cut the value of leased automobiles owned by its financing unit, GMAC.

Starbucks Corporation today reported its first quarterly net loss for over 15 years, as the cost of closing down under-performing company-owned stores begins to bite.  ┬á For the third quarter ended June 29, 2008, financial results for the Seattle-based coffee chain show a loss of $6.7 million, compared to a net income of $158.3 million a year earlier.

A subcommittee of the US House of Representatives is holding a hearing to discuss the impact on employees of Delta Air LinesÔÇÖ proposed acquisition of Northwest Airlines. A number of employee representatives have expressed concern about the ability of the combined airline to meet pension obligations, so a hearing has been arranged in Washington today before the Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions subcommittee.┬á┬á Associated Press reports that among the witnesses will be Robert Roach, general vice president of the International Association of Machinists; Patricia Fr

Canadian mining company Teck Cominco has agreed to purchase the assets of Fording Canadian Coal Trust for around $14 billion in cash and stock, according to a company announcement today.  ┬á Fording unitholders will receive $82.00 in cash and 0.245 of a Teck Class B subordinate voting share for each Fording unit they hold. Teck said it will raise $9.8 billion of the $12.4 billion cash requirement from a syndicate of banks, and issue 36.9 million new shares.

Such is the weakness of the US automotive market that even Toyota has scaled down its sales and production plans for 2008. ┬á The Japanese automaker announced today that it has lowered its global sales forecast from 9.85 million to 9.5 million vehicles, still a one percent increase on last yearÔÇÖs 9.37 million vehicles, but nowhere near the six percent growth it achieved in 2007 or the five percent it originally predicted for this year.┬á┬á All automobile manufacturers are having to deal with reduced demand in the US as soaring gasoline prices and fears of a recession p

The healthy optionThe Sisters of Mercy Health System is staying true to the principles of its founders by adopting 21st-century management and delivery approaches, Ruari McCallion learns. The Sisters of Mercy were founded in Ireland at the turn of the 19th century by Catherine McAuley, a young woman who inherited a fortune from her adoptive parents and put it to work rendering support, shelter, care and education to the poor and disadvantaged of Dublin.  The Sisters of Mercy Health System (SMHS), based in St.

Ahead in the sandsBantrel provides a wide range of services for its petroleum clients in the oil sands of Alberta, Gary Toushek discovers. Bantrel began 25 years ago as a small group of engineers with the objective of pursuing gas and oil projects in the Beaufort Sea, north of the Arctic Circle. When a drilling moratorium was put on that region, the group began working for some of the emerging oil sands giants in Alberta, such as Suncor and Syncrude, and as the oil sands grew, Bantrel grew as well.

Perfecting improvement While lean and continuous improvement have been part of the culture for some time at Flowserve Corp., Keith Regan learns how the company is looking to extend its initiatives into supply chain and logistics. Although Flowserve Corp. celebrated its 10th anniversary only recently, the companyÔÇÖs roots reach back more than 200 years to the 1790 founding of Simpson & Thompson. TodayÔÇÖs Flowserve, based in Irving, Texas, was formed by the merger in 1997 of BW/IP and Durco International.

Swinging for the fenceWith an enviable cash flow, Highpine Oil & Gas is looking for new opportunities, reports Gary Toushek. Highpine Oil & Gas Limited is a Calgary-based company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas, and gas liquids in western Canada, and currently focused on the Pembina Nisku Fairway in central Alberta. It was incorporated as a private company in 1998 and went public three years ago.