While much of the financial industry is lucky to even have a job, the folks over at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) can expect to receive their biggest bonus payouts in the firm's 140-year history after an amazing first half of the year. This news, however, has sparked concerns that the big investment banks that have survived the credit crunch will ultimately derail financial regulation reforms.

Due to a lack of competition combined with a surge in revenues from trading foreign currency, bonds and fixed-income products, profits at Goldman Sachs have soared. Last week, the firm's London staff were briefed on the company's prospects and were told to look forward to bumper bonuses, if it completed its most profitable year ever, as it is predicted they will.

Figures to be released next month which will detail the firm's second quarter earnings are anticipated to show a bigger jump in profits. They've already paid off $10 billion in TARP funds from the government. Financial genius Warren Buffet, who purchased $5 billion of Goldman Sachs' shares in January, has already made an impressive $1 billion gain on his investment.

Now that bankruptcy proceedings are in action, things are moving along pretty swiftly at General Motors Corp. An individual briefed on the deal now says that GM has a tentative agreement to sell its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. in China. GM announced earlier on Tuesday that they had in place a memorandum of understanding to sell the brand, but did not disclose the buyer.

A formal announcement is expected to be made this afternoon.

GM also says that they have 16 buyers interested in purchasing their Saturn brand, and three parties interested in purchasing the Swedish Saab brand.

Sichuan Tengzhong primarily deals in plastics, resins, road construction, and other industrial products. The person who was briefed on the deal notes that Hummer would be its first venture into the automotive business.

Things are beginning to move along pretty quickly for General Motors Inc. (NYSE: GM). According to a Friday report in the Washington Post, the Detroit automaker is expected to file bankruptcy as early as late next week, but could snag up to $30 billion in additional federal bailout funds.

The Post's sources on this story are those familiar with the discussions between GM and President Obama's administration, who state that the government will push them into filing either late next week or during the first week in June.

As for the extra $30 billion in federal funds, that would bring the government's total investment in the company up to a staggering $45 billion, and would give them a 50 percent stake in the automaker.

Another struggling Detroit automaker, Chrysler LLC, may emerge from bankruptcy as early as next week. They were the first of Detroit's "Big Three" to file for bankruptcy.

Both GM and Chrysler have accepted billions in federal bailout funds. They've also both announced that they would be cutting loose nearly 1,900 dealerships. The only member of the Big Three not to have accepted federal bailout money is Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F).

On Thursday the White House's auto recovery leader said that the federal government will give $50 million in grants to car manufacturing communities to be used to train laid-off workers for jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. In addition, the funds will provide job counseling and placements services.

Ed Montgomery, President Obama's director of recovery for auto communities and workers said:

"American workers are the best in the world, and they have been hard hit by changes in the auto industry. This funding will help workers gain new skill sets that build upon their manufacturing experience."

The $50 million is a part of the $500 million which has been provided by the federal stimulus law.

In order to qualify for the money, a community must have a motor vehicle manufacturer or supplier and have experienced significant layoffs. Details of the program, including application deadlines, are expected to be released in June.

Montgomery is currently touring the state of Ohio with stops in Dayton and Toledo on Thursday, and Twinsburg on Friday.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said of the stimulus money:

As talks with debtholders have broken down, Chrysler LLC will become the first of the "Big Three" American automakers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The White House all but confirmed the impending action Thursday morning announcing that President Obama and members of the auto task force would address the fate of the company at noon.

According to individuals briefed on the talks, last minute efforts by the Treasury Dept. to win over Chrysler debtholders failed Wednesday night. Barring a last minute agreement, Chrysler is now expected to seek Chapter 11 protection, and most likely in New York.

Chrysler is also in talks with the Italian automaker Fiat. They would, however, file for bankruptcy first, and then subsequently would present an agreement with Fiat to the court for approval. This could possibly take place on Monday, according to the sources speaking with the media.

Chrysler's bankruptcy filing could serve as a preview as to what a General Motors filing might look like. GM, like Chrysler, received federal assistance last year and now faces a June 1 deadline for restructuring.

David Kellermann, who was the acting Chief Financial Officer of Freddie Mac, was found by police this morning after is appeared he had taken his own life by suicide. Kellerman has been in the position since 2008. The AP reports:

Mary Ann Jennings, director of public information for the Fairfax County, Va., Police Department, said Kellermann was found dead in his Reston, Va., home. The 41-year-old Kellermann has been Freddie Mac's chief financial officer since September.

Jennings said that a crime scene crew and homicide detectives were investigating the death, but that there didn't appear to be any sign of foul play.

McLean-based Freddie Mac has been criticized heavily for reckless business practices that some argue contributed to the housing and financial crisis. Freddic Mac is a government-controlled company that owns or guarantees about 13 million home loans. CEO David Moffett resigned last month.

Kellerman was brought into the role overseeing the company's finances after the government took over the company last year.

After IBM made the decision to abandon their bid to buy Sun Microsystems, Oracle has stepped up to the plate and will now be acquiring the networking equipment maker in a cash deal valued at $7.4 billion. Oracle will purchase Sun shares at $9.50 each, which represents a 42% premium to Sun's closing stock price on Friday of $6.69.

IBM had offered to buy Sun at $9.40 per share. Acquisition talks fell through earlier this month after Sun cancelled IBM's exclusive negotiating rights, and then IBM withdrew their offer.

Oracle is anticipating that the purchase will add at least 15 cents per share to its adjusted earnings in the first year after the deal closes. They also estimate that Sun will contribute more than $1.5 billion to Oracle's adjusted profit in the first year, and more than $2 billion in year two.

Sun's board of directors has approved the transaction, and Oracle is expecting to close the deal this summer.

According to the latest report issued Friday from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services , Ohio's unemployment rate hit a 25-year high in March as job losses continued to mount. The unemployment rate in Ohio rose from a revised 95 percent in February to 9.7 percent in March, the highest rate since April 1984.

ODJFS spokesman Brian Harter said:

"We continue to see a reflection of the economic trend that's going on across the country here in Ohio. In particular in this part of the country, that has meant a large loss in manufacturing jobs."

According a report by the New York Times, the federal government has instructed General Motors (NYSE:GM) to begin preparing for the possibility of filing for bankruptcy by June 1. Citing unidentified sources, the Times said that the Treasury Dept. has directed GM executives to lay the groundwork for a "surgical" bankruptcy that could be as short as a few weeks for portions of the company.
Those portions would be the "good" parts of the company. The "less desirable" parts of GM's business would remain in court for much longer, and could possibly be liquidated. These undesirably parts of the struggling US automaker could include "unwanted brands, factories, and health care obligations."

To date, GM has accepted in $13.4 billion in bailout loans from the government. They have asked for $16 billion more. President Barack Obama rejected the company's initial restructuring plan, and forced out CEO Rick Wagoner. The government has since set a May 31 deadline for GM to come up with an acceptable plan.

GM's newly crowned CEO, Fritz Henderson, has said that while GM was not ruling out bankruptcy, it wasn't inevitable. He believes that the company may be able to reorganization itself without bankruptcy.

Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor and chair of the congressional oversight committee monitoring the goverment's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), is now calling for the firing of the nation's top bank executives if the economy is to have any chance of recovery. Warren says that letting banking leaders off the hook for the mess their companies are in will plunge the country into an even deeper hole.

In an interview last week, Warren said:

"The management of the institutions receiving subsidies from the government must be replaced."

She specifically picked on the head of Citigroup, but will recommend all bailout recipients replace their top-level management. Warren also noted that failure to take such action in past financial crises, such as in Japan in the 1990's when they government gave out cash but left bank leaders in their jobs, drastically slowed recovery.

"It is crucial for these things to happen. Japan tried to avoid them and just offered subsidy with little or no consequences for management or equity investors, and this is why Japan suffered a lost decade," said Warren.