Banks and securities firms are using other financial perks to ease the toll on employees. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) are doling out shares that employees can sell within months—much sooner than normally allowed. Other giant banks, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, let certain employees borrow money to relieve personal cash crunches. And some U.K. banks have considered raising base, or cash salaries—funds that won’t be subject to the country’s new 50% tax on bonuses. Click HERE to read more. –The Wall Street Journal
Ford (NYSE:F), the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy court, earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and expects to remain in the black this year. It was the automaker’s first annual profit in four years. Ford’s full-year revenue of $118.3 billion fell nearly 20 percent from 2008, but the automaker benefited from cost-cutting, a $696 million profit in its credit arm and popular cars and trucks like the Ford Fusion midsize sedan and Ford Escape small SUV. It gained market share in North and South America and Europe, despite the worst U.S. sales climate in 30 years. –Daily Finance
The Federal Reserve panel in charge of interest rates declared for the first time the U.S. economy is in “recovery” and took several steps to prepare investors for the removal of aggressive monetary stimulus. The Federal Open Market Committee yesterday upgraded its economic outlook, reaffirmed it will end liquidity backstops and a $1.25 trillion program to purchase mortgage-backed securities and expressed less confidence inflation will remain “subdued.” –Bloomberg
AT&T (NYSE:T) posted a 25% increase in fourth-quarter earnings, aided by deep cost cuts and the addition of 2.7 million wireless subscribers. In the three months ended December 31st, AT&T reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $3.09 billion, or 51 cents per share. That compared with $2.4 billion, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue dipped 0.7% to $30.86 billion, as falling sales in AT&T’s older local-phone business offset mobile growth. -MarketWatch
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