GM plans $5B stock buyback, averts showdown with hedge funds

DETROIT — General Motors announced a $5 billion stock buyback as part of a plan to return more cash to investors. In return, an activist shareholder decided to drop a potentially divisive bid for a seat on the company's board.

The moves, announced Monday, are part of a deal with Harry Wilson, a former member of the government task force that restructured GM coming out of its 2009 bankruptcy.

Wilson, who represents four hedge funds which own about 2 percent of the company, had previously accused GM of hoarding cash to the detriment of shareholders and had sought an $8 billion buyback and a board seat.

But on Monday he said he was impressed at how quickly GM's management responded, adding that the company agreed to just about everything the funds wanted.

"We basically said thank you," Wilson said.

GM had $25.2 billion in cash at the end of last year, part of what it called a "fortress balance sheet" designed to withstand another financial crisis. Going forward the automaker plans to maintain a cash balance of $20 billion and aims to keep its investment-grade credit rating.

The share repurchase will begin immediately and finish before the end of 2016. Investors liked the announcement. GM shares rose 97 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $37.51 in midday trading Monday.

Talks with Wilson's group had been going on for about two weeks, GM CEO Mary Barra said Monday. She said other major shareholders agreed with the buyback.

She indicated that the buyback might have come without Wilson's prodding. "We were on a path to do this anyway," Barra said Monday.

GM recently announced plans to boost its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 36 cents. Combined, the dividend increase and the buyback will cost GM $10 billion by the end of 2016.

Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens said a $20 billion cash reserve is enough for GM to withstand any potential economic downturn, as well as the costs of an ignition switch recall.

The Justice Department is investigating the company for failing to disclose a deadly problem with ignition switches in its small cars to government safety regulators. That penalty could be as much or more than the $1.2 billion that Toyota paid in a similar case. The switches are responsible for at least 64 deaths, and GM has committed to making payments to those injured and families of those killed. The company has set aside $400 million for the payments but says they could go as high as $600 million.

Also, like other Detroit automakers, GM also faces the financial uncertainty of contract talks with the United Auto Workers union later this year.

The deal with Wilson makes the stock more attractive to buyers, yet still allows GM to keep sufficient cash to reinvest in the business, and handle any economic downturn and pay any penalty from the Justice Department, said Morningstar Analyst David Whiston.

An $8 billion buyback would have been too much, he said. "It's a very cyclical industry. A lot of things can go wrong that are beyond management's control," Whiston said.

He doesn't think Wilson got the better of GM and said GM hinted that a buyback was in the works when it announced earnings in February.

GM also pledged Monday to return capital to shareholders each year and said it will announce those allocations each January. It reiterated plans to invest more than $9 billion in the company this year to roll out more new vehicles in the coming years. GM promised a 20 percent rate of return on its capital investment, a number it will report to shareholders each quarter.

Stevens said he did not expect credit rating agencies to change their outlook on GM.

Wilson, 43, filed notice of his board candidacy on Feb. 9 in a letter to Barra. The funds he represents include Taconic Parties, Appaloosa Parties, HG Vora Parties and Hayman Parties.

Under a deal with the funds, Wilson would get up to 4 percent of any profits they make on GM stock.

Wilson had criticized GM for being an underperforming company with substantial cash that needs help reaching its potential. But Monday, he said Barra and GM management are serious about being good stewards of capital. The hedge funds will stay on as long-term GM investors, he said.

"It's rare in these situations that companies listen as well and are as responsive. They did it in a very complete package," Wilson said.

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US stock indexes climb, steadying after a big sell-off

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks made slight gains on Monday as the market steadied after a big sell-off on Friday. Stocks slumped last week when a strong jobs report boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this summer. General Motors rose after announcing a $5 billion stock buyback to appease an activist investor.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose four points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,075 as of 12:08 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 108 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,966 points. The Nasdaq composite was flat at 4,926.

BUYBACK DEAL: General Motors announced that it would buy back $5 billion of its own stock by the end of the year. The move is part of a deal with Harry Wilson, an activist investor and a former member of the government task force that restructured GM coming out of its 2009 bankruptcy. In exchange, Wilson agreed to withdraw his hostile candidacy for the Detroit automaker's board of directors. GM's stock rose 97 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $37.52.

SIX YEARS ON: A bull market for stocks reached its sixth anniversary on Monday. On this day in 2009, the S&P 500 bottomed out at 676.53 after slumping nearly 60 percent in 18 months in the wake of the housing market collapse and the Great Recession. Since then the index has tripled thanks to a recovering economy and record company earnings.

PROPERTY BID: Macerich, a real estate investment trust that specializes in retail properties, climbed $5.06, or 5.8 percent, to $91.80 after Simon Property made a hostile bid of $16 billion in cash and stock for the company.

APPLE WATCH: Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to unveil the company's smartwatch and make the case for why it's a must-have gadget at a San Francisco event later Monday. Apple teased the smartwatch in September but has given few details. Apple's stock rose 98 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $127.60.

FED THINKING: Stocks slumped on Friday after a Labor Department report showed that the U.S. added 295,000 jobs in February. That ratcheted up expectations that Federal Reserve policy makers will raise interest rates as soon as June. The Fed has held interest rates close to zero for more than six years to stimulate growth following the financial crisis and Great Recession.

THE QUOTE: Despite a bumpy ride early this year in the markets, investors should still take advantage of any sell-offs to add to their positions, said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

"Overall, you're still going to get out of this year with good, but not great returns," Wren said. Wren forecasts that overseas growth will pick up, helping to underpin a steady recovery in the U.S.

ECB STARTS QE: The European Central Bank started its 60 billion euro ($65 billion) per month bond-buying program on Monday. The bank hopes the purchases will stimulate the eurozone economy and get inflation back to the bank's target of just below 2 percent. At present, consumer prices in the 19-country currency bloc are falling at an annual rate of 0.3 percent.

EUROPE'S DAY: France's CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent while Germany's DAX edged up 3 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.5 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 63 cents to $50.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 41 cents to $59.33 per barrel in London.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.21 percent from 2.25 percent on Friday.

The divergence between the Fed and the ECB's monetary policies has pushed the euro lower against the dollar. After falling to its lowest in 12 years against the dollar on Friday, the euro steadied on Monday, trading at $1.0846. The dollar was flat against the Japanese currency at 120.86 yen.

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CBO projects $486B budget deficit, about same as last year

WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit will hit $486 billion this year, nearly matching the lowest shortfall of President Barack Obama's term in office, according to projections released Monday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

The deficit projection is slightly larger than one made by the agency in January. The change was mainly because of increased spending on student loans, Medicare and Medicaid, the budget office said.

The forecast includes mixed signals for Congress. Over the next decade, annual budget deficits will be smaller than previously thought because spending on private health insurance is expected to grow at slower rate, reducing the expected costs of Obama's health care law.

Beyond the next decade, however, deficits will soar again as more baby boomers retire and start receiving Social Security and Medicare, the government health insurance program for older Americans. In 2025, the budget office says the annual deficit will once again hit $1 trillion, unless Congress acts.

The annual deficit topped $1 trillion in each of Obama's first four years in office, including a record $1.4 trillion in 2009.

The federal budget deficit became a big issue during Obama's early years in office. In 2011, Obama and congressional Republicans struck a deal that resulted in significant spending cuts at many government agencies. At the start of 2013, Obama persuaded Congress to further address the deficit by raising taxes on top earners.

The deficit dipped to $485 billion in the budget year that ended last September.

Congress' Republican-run budget committees will soon start crafting their own spending blueprints for fiscal 2016, which starts on Oct. 1.

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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

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Gas up another 8 cents per gallon Massachusetts

BOSTON — Massachusetts gas prices are continuing their rise, up another 8 cents per gallon in the past week alone.

AAA Northeast reports Monday that a gallon of self-serve, regular is up to an average of $2.45.

In-state prices have now risen 28 cents per gallon in the past month, but remain $1.07 below where they were at the same time last year.

The Massachusetts price matches the national average.

AAA found self-serve, regular selling for as low as $2.29 per gallon and as high as $2.55.

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PlayStation network debuts 'Powers' scripted series

NEW YORK — Ability does not imply accomplishment. And accomplishment is no prerequisite for fame.

This we know all too well from reality TV. (Hint: Snooki.) But today's viral sprawl of celebrity is explored in fresh fashion by a new series spawned from what some viewers might deem an unlikely source: comic books.

The series' 10-episode season is the latest blossoming of scripted TV fare from unexpected sources: Home base for "Powers" is the PlayStation network, where it arrives as that network's first original scripted series.

Starting Tuesday, "Powers" will be free to PlayStation subscribers, with the first episode free to anyone for streaming through the PlayStation Store web site (a PlayStation console is not required). Subsequent episodes will be available for purchase by non-subscribers.

"Powers" is set in a two-tier society where ordinary humans must coexist with a superior class who, thanks to random distribution, are endowed with any of a smorgasbord of superpowers which they employ for good or, just as often, for non-heroic purposes like crime, carousing or courting self-promotion.

Maintaining order among super-humans places a heavy burden on law enforcement. "Powers" focuses on a pair of homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who investigate cases involving those people of disruptive privilege known as Powers.

Such police work would be a challenging, often thankless assignment for anyone, but it's all the more so for Walker: He used to be a superstar superhero, with a super- bad-guy reputation adding spice to his renown. But then his powers went away.

Today he's remembered, even jeered, for his bygone spandex-clad identity, Diamond, as he plods through his workdays as a standard-issue gumshoe. The department's only cop who can identify with the Powers elite, he is haunted by memories of flying and other abilities he once possessed.

"Sometimes I forget I lost mine," says Walker (played by series star Sharlto Copley) in the premiere. "I can still feel 'em. Like a phantom limb."

But in the lingo of this star-centric society, Walker is a has-been, a washed-up idol, even as he demonstrates that heroes are by no means necessarily super-heroes.

"What's more heroic than 'I lost my super powers, but now I'm gonna speak for those who don't have them'?" says Brian Michael Bendis, who co-created the "Powers" comic and is an executive producer of the series. "That's massively heroic — probably the most heroic thing he's ever done!"

The first case for Walker and Pilgrim is investigating the death of a well-known superhero while tracking down Calista (Oleysa Rulin), a mysterious young woman who, like every wannabe star, is convinced she possesses something special (in her case, budding super powers) and will do whatever it takes to be discovered.

In the series' tangled mythology, there are many fraught relationships and much ugly business, including the underworld drug trade of an exotic hallucinogen.

"This is a complicated world," says Susan Heyward, who plays Detective Pilgrim. "It's not just heroes and villains."

"Many of the Powers are messed-up characters," adds Eddie Izzard. "Just because they have super powers doesn't mean they're excluded from very human foibles and vices. They're kind of rock stars, and a lot of time their flaws are BECAUSE of their powers."

Izzard should know. An acclaimed standup comic and a veteran of such series as "The Riches" and "Hannibal," he plays the monstrous Wolfe, who, driven to madness by his powers and obsessions, is being held in a high-security prison but was once the mentor of an up-and-coming Power protege — the former Diamond now reduced to Detective Walker.

"Powers" has been in development for the screen for 15 years, says Bendis, who created the comic in 2000 with Michael Avon Oeming. It was first adapted as a possible film project, then evolved into this series and was snapped up by PlayStation.

He acknowledges there might be a bit of confusion about the PlayStation venue.

"Some people think our show is webisodes," he says with a laugh. "But this is a fully budgeted, network-style show. And what I want for it isn't a faithful adaptation, word-for-word, of the comic, but almost like a parallel universe, with the same theme and characters, telling its own story and going its own way.

"Die-hard fans of the comic aren't going to be one step ahead of everybody else," he pledges. "They are going to be surprised and delighted by the TV show, too."

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier. Past stories are available at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/frazier-moore

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Online:

https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com

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High court: Amtrak like gov't agency in helping set rules

WASHINGTON — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday that Amtrak is more like a part of the government than a private corporation when it helps federal agencies craft rules to keep trains running on time.

But the justices said it's up to lower courts to decide whether Congress gave the passenger rail company too much power to develop standards that other private railroads must follow.

A 2008 law directs Amtrak to work with the Federal Railroad Administration to create standards that let Amtrak keep priority over freight trains along common railroad tracks. That upset the freight railroad industry, which argues that Amtrak is a private organization that could not regulate competitor's actions.

A federal appeals court sided with the freight railroads, ruling that Congress unconstitutionally gave regulatory power to a private company.

The Supreme Court disagreed, finding that even though Amtrak is subject to government oversight, it is like a government entity. While Congress created Amtrak in 1970 as a for-profit corporation, Amtrak is subject to government oversight, receives billions of dollars in federal subsidies and its board is nominated by the president.

The justices left broader constitutional questions unresolved, leaving that for the appeals court to decide.

Under the regulations, if on-time passenger train performance averages less than 80 percent for two consecutive quarters, the federal Surface Transportation Board may investigate whether freight railroads caused the delays. Freight railroads could have to pay damages to Amtrak.

The government said the regulation simply helped to enforce existing law, which already guarantees passenger trains a preference over freight trains on shared tracks.

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Alcoa to buy RTI Intl in $1.5B deal, expand aerospace push

Alcoa is taking another step to bolster its stake in the aerospace industry with a $1.5 billion deal to buy titanium supplier RTI International Metals.

The New York-based company said Monday that it will buy the specialty metal products company in an all-stock deal. Alcoa said the aerospace and defense industries accounted for 80 percent of Pittsburgh-based RTI's revenues last year.

Alcoa has been shifting from its traditional role of mining and smelting aluminum to becoming a more diversified maker of lightweight metal and alloy products for aerospace, autos and other industries. It has benefited from demand for aluminum and other lightweight materials used to make planes more fuel-efficient.

Last week, Alcoa said it completed its acquisition of the German titanium and aluminum structural castings company Tital. That company's titanium castings are used in aircraft engines and frames. It also completed in the fourth quarter the purchase of Firth Rixson, which makes alloy parts for jet engines.

For its latest deal, Alcoa plans to trade slightly more than 2.8 Alcoa shares for each RTI share. That equals a value of $41 per RTI share and represents a premium of 50 percent to RTI's Friday closing price of $27.28.

The $1.5 billion deal value includes $330 million in RTI cash and up to $517 million in the company's convertible notes.

Alcoa also said Friday that it will review 14 percent of its global smelting capacity and 16 percent of its refining capacity for possible curtailment or divestiture. The company has curtailed, closed or sold 31 percent of its smelting capacity since 2007.

Shares of RTI International Markets Inc. jumped 39 percent, or $10.62, to $37.90 in midday trading on Monday. Alcoa Inc. shares fell 85 cents, or 5.9 percent, to $13.63.

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Sony Mobile cuts 1,000 jobs at unit in Sweden

STOCKHOLM — Sony says it will cut 1,000 jobs at a mobile phone unit in Lund, Sweden.

Sony Mobile Communications spokeswoman Kajsa Petersson said Monday the move is part of staff cuts announced last month when Sony said it would lay off 2,100 employees from its mobile division globally.

Petersson said 800 jobs have already been cut in China in addition to the layoffs at the research and development unit in Lund, which has 2,200 employees. She said it wasn't clear where the remaining 300 job cuts would happen.

Sony retained the unit in Lund after a joint mobile phone venture with Swedish wireless equipment maker Ericsson was terminated in 2012.

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Obama calls for effort to boost high-tech training, hiring

WASHINGTON — Targeting stagnant wages in an otherwise improving economy, President Barack Obama on Monday called on employers, educational institutions and local governments to develop a home grown high technology workforce that could help drive up higher-income employment.

The effort aims not only to attack a stubborn downside of the current economic recovery, but to fill a gaping demand for high-tech workers in the United States.

"We've got to keep positioning ourselves for a constantly changing global economy," Obama said in announcing his "TechHire" initiative at a gathering of the National League of Cities. "If we're not producing enough tech workers, over time that's going to threaten our leadership in global innovation, which is the bread and butter of the 21st century economy."

Obama has obtained commitments from more than 300 employers as well as local governments in 21 regions of the country to train and hire low-skilled workers for jobs in software development, network administration and cybersecurity.

Under the program, the Obama administration will provide $100 million in competitive grants to joint initiatives by employers, training institutions and local governments that target workers who don't have easy access to training. The money comes from fees companies pay to the government to hire higher-skilled foreign workers under the H-1B visa program.

"Too many Americans think these jobs are out of their reach, that these jobs are only in places like Silicon Valley or that they all require an advance degree in computer science. That's just not the case," said Jeff Zients, director of the White House National Economic Council.

Among the communities that have pledged to participate are New York City, Louisville, Detroit, Nashville, San Francisco, and Kansas City, Missouri.

The initiative is designed to prepare U.S. workers for a growing number of technology jobs. According to the White House, of the 5 million jobs available today, more than half a million are in those fields.

Obama's attention to technology comes as the unemployment rate is dropping but wages remain flat. The unemployment rate in February dropped to 5.5 percent but average hourly earnings rose just 3 cents from January to $24.78. Raising wages has become one of the biggest challenges of the current economic recovery.

"These tech jobs pay 50 percent more than the average private sector wage, which means they are a ticket to the middle class," Obama said.

The administration's plan is for universities and community colleges to provide training. It is also relying on high-tech educational academies, some of which have entered arrangements with cities to train workers in a matter of months and help place them in jobs.

The training academies undergo independent studies to confirm the rate of job placements.

"The world's technology needs are just moving a lot faster than traditional education solutions. That's the fundamental problem here," said Louisville, Kentucky, Mayor Greg Fischer, whose city has pledged to expand an existing program with high tech. "So that's why these non-conventional methods are needed right now."

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APPLE EVENT LIVE: Tim Cook takes stage, talks Apple TV

SAN FRANCISCO — CEO Tim Cook has taken the stage at Apple's event this morning in San Francisco.

He is expected to unveil the company's newest device, the smartwatch, and make the case for why it's a must-have gadget. Apple teased the smartwatch in September but has given few details. Scheduled to hit the market in April, industry watchers are eager to see if Apple's version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market. There was similar skepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.

The stakes are high for a company that just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average. The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched without Steve Jobs.

Below is a live blog of the event. All times PDT.

10:10 a.m.

Cook shows a trailer from the upcoming season of "Game of Thrones."

10:05 a.m.

Cook walks on stage to talk about Apple's retail stores and offer an update on Apple TV. He's joined by HBO CEO Richard Plepler to announce that Apple will be the exclusive partner of HBO's upcoming stand-alone subscription service, HBO Now.

There will be a new HBO Now channel on Apple TV. It will be possible to get it on iPhones and iPads, too. The service will cost $14.99 and will be available in early April — in time for the season premiere of "Game of Thrones."

10 a.m.

The event begins with a video of an Apple store in West Lake, China. Customers holding Apple products cheer as employees count down to the opening of the store in January.

9:55 a.m.

Journalists, industry analysts and Apple guests fill the auditorium of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for the start of the event.

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