Poking a Few Holes in Swiss Bank Secrecy: UBS AG (USA) (UBS)

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The ceremonies have since become a big economic boost for the Los Angeles region. The 2011 award ceremony was estimated to have created about 7,000 jobs and to have driven $130 million in local spending. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)‘s ABC — which has had a virtual stranglehold on the broadcast for many years and which will now be broadcasting the ceremony through 2020 — generates at least $80 million in advertising revenue each year from the program. Oscar contenders also get a decent boost in box-office revenue, which was calculated in 2001 as being worth about $5 million for a Best Picture nominee.

The auto industry stalls out
The American auto industry continued its financial-crisis death spiral on Feb. 18. 2009, as cash-strapped General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Chrysler went hat in hand to the government for billions of dollars in loans to stay afloat. GM had already been given some $13.4 billion in Treasury loans, and Chrysler had been given $4 billion. However, they now begged for what they claimed was their very survival, with GM requesting another $16.6 billion and Chrysler asking for $5 billion more. At the time, this was seen more as a last-ditch necessity than as corporate greed — economist Don Grimes at the University of Michigan said that “the short-term situation is so dire [that] they have to get government aid if they’re going to survive.” The two companies promised to cut a combined 50,000 jobs and close as many as 14 plants to struggle back toward profitability.

This last-ditch effort failed. By the end of April, Chrysler had filed for bankruptcy protection. GM joined it little more than a month later. GM’s bankruptcy forced its removal from the Dow within days, ending an 84-year streak — one of the longest in the index’s history. All told, more than $60 billion in bailout funds have been disbursed to the two automakers, with more than $20 billion still outstanding four years later.

The article Poking a Few Holes in Swiss Bank Secrecy originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Alex Planes.

Fool contributor Alex Planes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors, NYSE Euronext, and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) and owns shares of Walt Disney.

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