U.S. officials on Tuesday gave 10 of the nation’s biggest banks approval to pay back a combined $68 billion of taxpayer money pumped into them to combat the credit crisis.

The Treasury Department did not name the banks but many of them are likely to announce they are making repayments and their names eventually will be published in routine Treasury reports.

This translates into “You are allowed to pay back the money that most of you were forced to take in the first place.”

Fewer U.S. workers filed new claims for jobless benefits for a third straight week last week and productivity rose at a stronger-than-expected pace in the first quarter, data showed on Thursday, supporting budding hope that the recession was losing force.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 4,000 to 621,000 in the week ended May 30, the Labor Department said. The week covered the Memorial Day holiday, which could have had an impact on the data.

General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it reached a tentative deal to sell its Hummer brand to a privately held Chinese heavy machinery maker, part of an effort to drop four unprofitable vehicle lines and leave bankruptcy as a leaner company.

GM, a day after filing for bankruptcy, said in a statement that it reached a memorandum of understanding with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co for the sale. Tengzhong said it will retain Hummer’s senior management and operational team.

Stupid.

PMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and American Express Co (AXP.N) on Monday announced plans to sell $5.5 billion of common stock, hoping to position themselves to quickly repay funds from the government’s bank bailout plan.

JPMorgan will sell $5 billion of stock and American Express will sell $500 million. The JPMorgan offering will be priced by Tuesday morning, a person close to the matter said. The person was granted anonymity because the timing is not public.

If they’re able to sell the stock and “buy themselves out of TARP” they never should have taken the TARP funds in the first place.

Delphi Corp (DPHIQ.PK) said on Monday it has reached a deal to sell most of its global operations to private equity firm Platinum Equity, allowing the car parts supplier to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

When it comes time to buy my next car, it won’t be a GM made vehicle. If I could get something for it, I would trade in my GMC right now for a Ford.

GM could have filed bankruptcy, closed 12 plants, and laid off 20,000 people without any help from our government.

Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) run of ignominy has now come to this: losing its coveted spot in the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) to a former unit.Dow Jones Indexes on Monday said the property and casualty insurer Travelers Cos (TRV.N) will replace Citigroup in its flagship 30-stock index of blue-chip stocks, effective June 8.Citigroup shares have traded below $5 since mid-January, and bottomed at 97 cents on March 5, after huge losses led to a series of federal bailouts. Taxpayers could end up owning 34 percent of what was once the world’s largest bank by market value.

Imagine what these companies, and our economy, might look like if politicians like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama didn’t start mortgaging our kids future to “rescue” everyone.

Today, as in the past, there are problems that must be solved and challenges that must be met. We can tackle them with our full strength and creativity only because we are free to work them out in our own way. We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.
Ronald Reagan, May 26, 1983

The U.S. Treasury Department will on Tuesday tap a $50 billion housing rescue fund to pay off mortgage investors and reduce monthly payments for millions of borrowers, said a senior administration official.

Mortgage servicers that own a small stake in costly loans will receive a cash payment to either erase the debt or agree to accept a reduced return on their investment.

U.S. consumer confidence posted its biggest jump in more than three years in April while the slump in home prices showed signs of slowing in February, adding to hopes that the recession may be waning.

Revisionist accounting will tell us, in six months, that the recession ended when President Obama was elected. Wanna bet?