The news at a glance

Cars: Automakers post mixed earnings

The latest financial results for General Motors and Chrysler are a mixed bag, said James R. Healey in USA Today. GM’s third-quarter earnings of $698 million were down 53 percent from a year ago, but that result was better than analysts’ expectations and led to a leap in the firm’s share price. The lower earnings were largely due to a one-time loss of $800 million “related to the repurchase of 120 million shares” of stock from a union health-care trust. Domestically, the carmaker saw strong profits of $2.2 billion, up 29 percent from last year, but “troublesome European operations” cost the company $214 million.

Chrysler fared better, said Bill Vlasic in The New York Times. The country’s third-largest carmaker reported a 22 percent increase in earnings for its third quarter, up from $381 million last year to $464 million. Chrysler’s higher numbers reflected that its sales were up by 8 percent from the same period last year. Like GM, its success was “concentrated in its core market in the United States, where retail sales increased 16 percent,” especially among SUVs and pickup trucks. Still, analysts say, the firm’s “market share remains flat,” and the company will need “more new passenger cars in its lineup” to keep growing.

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Tech: Will Facebook buy BlackBerry?

Facebook might be bidding for BlackBerry, said Will Connors and Dana Mattioli in The Wall Street Journal. Executives from “the struggling smartphone-maker” met with Facebook last week to gauge the social network’s interest in snapping up the Canadian company. It’s not clear that “Facebook is interested in placing a bid,” but the discussions have sparked speculation that Facebook could develop its own phone. The Silicon Valley giant has been shifting its attention toward wireless devices and mobile users, and a BlackBerry acquisition could help Facebook provide its services “directly to its most rabid users.”

Banks: Rabobank chief resigns over Libor fine

The Dutch bank Rabobank will pay $1 billion in penalties for “Libor deceptions,” said Chad Bray in NYTimes.com, making it “the fifth firm to settle accusations that its employees manipulated the London interbank offered rate.” By paying the second-largest fine after UBS’s $1.5 billion penalty, Rabobank will avoid criminal charges “as long as it continues to cooperate with investigators.” Rabobank’s chief executive and board chairman, Piet Moerland, immediately resigned and apologized for the firm’s “inappropriate behavior.”

Crime: SAC Capital to plead guilty

SAC Capital Advisors is owning up, said Michael Rothfeld and Jean Eaglesham in The Wall Street Journal. Sources said the hedge fund will plead guilty to securities fraud “as part of a landmark criminal insider-trading settlement with federal prosecutors.” Under the deal, SAC will also “agree to stop managing outside money and to pay the government criminal penalties of about $1.2 billion.” The case has elicited guilty pleas from eight former SAC employees. Two others “have pleaded not guilty and are headed for trial.”

Retail: Apple profits fall

Apple’s profits have dropped by 11 percent from a year ago, but the company remains “upbeat,” said Tim Bradshaw in the Financial Times. The iPhone-maker’s latest earnings results marked “a sharp slowdown in growth,” even though iPhone sales were up 26 percent year-over-year. Chief executive Tim Cook said that next year Apple will introduce “new product categories with significant opportunities,” which are rumored to include “a stronger push into television and a new wearable ‘iWatch.’”