Opening Bell: 08.12.10

General Motors Posts $1.3 Billion Profit (WSJ)
Revenue soared 43% from a year ago to $33 billion for the April-through-June period as global production grew by 50%. Sales volume grew more modestly, rising 11% in the same period. The profit is GM's largest since 2004 and first time its has two money-making quarters in a row since that time. GM recorded an $865 million profit for the first quarter. The auto maker lost money from 2005 through 2009 and has been living off a $50 billion U.S. government bailout since last year.

Rubin to Join Centerview, a Young Firm (NYT)
Bobby's back, baby!

Far From H-P And Hurd, Fisher Takes Job In Jersey (WSJ)
Jodi has traded a life in Hollywood to work as a branch manager at a New Jersey staffing agency run by her mother. Ms. Fisher moved to New Jersey because she "needed work like a lot of people these days," said her mother, Polly McDonald, founder and president of TeleSearch Staffing Solutions. She said her daughter sought her counsel on whether to proceed with sexual harassment allegations against former H-P Chief Executive Mark Hurd "some months ago" and her mother urged her to go forward.

Credit Suisse to Cut 75 U.K. Jobs, Joining Barclays (Bloomberg)
75 out at the Swiss bank.

Man Group Dogged By Series Of Setbacks (FT)
With the shares at 212p, Man is trading at slightly more than 9 times forecast 2011 earnings, while rival fund managers trade at nearer 10 times. Analysts say the discount implies problems with AHL, the computer-driven fund that contributes up to three-quarters of the group’s profits. “On our estimates the market attributes a 50 per cent probability of AHL being ‘broken’ ” analysts at UBS wrote last month.

Hedge Funds Develop Taste For US Treasury Bonds (FT)
Hedge fund managers now account for one-fifth of all trading volume in the $10,000bn US Treasury bond market, up from just 3 per cent in 2009, according to a comprehensive investor survey by consultancy Greenwich Associates.

Hero Flight Attendant's Impassioned Online Warnings [ValleyWag]
Stevie: "The airlines have created a monster. Lousy bagggage handling, theft, and now gouging with bag fees, why WOULD anyone want to check a bag? Add to the our collective laxidasical approach to enforcement, and you get a disaster. At the end of the day, the airlines have to step it up. I hate to be bag nazi when i work a flight, but I feel if I am not, then I am letting down all those who cooperate and thry to help out as well."

Credit Suisse Clients in Germany Questioned by Prosecutor Amid Tax Probe (Bloomberg)
About 1,500 letters with questionnaires were sent to Credit Suisse clients who had voluntarily declared their hidden accounts, Nils Bussee, a spokesman for the Dusseldorf prosecutors’ office said by phone today. The recipients are being treated as witnesses in the case and are obliged to respond, he said, adding the office already received some answers.

The Goldman Sachs Steam Room: Where Big Deals Don't Happen [SW]
"The feeling is...Courtyard by Marriott. "