GENERAL MOTORS

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) will provide certain salaried retirees with a lump-sum pension payment offer in lieu of normal monthly pension payments, a move which is expected to reduce the pension obligation of the nation's largest automaker by $26 billion, the company announced Friday.

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ)?s plans to acquire Hughes Telematics (OTC: HUTC) for $612 million indicates the biggest U.S. phone company is seeking a new market: Mercedes-Benz drivers.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) experienced modest U.S. sales gains of 10.9 percent in May with sales of 245,256 vehicles, the highest monthly volume for the company since August 2009.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, plunged as much as 7.5 percent in Friday trading, reversing Thursday?s 5 percent gains. Overall markets fell about 2.5 percent.

Sales grew across the board in May for U.S. automakers with Chrysler Group LLC, a subsidiary of Italian Fiat S.p.A. (Milan: F), leading the way in growth and General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) leading in volume, while Ford's car and truck sales remained strong on demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. The Asian carmakers also reported U.S. sales on Friday with Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) enjoying bumper growth of 73 percent.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, plunged as much as 4 percent in early Friday trading, reversing Thursday?s 5 percent gains.

After ditching Super Bowl ads, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) pivoted away from the NFL and instead entered into a five-year advertising partnership for its Chevrolet brand with the popular British soccer team Manchester United, a move meant to bolster the brand's global awareness, the company announced Thursday.

Ford Motor Co will pursue its boldest attempt yet to tackle a nearly $50 billion risk to its business when it begins offering lump-sum pension payout offers to 98,000 white-collar retirees and former employees this summer.

The economic calendar is quite full this week, with most of the focus on the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. The Institute for Supply Management, or ISM, manufacturing index and the second estimate of U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product also will draw a lot of attention.

The Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) wants to make itself king of the hill once more and reclaim the No. 1 global sales position from the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) by adding eight compact cars for emerging markets, Reuters said Friday.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, fell 3.4 percent again Friday, a week after their disastrous debut in their initial public offering.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, rose $1.03 to close at $33.03 on Thursday. A week ago, they were priced at $38 for the IPO.

U.S. auto sales will likely reach a 14.2 million seasonally adjusted annual sales rate in May 2012, the greatest year-over-year gain in more than 12 months, as consumers take advantage of credit and low interest rates to replace aging cars. Moreover, increasing car sales are now a primary driver of U.S. GDP growth, according to a Wednesday report by Kelley Blue Book.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) shares climbed almost 2 percent in mid-day trading Wednesday, a day after Moody's Investors Service upgraded the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker's credit rating to investment grade.

The UK government may have made illegal promises to General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) to shift production of the Astra compact car to its Opel/Astra plant in England from locations in Germany, reports said.

The General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), the largest U.S. automaker, said Friday it will not advertise during the broadcast of the 2013 Super Bowl as it shifts its advertising strategy, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Facebook may only have itself to blame for why General Motors rained on its IPO parade this week.

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, raised $16 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest in Internet history, valuing its shares at $38.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) announced Thursday it will build its next generation Vauxhall/Open Astra cars at two factories in Ellesmere Port, UK and Gliwice, Poland, leaving the company's Bochum, Germany plant facing closure.

Warren Buffett's investing powerhouse, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.B) took a 10 million share stake in General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) during the first quarter, an investment it disclosed Wednesday, delivering a 2.29 percent bump to car company's shares and a welcome dose of investor confidence.

General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) rocked the automotive and advertising worlds with its announcement Tuesday that it will stop buying advertisements on Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), a value of roughly $10 million a year, on the eve of social networking site's monster IPO. The rest of the automotive industry's major players are not following suit, though, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), banking on the strength of the network effect, is actually upping its investment.