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The question is being raised more and more: Can Toyota recover its reputation?

There is no simple answer. The automaker once enjoyed exceptional renown. In addition to being the largest and most profitable auto company on the planet, Toyota was the most studied and copied. Its production system became a benchmark and a model for competitors to emulate around the world.

On top of that, Toyota (TM) was known for always putting the customer first, hence its passion for building cars with the highest quality and reliability. The automaker obsessively studied car buyers to find out what they wanted and then provided it for them. It became a leader in new vehicle segments like crossovers, and new technologies like gas-electric hybrids.

But when a crisis arose in the form of complaints about unintended acceleration, Toyota didn’t know what to do. Rather than make a forthright statement about the problem, its history, and its proposed solution, the automaker responded with obfuscation, delay, blame-shifting, and denial.

Not until last August, when a Lexus driven by an off-duty California highway patrolman rolled over and burst into flames, killing the driver and three members of his family, did the issue reach widespread public awareness. And when the time came to apportion responsibility for the incident and outline a new direction for the company, top Japanese executives were nowhere to be seen. When president Akio Toyoda first came forward to take responsibility and promise solutions, he seemed to do so with reluctance.

Compare that to the Tiger Woods scandal. Like Toyota, Woods had a reputation for excellence that far exceeded other golfers.

Like Toyota, Woods was widely emulated for his faultless behavior and superb sportsmanship.

Like Toyota, Woods initially put out a story about his wife, a golf club, and the shattered windows of his SUV that bore little relation to reality.

Like Toyota, the news about Woods’ missteps was allowed to trickle out day by day without being effectively refuted.

Like Toyota, Woods refused to make a public appearance to apologize for his misdeeds (and still hasn’t), preferring to issue press releases instead.

And like Toyota, Woods promised to mend his ways, without offering any convincing evidence of exactly how he will do that.

Just as Toyota has seen sales crumble and its used car values plummet, Woods has been abandoned by his corporate sponsors and shunned by other golfers business cards design.

Does this mean that Tiger and Toyota have seen their reputations permanently destroyed? Witnessed the domination of their respective enterprises ended? Are about to be permanently consigned to the ranks of the disgraced and the second-rate?

The betting here is that the answer to all three questions is "no."

Tiger Woods remains one of the best golfers in history, and assuming he can regain his form and start to win again, his fans will return.

The American public has a short memory, an inclination to forgive, and a willingness to extend second-chances. History is full of examples. After declaring he was leaving politics in 1962, Richard Nixon came back and was elected president in 1968. There have lately been reports that Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in disgrace as governor of New York two years ago, is considering a comeback of his own, thanks to an understanding electorate.

The same is true with Toyota, although the reasoning is more economic and less emotional.

American customers want to buys cars they like, and if they decide they still like Toyotas, they will continue to buy them. Ford (F, Fortune 500) was rattled by the Explorer-Firestone tire crisis in 2001, but it eventually recovered because the Explorer was a popular SUV.

Rehabilitation comes down to dollars and cents. If Toyota can convince shoppers that it still offers a strong value, then they will find their way to Toyota dealers.

The critical ingredient that is still missing from the rehabilitation of both Tiger and Toyota is that convincing personal apology. Tiger hasn’t been seen in public since the night of the accident and needs to make a believable account of his behavior along with a statement of his determination to change.

Likewise, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, as well as his management team, must make a complete explanation of their response to unintended acceleration and answer a comprehensive set of questions from outside experts. Only then will its slate be wiped clean, and Toyota will be free to begin the long process of rebuilding its reputation. 

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Investor Stacy Hastie says One City Centre will soon look more like 600 Washington, the new name given to the downtown St. Louis office tower, which will undergo a $29 million overhaul.

An investment entity managed by Hastie bought the 25-story building Wednesday by placing the only bid — $12.7 million — at a foreclosure sale. The sale extinguished the interest held by Pyramid Cos., which had planned to renovate One City Centre as part of its ambitious Mercantile Exchange project. Financial problems forced Pyramid to close in 2008.

Hastie is part of the effort to redo One City Centre and St. Louis Centre, a former mall that will be converted largely to parking. He said the foreclosure "is a big step forward" and means work is about to begin to move the building’s entrance to Washington Avenue. The building’s new name will reflect the reconfiguration.

In two weeks, the law firm Lewis, Rice & Fingersh will move to One City Centre, while LarsonAllen, an accounting firm, will move its St. Louis County offices to the building by June 1, Hastie said.

The foreclosure occurred a day after the Missouri Development Finance Board, a state agency, approved a $5 million loan for the One City Centre overhaul. It will be packaged with about $15 million in funds and debt from Hastie’s entities and $10.1 million in tax credits and city funds to pay for the rehab.

Less certain is the future of the Arcade building, at 800 Olive Street, which another Hastie-run investment entity bought out of foreclosure Wednesday. Hastie’s $9 million bid gave him control of the building, which Hastie plans to sell to another developer.

Earlier this week, investment entities managed by Hastie agreed to pay off the loans Bank of America made to Pyramid for the One City Centre and Arcade projects. Conversion of the Arcade into condos was under way in 2007 when Pyramid halted work. Bank of America filed a foreclosure notice in early December.

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NBC fired back at Conan O’Brien Wednesday as negotiations between the outgoing host of "The Tonight Show" and the network stalled over how much O’Brien’s staff would be paid under a potential severance deal.

"It was Conan’s decision to leave NBC that resulted in nearly 200 of his staffers being out of work," a network representative said in an e-mailed statement. "We have already agreed to pay millions of dollars to compensate every one of them."

O’Brien is reportedly close to signing a $40 million deal to walk away from "The Tonight Show," which he has hosted since June. The network tried to push the show to a later time slot.

But talks have been held up by disagreements over, among other things, how much the show’s staff is entitled to as well.

Gavin Polone, O’Brien’s manager, told the New York Times that some wrangling over staff compensation was to be expected given the dismal job market. But, he added, "We’re fighting to do better for them fast cash online."

The weeks-long dispute has roiled the entertainment industry and galvanized fans of the show, who held rallies in cities across the nation Tuesday in support of O’Brien.

According to NBC, O’Brien raised compensation issues a few days ago, and it is only one of many points still being negotiated.

"This latest posturing is nothing more than a PR ploy," the NBC representative said.

The rebuke comes one day after O’Brien took the network to task during his nightly monologue, saying "NBC is headed downhill faster than a fat guy chasing a runaway cheese-wheel."

O’Brien is widely expected to cede the show later this week. "I’m just three days away from the biggest drinking binge in history," he said Tuesday night.  

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Bucks County drug-discovery company BioLeap raised $5 million in a venture capital financing Tuesday.

The financing was led by Quaker BioVentures of Philadelphia and Adams Capital Management of Sewickley, Pa.

BioLeap, of New Hope, Pa., plans to use the funding for business development, to support continued development of its computational fragment-based drug design and to pursue alternative models of early drug discovery.

The fragment-based drug design process involves using the company’s in-house computer cluster and proprietary algorithms to rapidly calculate the potential for small molecular fragments of biological compounds to bind to, and inhibit, targeted proteins.

David Pompliano, CEO of BioLeap, said, “We are using our computational method to design novel drugs for specific diseases, and to build the foundation for the next generation of drug discovery.”

Brenda Gavin, founding partner of Quaker BioVentures, said BioLeap, since its creation in 2004,

has demonstrated its ability to save drug discovery costs for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical companies. “By minimizing nonproductive guesswork during the drug discovery process, BioLeap assists in bringing better drug candidates to market in a shorter period of time,” she said.

Gavin and William A. Frezza of Adams Capital Management will join BioLeap’s board of directors.

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Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally says the automaker plans to speed up debt repayment as its financial condition continues to improve.

Ford has about $27 billion in debt. Mulally says the company repaid $10 billion this year and has sold $1 easy to get unsecured personal loans.6 billion worth of stock.

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The National Hockey League said Friday night it has signed a letter of intent to sell the financially struggling Phoenix Coyotes to a new ownership group from Toronto.

"The NHL and Ice Edge Holdings announced today that they have entered into a letter of intent to proceed in attempting to document and close a proposed transaction pursuant to which Ice Edge would purchase the Phoenix Coyotes’ franchise. While much remains to be done, the NHL looks forward to working closely with Ice Edge to bring the sale to conclusion as expeditiously as possible. Ice Edge has committed to keep the Coyotes in Glendale, Arizona," NHL Commssioner Bill Daly said in a statement.

The Coyotes are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and were bought by the NHL in October for $140 million.

Ice Edge investors include Canadians and Americans. The group wants to keep the team in Arizona but previously had talked about playing some home games in Canadian cities without NHL teams.

Ice Edge needs to finalize the purchase of the Coyotes from the NHL and then will work on an arena lease deal with the city of Glendale. The Phoenix suburb owns Jobing.com Arena where the Coyotes play.

"The city of Glendale is pleased that the National Hockey League has concluded the initial negotiations for the sale of the Coyotes and is entering into a letter of intent with Ice Edge Holdings to immediately assume operations of the team Faxless payday loans. The transfer of ownership and possession to Ice Edge Holdings is a major and final step in establishing the long-term presence of hockey in Glendale, Arizona," Glendale said in a statement.

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Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen said it’s “far from clear” whether the Fed should use interest rates to stem a surge in financial leverage, and urged further research into the issue.

“Higher rates than called for based on purely macroeconomic conditions may help forestall a potentially damaging buildup of leverage and an asset-price boom,” Yellen said in the text of a speech today in Hong Kong. At the same time, “use of monetary policy for these ends necessarily compromises the attainment of other macroeconomic goals,” she said.

Yellen’s remarks come just as debate rises over whether the Fed’s current commitment to keep rates low for an “extended” period may be fueling rising asset prices in Asia. While officials from China, Hong Kong and Japan said in the past week that the stance is spurring speculative capital, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday it’s “not obvious” there’s a bubble in the U.S.

“Further research into the connections among monetary policy, the banking and financial sectors, and systemic risk is needed to help answer this question,” Yellen, a voting member of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, said in her remarks, referring to whether to use rates to influence asset prices.

The San Francisco Fed chief also endorsed the idea of making banks hold more capital than otherwise during economic expansions, for use when recessions hit. She said that “one promising strategy is to implement a system that would require banking organizations to build capital buffers in good times that could be run down under stressful conditions.”

Bernanke on Economy

Yellen didn’t comment on the outlook for economic growth or rate policy in her remarks at the event organized by The Institute of Regulation & Risk. Bernanke said yesterday that reduced bank lending and “high” unemployment are likely to restrain the recovery, warranting continued low borrowing costs one hour payday loans.

The FOMC pledged after a Nov. 3-4 meeting to keep the benchmark interest rate near zero for an “extended period.”

The central bank’s injection of more than $1 trillion in liquidity has helped end the U.S. economy’s contraction, pushing up stock prices. The effort has narrowed the Libor-OIS spread, which measures banks’ reluctance to lend, to levels not seen since 2007. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is up 64 percent from its low for the year on March 9.

China’s Liu

Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said in Beijing Nov. 15 that the American rate stance and falling dollar has led to “massive” speculation. Donald Tsang, the chief executive of Hong Kong, said Nov. 13 in Singapore “I’m scared and leaders should look out.”

Emerging economies “might overheat and experience financial turmoil,” Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said in Tokyo yesterday.

Bernanke, by contrast, said in response to audience questions after a speech in New York that “it’s not obvious to me in any case that there’s any large misalignments currently in the U.S. financial system.”

Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn, speaking yesterday at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, also said low rates don’t appear to be fueling another bubble in U.S. financial markets.

Yellen, 63, previously served as a Fed governor and was White House Council of Economic Advisers chief in the Clinton administration. Yellen has led the San Francisco Fed since 2004.

The financial crisis, which began with the collapse of the U.S. subprime-lending market in 2007, has resulted in more than $1.6 trillion in writedowns and losses by banks and other financial institutions worldwide.

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U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early November amid a grim outlook for future job prospects, although separate data showing rising imports in September raised some hopes of renewed U.S. economic growth.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of sentiment for November fell to 66.0, the lowest level since August, from 70.6 in October. This was well below economists’ median expectation of a reading of 71.0, according to a Reuters poll.

“Importantly, the decline in confidence was already in place before the announced increase in the unemployment rate to 10.2 percent on November 6,” the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said in a statement, adding “the likelihood that the sentiment index would drift even lower in the months ahead cannot be easily dismissed.”

Within the survey, the 12-month economic outlook fell to its lowest since April.

Separately, the government reported the U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the biggest monthly rise in 10 years, as oil prices rose for the seventh straight month and imports from China increased.

Adding urgency to talks President Barack Obama will have with Chinese leaders in coming days, the monthly trade gap grew to $36.5 billion, from a slightly revised estimate of $30.8 billion in August, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday.

Wall Street analysts had expected the shortfall to grow modestly in September to around $31.65 billion.

Both U no credit check payday loan.S. exports and imports had their best month since December 2008. But in a sign of renewed U.S. economic growth, imports grew 5.8 percent in September, the biggest monthly gain since March 1993, while exports rose 2.9 percent.

Some analysts had expected more of an export boost because the drop in the value of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies makes American goods more competitive overseas.

But “the overall upturn in U.S. demand is trumping the fall of the dollar,” said Craig Peckham, an equity trading strategist with Jefferies and Company in New York.

Imports of industrial supplies and materials showed the biggest gain in September, suggesting that U.S. manufacturers are ramping up for production.

The average price for imported oil leapt to $68.17 per barrel and imports from the Organization of Petroleum Export Countries increased to $11.9 billion in September, both the highest since November 2008.

Another report showed U.S. import prices rose for the third straight month in October, pushed up by a jump in the cost of fuel imports and the depreciating dollar.

Import prices advanced 0.7 percent after a revised 0.2 percent increase in September, the Labor Department said.

The weak U.S. dollar is helping to lift U.S. exports, but at the same time, analysts cite it as a factor pushing up the price of oil and other commodities. 

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Looks can be deceiving, especially in the credit card business.

Major card issuers Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) and American Express (AXP, Fortune 500) recently reported some of their best numbers in months and their stocks have soared. But analysts worry there are a whole host of problems that promise to fester for some time.

Experts argue that banks with big credit card businesses continue to face severe losses as the U.S. unemployment rate climbs towards 10%. And with more and more consumers falling behind on payments, there are concerns that losses for card issuers could worsen from here.

Recent projections published by Moody’s suggest that losses for the credit card industry will not peak until midway through next year, somewhere just north of 12%. (A good rule of thumb is that the level of credit card losses is usually about 1% higher than the unemployment rate.)

At the same time, consumers have increasingly shifted away from credit cards, instead opting to use debit cards for their everyday payments, notes Ted Landis, a senior executive in Accenture’s financial services industry group.

There is also the fast-approaching Credit CARD Act, a sweeping set of new government regulations for the industry that is poised to take effect in February.

Among other things, the new law would restrict the way credit card issuers raise fees and assess credit risk. Banks, as a result, would be left fighting over the most creditworthy of customers, notes John Stilmar, director of financial services equity research for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Fighting back

Credit card companies have not taken any of this lying down, however.

To mitigate some of their losses, lenders have tried both individual and collective forbearance programs. Earlier this year, for example, a group of card issuers — including Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), Discover (DFS, Fortune 500) and Capital One (COF, Fortune 500) — launched a program called "Help With My Credit" for consumers struggling with their credit card payments.

Some banks have also looked to their debit card business for revenue growth or rolled out new offerings altogether. JPMorgan Chase, for example, recently introduced a whole new suite of credit cards targeted at wealthier customers.

But the most visible — and controversial — way that card companies have tried to counter rising losses is by raising rates on cardholders.

Between last December and July of this year, the 12 biggest credit card companies have raised the median annual rate by two percentage points or more, according to a recent study published by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Those efforts have only intensified in recent months. Capital One, for example, swung to its first profit in a year last month, helped in large part by a massive "repricing" program of its cardholders.

Other issuers have tried cutting corners by either scaling back on rewards programs or instituting additional charges. Citigroup has already imposed annual fees on some of its existing cardholders, while Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) is planning on testing a similar program on a select group of customers starting next year, charging between $29 to $99 annually.

Little relief

Some analysts are arguing that those aggressive initiatives are doing more harm than good though.

With Americans up in arms, lawmakers have considered moving up the implementation of the CARD Act to December 1 or implementing a rate freeze until the new legislation takes effect.

At the same time, experts contend that sweeping interest rate increases are putting greater strain on the same consumers that are struggling to stay current on their bills — and hurting card issuers as a result.

"For all intensive purposes, some of those borrowers are getting pushed over the edge," said Stilmar.

Lenders could get a much-needed dose of good news later this week if the latest employment figures reveal a continued slowdown in the number of job losses. That could bolster the widespread view among analysts that credit card losses will peak sometime in 2010.

Still, that may do little to help ailing firms, especially if job growth doesn’t recover quickly, said Mike Taiano, an analyst with Sandler O’Neill.

"The question becomes how quickly can it [the unemployment rate] start to decline," he said. "And I think the jury is still out there."

Until an economic recovery seems sustainable, credit card companies will have little choice but to continue coping with life in a less-profitable, more highly regulated world. 

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The Ontario government is in advanced negotiations with South Korean industrial and electronics powerhouse Samsung Group about manufacturing wind turbines and other green-energy gear – including solar panels – in the province.

Samsung is considering a multibillion-dollar investment that would stimulate the creation of several hundred direct jobs and, indirectly, potentially thousands more. The province, lead by the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, has been in talks with Samsung subsidiary Samsung C&T Corp. for the past year, the Star has learned.

Energy Minister George Smitherman confirmed in an interview with the Star that serious discussions are ongoing and proceeding well toward the signing of what he called a "historic framework agreement."

"They’re looking to get into the renewable-energy business in a big way, and Ontario seems suited to their ambitions," said Smitherman.

"If it comes to fruition, it would see them invest several billions of dollars and have the prospect of creating hundreds and hundreds of jobs in manufacturing at the same time."

That would be a coup for a province that has suffered a steep decline in manufacturing, particularly in the hard-hit auto sector, and the loss of thousands of jobs.

It also represents an early sign that Ontario’s new Green Energy and Economy Act, designed to stimulate the development of renewable-energy projects, is attracting the foreign investment and "green-collar" jobs promised by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

It’s not known what negotiations Samsung may be having with U.S. jurisdictions competing for jobs.

The company revealed in April that it planned to enter the wind-turbine market through subsidiary Samsung Heavy Industries. At the time it said it planned to manufacture 200 wind turbines in 2010, growing to 500 units annually by 2015, and was on the hunt for a U.S. state to lay roots.

Earlier this month, Samsung Electronics Co. disclosed it had completed its first prototype production line for manufacturing solar cells and planned to become the world’s leading provider of solar power by 2015.

Smitherman said Samsung’s first interest in Ontario is as a developer of wind farms, potentially in partnership with aboriginal communities.

Under the province’s new feed-in tariff program, which began Thursday, developers of wind turbines can earn a generous 13.5 cents for each kilowatt-hour of electricity they sell back to the province – about double what consumers pay right now.

Samsung officials visited Crown land this summer in South Cayuga, Haldimand County, about two hours southwest of Toronto. They met with Six Nations Chief William Montour to talk about a plan to build a 55-turbine wind farm, and using aboriginal workers to help manufacture and erect the turbines.

Smitherman said Samsung, as a developer, will get the same rate as every other developer taking part in the program. But if the company commits to manufacturing its equipment in Ontario, it will get what he called an "economic adder" on top of the 13.5 cents rate. He wouldn’t say how much that benefit might be.

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