In another sign the worst of the U.S. recession is over, a gauge of current conditions showed the economy steadied last month.

The Conference Board’s coincident index was unchanged in July after falling in 17 of the 19 months since the contraction started in December 2007, figures from the New York-based private research group showed yesterday. The more closely watched gauge of leading indicators, which shows the outlook for the next three to six months, climbed for a fourth month.

"Not only is there light at the end of the tunnel, but we can see the end of the tunnel from here," Ken Goldstein, a Conference Board economist, said in a telephone interview. "It’s entirely possible that July was the trough month," marking the end of the recession.
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Ford Motor Co. last week said it’s boosting factory production by 26 percent in the second half to meet rising orders for new, more fuel-efficient models in response to the government’s car trade-in program. "Cash for clunkers released that demand," Ford sales analyst George Pipas said in an interview Aug. 12.

The Obama administration on Monday evening will wind down the $3 billion "cash for clunkers" program to support the auto industry.

The program, managed by the Transportation Department, has seen $1.9 billion worth of rebate applications submitted from car dealers across the country, said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

After a dramatic show of interest in the program, Congress raced before the August recess to add $2 billion to the original $1 billion.

"What we've seen is an overwhelming and overnight success, so much so that we've reached the point at which we need to wind this program down," a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday.

The program provides up to a $4,500 rebate for consumers trading in older vehicles for newer, more fuel-efficient cars.

"Right now we are focused on winding down the program in an orderly way and providing a soft landing and in getting the applications processed," the administration official said.

Thanks to hot sales of the subcompact Chevrolet Cobalt, 2,200 people are back to work at General Motors' Lordstown Assembly Plant in northeast Ohio. GM announced this week that they will be joined by nearly 1,100 more this fall.

But it's the Cobalt's upscale replacement — the Chevy Cruze, due out next spring — that is seen by many as the real hope for GM to claw its way back to profitability.
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When asked why people liked it so much, Donahoe points to the styling of the exterior, the plush interior and the fact that it gets 40 miles per gallon.
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About a year ago, the Lordstown plant had more than 4,000 workers on three shifts. About 2,200 returned this month after the nine-week shutdown. Green says many of them have a different attitude.

A Virginia-based gun rights group has taken issue with the Democrat-led healthcare proposals, saying that the proposed plans could strip citizens of their rights to own a gun.

The Gun Owners of America group, which boasts more than 300,000 members, has been warning its ranks that the proposed healthcare legislation would compile the information of Americans into a government database. The group says that by using this data, the government could deem a citizen “medically unfit” to carry a gun.

"All of the proposals that we’re aware of would handle people’s health data that way," said Larry Pratt, executive director of the group.

"And then you end up having a gazillion people lose their gun rights because of some medical record that someone doesn’t like, where they say, 'Oh, that might be a danger to their self or others.' No trial, no due process, just gone."