Market Updates: Ford (NYSE:F), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), American International Group (NYSE:AIG)

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has released a statement stating that the company is investing over $155 million dollars and creating 60 new jobs in it’s Cleveland plant.  This new investment, which is designed to build the 2011 V-6 Mustang, brings Ford’s total investment in fit’s 2011 line to $1.8 billion for the year.

A press release by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) stated that the behemoth will present it’s first quarter financial earning in an innovative, live webcast.  The webcast, scheduled for April 16^th, will include a presentation on earnings as well as other earnings-related information.  Further information is available through their investor website, http://investor.bankofamerica.com – Bank of America Corporation

In other banking news, Citibank (NYSE:C) has announced that it will begin charging customers an annual fee of $60 if they do not spend up to $2,400.  They began testing this annual fee sometime last year, when the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act was announced in May 2009, and Citibank seems happy with the results.  This fee, as well as a rate hike in transfer fees (From 3% to between 4-5%) is part of an effort by the bank to make up for income lost to the Credit Card Act.  – American Banking News

In the overall economy, the United States’ GDP expanded by 5.9% in the final three months of last year, according to the Commerce Department.  This beats the projected growth by 0.2%, but still wasn’t enough to outweigh the heavy slowdown earlier in 2009.  Overall, the US economy contracted by an estimated 2.4% for the year.  This is the largest estimated contraction in the United States GDP since the end of World War II.  – CNN Money

And finally, it was announced today that the embattled insurance giant American International Group (NYSE:AIG) has reported further losses for it’s fourth quarter.  Though quite steep, the nearly $9 billion fourth quarter loss is an improvement over last year, when the company reported a record $32 billion in losses.  Relative comparisons didn’t help investor confidence, however, and the news was enough to drive stock prices down approximately 8.4% – Wall St. Journal

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