National earnings

The automaker reported a narrower quarterly loss and said it would start repaying billions of dollars in government loans that helped keep it alive. GM lost $1.2 billion for the third quarter -- far less than the $6 billion it lost in the first three months of the year, before GM was transformed by a stay in Chapter 11. The company credited a sharp reduction in debt and sales of new models, including the Chevrolet Camaro muscle car and the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain midsize crossover vehicles. The company's top sellers through October were the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and the Impala, a full-size car. In what it called a sign of progress, GM also pledged to start paying back $6.7 billion in U.S. loans. But the money will come from a contingency account full of government cash, leading critics to question just how healthy the automaker really is. In one sign GM is indeed on firmer footing, it took in $3.3 billion more in cash than it spent in the third quarter. In the first quarter, the last one for which it reported results, GM burned through $10 billion in cash. GM warned it will face other costs that will bring down earnings in the coming months, including restructuring in Europe and as much as $700 million to shutter dealerships. "We're seeing signs of, I won't call it a recovery, but certainly stability," CEO Fritz Henderson said. The repayment of government loans will begin with a $1.2 billion installment in December. GM said it plans to repay the debt over the next two years and possibly as early as next year.

The No. 2 home improvement retailer said Monday it is expecting consumers will spend cautiously this holiday season on trees and gifts like power tools but said it sees signs the housing market is slowly improving. Lowe's said Monday while reporting a lower third-quarter profit that some of the hardest-hit markets in the housing downturn improved compared with the quarter before. They include California, Florida and Arizona. In all, 45 of 50 states showed improvement from the second quarter. CEO Robert Niblock said that "we're encouraged by the signs of stabilization we're seeing in our business." Home-improvement retailers have seen sales slip as consumers cut back on big-ticket remodeling projects amid the recession. Although the U.S. housing market is stabilizing after a nearly three-year decline, home prices remain far below their peak. Niblock said traffic was nearly flat compared with last year's third quarter, but higher than it was in this year's second quarter. Stronger sellers included interior paint, appliances and flooring. For the holidays, Lowe's is being more cautious than last year. The company said it ordered more conservatively on key categories, including trees, decorations and power tools, which are popular gifts, to avoid marking items down later. Profit in the quarter ended Oct. 30 fell 30 percent to $344 million, or 23 cents per share, from $488 million, or 33 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Results in the latest quarter included one-time costs related to closing some stores and no longer pursuing some future stores, as well as a tax benefit. Excluding those items, profit was 24 cents per share, matching analyst expectations, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Revenue edged down 3 percent to $11.38 billion, narrowly beating an average analyst estimate of $11.28 billion.

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