GM wants to have 10% of the Indian car market. By some measurements it will be the fastest growing market over the next decade after China.

That is not all General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) wants from India. The big car company would like to buy car parts from manufacturers there as well. GM's CEO said as much to Reuters: "We are not only focusing on leveraging our supply base to suit our local needs, we are also looking to source more parts out of India to supply our global operations."

That may be a problem for the UAW and struggling car parts companies like Delphi, which is trying to get out of bankruptcy. The UAW already has to deal with its fear that private equity interests might buy Chrysler from DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) and break the company into pieces. That might cost the UAW some jobs.

The UAW contracts with The Big Three come up for re-negotiation in September. Sourcing parts from overseas will probably be part of those conversations.

GM is smart to tell business and the government in India that it wants to buy parts from companies there. It gets the company in the good graces of people who can help it build a market for its cars. Workers in Detroit, however, may have something to say about the plan.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Yesterday, car parts company Magna International (NYSE: MGA) said it should be the winning bidder for DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) Chrysler unit.

Magna's CEO, Frank Stronach, told the Globe and Mail: "It's a big sum we would allocate. [...] We would make a big commitment."

Magna is really not a very big company. It has a market cap of just over $8 billion. Its income last year was just over $22 billion. Daimler's market cap is $85 billion and Chrysler's revenue is almost 35% of its $200 billion in revenue.

The union members on Daimler's board do not want Chrysler sold to private equity interests as they believe this would lead to a break-up of the company and tens of thousands of lay-offs. Regardless, it is hard to imagine that Magna can manage a company so much larger than itself, and manage its own business at the same time. If a merger with Chrysler fails, the job loss could be just as terrible.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

In 2006, I wrote a few blog entries about Ballard Power Systems Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ: BLDP), the leading manufacturer of zero-emission proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Basically, Ballard makes fuel cells that use hydrogen to power cars and machines without polluting our atmosphere.

At the time of my first blog entry in April 2006, the stock was nearing $8, and in August 2006, it was at $5.88. Now Ballard has sunk even lower, and currently trades in the $5.68 range. But if you could stomach the risk of Ballard back then -- and it is an above-risk pick for sure ­-- don't give up on it yet.

As I mentioned in my April blog, this is a stock to buy and hang onto for many years. It makes one of the best fuel cells out there, and more and more people are growing conscious of the need to reduce carbon emissions, which means looking to new means of powering vehicles. However, it takes years before the mainstream public adopts new technologies, and fuel-cell powered vehicles are not going to be the norm for decades.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is in talks to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the third largest options exchange in the U.S.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Kirk Kerkorian wasn't invited to meet this week with DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) as it gets together with bidders for its Chrysler unit.
• Also in the Wall Street Journal, Xstrata will sell its aluminum unit to Apollo Management for $1.5B, higher than expected.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the New York Post, citing sources familiar with the matter, the private-equity firms that bought out Clear Channel Communications Inc (NYSE: CCU), Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, are weighing their options as they wait for a "crucial" shareholder vote on the deal, which will come next week.

WEBSITES:

• According to Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column, Carl Icahn's investment groups reported that in the last two weeks they have increased their Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) holdings to 69.1M shares, or a 2.9% stake, from 64.9M shares, or a 2.7% stake.
• DigiTimes.com reported that Samsung is reportedly switching capacity from DRAM back to NAND flash.

Main market news here.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a top DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) executive is scheduled to meet in New York this week with bidders for the Chrysler Group. It seems, however, that Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. isn't one of the bidders invited to the meeting despite announcing a $4.5 billion bid for Chrysler late last week.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is the first major U.S. oil company to have joined a growing group of major corporations, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership. The group includes BP PLC (NYSE: BP) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and is urging Congress to require limits on greenhouse gases tied to global warming. I just happened to watch Al Gore's An Incovnenient Truth yesterday and it does seem that the major pushes lately towards greener policies have been bottom up rather than top down. Cities, corporations and individuals are recognizing the threat and are trying to do something about it, but acknowledging that voluntary measures may not be enough. They await for policy makers to join their bid to curb greenhouse emissions.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said its China retail vehicle sales rose 16.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier to 42,746 units. While this may seem like an impressive number, the market growth in China is 22.2%. Meanwhile, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) saw a 25% sales growth to 291,588 vehicles, BMW sold 34% more cars in mainland China to a total of 10,177 cars and Volkswagen AG's sales grew 23% to 202,623. Finally, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) also recently reported China sales of 103,000 units in the quarter, up 66% from the year-ago level.

After a few big headlines last week regarding McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) labor practices in China, today we hear that China's labor authorities have cleared McDonald's of any violations of wage and other regulations. That's good to hear, although some problems were still uncovered.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) yesterday warned of four security flaws in its software that it categorized as "critical." These flaws could allow attackers to gain control of a user's computer.

If Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) thought a gag order would stop all the publicity it was getting regarding the company's surveillance of shareholders, now New York City is seeking a probe into the retailer's practices.

Fellow AOL bloggist Douglas McIntyre wrote an elegant piece titled is DaimlerChrysler (NYSE; DCX) worth 40% more without Chrysler? The categorical answer is yes and then some. Investors want stability and predictability of earnings, not surprises. The name Chrysler emotes an emotional feeling in many Americans as it is an icon of America's past glory in the automotive world.

Chrysler has an illustrious history and those of us old enough to remember can still see CEO Lee Iacocoa saving this company back in the late 1970's. President Carter had to approve a government bail -out of the near bankrupt company. Iacocoa went on TV and did several popular commercials. The end result was Chrysler was saved and allowed to go on and Iacocoa became a celebrity.With that, he claims his golf game has not improved however.

In 1998, Daimler decided to expand its base and distribution power. They had a solid foothold into the United States with the Mercedes Benz line-up, but picking off Chrysler gave them an entree into "mainstream America". For $36 billion, they were granted a seat at the table. It did not work out for a variety of reasons including cultural conflicts.

Shares in German car company DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) are up 40% so far this year to over $84. By way of contrast, shares in Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) are flat.

Is the possiblity of being rid of Chrysler worth that much? Keep in mind that Chrysler is not even gone yet and there is some chance Daimler may have to keep it. Union officials, who make up 50% of the parent company's supervisory board, are against a deal to sell the U.S. arm as they believe a buyer would make sharp job cuts.

The increase in DCX's market capitalization is about $16 billion this year. That moves it up to $86 billion. Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE: F) entire market cap is $15 billion.

Last year, DaimlerChrysler's revenues were $151.6 billion. Of which, the Mercedes division of DCX brought in €55 billion and its operating profit was €2.4 billion. The Chrysler Group brought in €47 billion in revenue and had a loss of €1.1 billion. The company's truck division revenue was €32 billion with an operating profit of €2 billion and its financial services group had a €1.7 billion profit.

So, Daimler would give up 31% of its revenue and would improve its operating profit from €5.5billion to €6.1 billion. Is the €500 million improvement in profit worth a 40% increase in market cap? Probably not.

While Daimler will probably get rid of its union and pension obligations in the US, which is worth a great deal, it would lose the product development and distribution synergies in the US.

A 40% market cap improvement may be a bit much.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Stock futures are higher to flat in early morning trading, indicating a similar start for stocks following overseas market and ahead of earnings season start.

Earlier in the morning, futures were lower after finishing nearly flat yesterday. With the start of the earnings season today, many weigh the news that according to all indications, the S&P will not experience the same double digit growth investors have become accustomed to the past few quarters.

Asian stocks closed mixed overnight with Japan's Nikkei and Taiwan down but Australia's S&P/ASX 200, Singapore and South Korea indexes hitting record highs. European stocks are trading higher at the moment approaching a six- year high. This is led by increased corporate activity, namely with billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. offering to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) money-losing Chrysler unit and a takeover bid for Puma AG from PPR SA. Copper prices climbed, sending the mining sector higher too.

There are no scheduled economic reports for today.

Meanwhile, after six straight days of losses following the release of the British sailors, oil rose towards $62 a barrel as once again Iran was in the news announcing its uranium enrichment program, but denying plans for a natural gas cartel.

Earnings season is kicking today when Dow component Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) will report first quarter financial results after the close. The aluminum producer is expected to post a profit of 76 cents per share according to MarketWatch. BloggingStocks preview.

After rising 4.9% yesterday following reports of a possible $50 billion LBO, the Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) denied it has had discussions about a leveraged buyout.

According to the New York Times, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) plans to cut or reassign more than 26,000 jobs.

In 2006, Chrysler (NYSE: DCX) lost $1.5 billion as the company failed to adapt to changing trends in the auto industry, focusing on minivans, pickups, and sport utility vehicles. By way of explanation, Chairman Dieter Zetsche offered this, which is probably one of the dumbest quotes I've seen so far in 2007:

"The crucial factor was the unforeseeable shift in demand to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, which was triggered by increased gas prices in the U.S." (emphasis added)

Wow. What's next? Will people continue to buy dog food that kills their pets? Will Atari explain the declining sales of the Atari 2600 by saying that "the crucial factor was an unforeseeable shift toward higher quality, more enjoyable video games"?

All I can say is that if the chairman of an automobile manufacturer considers the shift toward smaller cars in light of rising gas prices as unforeseeable, the company probably needs new leadership.

On April 5th, Kirk Kerkorian offered $4.58 billion for the company, so maybe change is on the way.

When Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler Chrysler (NYSE: DCX) uttered the famous words back in February that "all options are on the table" for the troubled Chrysler unit, the game of jockeying around began.

Some analysts figured that Chrysler was worth about $13 billion. Daimler paid $36 billion for the "merger of equals" (yeah, right) back in 1998. The then largest shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian, made a bundle. He then sued, and lost, Daimler for the "merger of equals" statement and its subsequent lack of follow-through. Bottom line, Daimler took over Chrysler.

Now Kerkorian is back with a $4.5 billion bid for the troubled auto maker. Question is, who else is planning to make a bid of higher value? DCX stock is up over $2 on just this bid alone. As I have stated before, Daimler shareholders cannot wait to unload Chrysler. Frankly, many institutional portfolio managers never liked the deal or saw any "synergies" between these two auto giants.

With the Chrysler Group in play, the company's parent -- DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) -- is fielding a variety of big-money calls. The buzz is that private equity firms Blackstone Group, Cereberus Capital Management and Centerbridge Capital Partners are preparing bids.

But, hey, it's really not a mega auto deal without billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, right?

Well, today his investment firm, Tracinda Corp., made a $4.5 billion cash offer for Chrysler Group. According to the Wall Street Journal, he is even willing to make a good faith deposit for $100 million [subscription required].

Keep in mind that Kerkorian is a billionaire for a reason: he knows how to structure deals.So, his offer comes with some conditions, one being that the Chrysler Group will need to strike a good deal with the UAW. Moreover, there needs to be a way to deal with the hot potatoes of pension and healthcare liabilities.

I think I would want the same things if I was shelling out $4.5 billion.

It's also getting Wall Street excited – as there may be real interest in Chrysler Group. DaimlerChrysler's stock was up as much as 4.9% to $84.75 on the news. DCX is now up 2.85% to $83.38.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

I have written extensively about DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) possible sale of the Chrysler unit. It's a cultural issue as well as an economic issue. Chyrsler lost nearly $2 billion for Daimler last year. Let's do the math for last year and going forward.

Daimler reported net operating income from operations for calender 2006 of $4.2 billion. This is after the Chrysler unit dragged the operating numbers down by roughly $2 billion -- a tough loss for Daimler in view of the profits generated by the Mercedes Benz unit. The fascinating aspect of the whole "dump Chrysler" movement is to showcase the earnings power and the leverage of the Mercedes Benz division.

As the shares of DCX have risen from the mid $60s to the low $80s in just 6-7 short weeks, investors are salivating about what the real earnings could be for 2008 and 2009. Current consensus estimates for calender 2008 are for revenues of $206 billion and earnings per share of $5.08. These estimates take into account Chrysler's numbers as well. If Daimler successfully sheds Chrysler, as it appears it just might, the earnings for 2008 could be as high as $6.60-7.00 per share. That's an incredible jump from the $5.08 current estimate.

Institutional investors are working the Daimler model without Chrysler's drag and the estimates for earnings will vary widely, but one thing is for sure: earnings will go a lot higher. Investors are willing to look past the obscene -- $36 billion -- price Daimler paid for Chrysler back in 1998. If Daimler can take in $8-13 billion for the Chrysler unit, as has been rumored, investors will give the collective sigh of relief as Daimler can re-focus its energy and resources back to the cash cow of Mercedes Benz.

Georges Yared is the chief investment officer of Yared Investment Research

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The automotive sector was today's most noteworthy initiation:

• Prudential initiated the automotive manufacturers industry and automotive retail industry with Favorable ratings and the automotive parts and equipment industry with an Unfavorable rating. The firm initiated coverage on following stocks:
  
• Overweight-rated names included Autoliv Inc (NYSE: ALV), Group 1 Automotive, Inc (NYSE: GPI), Honda Motor Co, Ltd (NYSE: HMC), Johnson Controls, Inc (NYSE: JCI), Sonic Automotive, Inc (NYSE: SAH), & Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM).
  
• Neutral Weight-rated names included AutoNation, Inc (NYSE: AN), DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), Magna International Inc (NYSE: MGA) and United Auto Group, Inc (NYSE: UAG).
  
• Underweight-rated names included Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F), General Motors Corp (NYSE: GM) and Gentex Corp (NASDAQ: GNTX).

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bernstein initiated JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) with a Market Perform rating and $54 target.

• Lehman started Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC) with a Neutral rating.

• Merriman initiated shares of Progressive Gaming International Corp (NASDAQ: PGIC) with a Buy rating, as the firm believes it is on the cusp of gaining meaningful market share of casino floors through its technologies and now is the time to get involved in shares.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

General market news here.

ImClone Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: IMCL) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) announced that first line Phase III study of Erbitux (Cetuximab) combined with platinum-based chemotherapy met the primary endpoint of increasing overall survival in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Merck KGaA, which licensed the right to market Erbitux outside the United States and Canada from ImClone, shares rose 1.4% higher in Frankfurt as the estimated market for Erbitux could peak at €800 million in Merck's territory.

Executives from Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) and Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) said in a conference yesterday that despite some weakness in the U.S., global market for metals is still tight and demand keeps growing. Heavy equipment makers say orders continue to grow and indicate optimism.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) shares gained 2.4% in yesterday's session, closing at $33.80, following a positive outlook from a Bear Stearns analyst who also raised his first-quarter revenue estimate.

A day after automakers reported sales where the Big 3 posted further declines while Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) and Honda Motor (NYSE: HMC) reported over 11% sales growth, Morgan Stanley will open its global automotive conference in New York today.
Prudential Securities initiated coverage of automakers: DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) at Neutral and a $58 target price, Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) with Underweight and a $6 target, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) also with Underweight and a $26 target, Honda at Overweight with $46 target and Toyota with Overweight and $151 target price.

General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal unveiled its international growth plans as it attempts to increase (double) broadcasting revenue outside the US. NBC plans to launch 20 TV channels across Europe, Asia and Latin America over the next two to three years.

After Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) signed a distribution pact only last month to sell its prescription drugs through a single wholesaler, Britain's government competition watchdog began investigating the supply of medicines across the country.

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has filed five new lawsuits against U.S. companies and individuals claiming they sold student-only software not meant for retail distribution.\

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is about to have another PR nightmare as a former employee alleges he was part of a security unit, Wal-Mart's Threat Research and Analysis Group, that monitored workers, business partners and shareholders of the discount retailer, according to the Wall Street Journal. It's possible an employee was even sent to infiltrate an anti-Wal-Mart group.

Stock futures are mixed in early morning trading indicating to a possible higher start for the S&P 500 and a lower start for the Nasdaq ahead of some economic data released today.

Yesterday, stock markets rallied after Iran and the U.K. seemed to indicate a desire to solve the 15 sailor captive situation via diplomatic channels. Oil prices eased and continue to do so this morning ahead of today's weekly crude inventory report due at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

Another reason for yesterday's rally was a surprise increase in February home sales as reported by The National Association of Realtors. Today, investors will continue to eye economic data for more clues on inflationary pressures, the state of the economy and possible future rate moves by the Fed.

Today, February factory orders and March Institute of Supply Management's March non-manufacturing survey will be reported at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Also, the March employment poll from ADP as well as Challenger, Gray & Christmas data on planned layoffs will be released. These could serve as a precursor for the non-farm payroll figures.

Despite being confident of its ability to turn around its Chrysler unit, DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) CEO said the automaker is in talks with unidentified potential buyers.

Several companies are reporting today, among them: Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) - with $1.52 expected EPS, Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) - 63 cents expected EPS, and Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) - 99 cents expected EPS.