Chrysler may dump Jeep, Dodge Ram brands

Faced with soaring gas prices, a sputtering economy and a rapid U.S. market shift away from trucks, the U.S. auto industry's weakest player, Chrysler, may have to file for bankruptcy or sell its storied Jeep and Dodge Ram brands as early as next year, JPMorgan said Thursday.

But rivals GM and Ford are likely to get through the rough patch and turn a profit in 2010.

JPMorgan auto analyst Himanshu Patel dismissed the possibility of an imminent bankruptcy at GM, saying in a conference call with investors and media that such fears ''are completely overblown.''

Patel said the situation at Chrysler LLC is much more perilous because it has limited assets to raise cash and is more heavily reliant on trucks and on the North American market. Chrysler sales fell 22 percent in the first six months of this year.Financial cover-up

Former Refco Inc. chief

gets 16 years in prison

The former chief executive of Refco Inc. was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for a financial cover-up that brought down one of the world's largest commodities brokerages.

Phillip Bennett, 59, a British citizen living in Gladstone, N.J., had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other charges.

Bennett said he didn't mean to hurt anyone. His voice cracked when he apologized to his family for their ''unimaginable agony.''

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald imposed the sentence, saying the 20 separate crimes Bennett admitted he had committed and the $1.5 billion in losses he had caused were enough to explain it.

''To sentence you, I don't have to paint you as a monster and I have no intention of doing so,'' Buchwald said.

Fen-phen case

Lawyers accused of fraud back in jail after mistrial

Two lawyers accused of defrauding their clients in a diet-drug settlement of $65 million were sent back to jail Thursday after a jury deadlocked and a federal judge declared a mistrial.

The jury had considered the case against suspended lawyers William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. for eight days, and twice in two days sent out notes indicating it was stumped. A third defendant, Melbourne Mills Jr., was acquitted earlier this week. All faced a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The lawyers were accused of keeping millions of dollars that should have gone to plaintiffs in a $200 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit over the diet drug combination fen-phen, which was recalled after some studies indicated it could cause heart damage.

Freddie Mac

Thirty-year mortgage rates fall after weeks of increases

Rates on 30-year mortgages, which had been rising for five straight weeks, posted a decline this week as signals from the Federal Reserve eased worries about imminent rate increases.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.35 percent this week. That was down from 6.45 percent last week, which had been the highest level since last September. The decline pushed the rate to its lowest level in three weeks but it remained above 6 percent, where it has been since the week of May 29.

Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said financial markets were relieved with the statement from the Federal Reserve last week that eased concerns about imminent rate hikes.

Hedge fund scam

Man who duped investors must forfeit $500,000 bail

The hedge fund cheat who faked his death before going on the lam told a Manhattan judge Thursday that he tried to kill himself with a drug overdose before he surrendered in Massachusetts.

The unsympathetic judge replied that Samuel Israel III, who scammed nearly half a billion dollars from investors, must forfeit his $500,000 bail.

Israel went on the run June 9, when he was supposed to report for a 20-year prison sentence. He abandoned his sport utility vehicle on a bridge north of New York City with the phrase ''Suicide is Painless'' scrawled in dust on the hood.

The massive manhunt ended Wednesday, when Israel rode a scooter to surrender at a Massachusetts police station.

He could face an extra 10 years if he is convicted of a new charge of failing to report to prison.