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Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is close to raising more than $5 billion of capital from a group of primarily U.S. investors, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The investors include the New Jersey Division of Investment, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. This person also said Lehman (LEH, Fortune 500), the nation’s fourth-largest investment bank, is set to report a fiscal second-quarter loss of more than $2 billion. Until recently, reports pegged the loss somewhere between $300 million and $700 million.

The firm was completing final details of the capital infusion Sunday, and the investment, primarily through issuing common shares, could be announced Monday or Tuesday, the Journal reported.

The Associated Press left messages Sunday evening seeking comment from Lehman representatives and a spokesman for the New Jersey Treasury Department.

Lehman shares have fallen more than 50% this year but recovered slightly last week on reports the company may raise capital from an outside investor and allay market fears of a liquidity crisis free credit report.com. Investors regained confidence in Lehman after Standard & Poor’s maintained its rating on the firm, and Merrill Lynch gave it a "buy" rating.

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that Lehman would report it lost between $500 million to $700 million on certain hedging positions during the second quarter. A person familiar with the company’s earnings confirmed those figures to the AP on Wednesday. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and asked not to be identified.

Other analysts had been predicting a loss of about $300 million.

A Lehman spokesman had declined to comment Wednesday, saying the firm is in a "quiet period" ahead of its earnings, which are expected to be released the week of June 16. 

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General Motors announced plans Tuesday to shut four truck and SUV plants that employ thousands of workers. It also said high gas prices are here to stay - and, with them, consumers’ growing preference for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

At a news conference in Wilmington, Del., GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner announced plans to roll out more fuel-efficient vehicles, including approval to start the production process on a vehicle that can run gas-free for trips up to 40 miles.

But the plant-closing plans are a stunning admission from the nation’s largest automaker that its long dependence on large SUVs and pickups is no longer a viable strategy for a company struggling to end losses from its North American operations.

The plants to be closed include two U.S. facilities: The Moraine, Ohio plant that builds midsize SUVs, such as the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy; and the Janesville, Wisc., assembly line that builds large SUVs such as the Chevy Tahoe and Suburban and GMC Yukon.

In addition, it plans to close a pickup plant in Oshawa, Canada, and a truck plant in Toluca, Mexico.

The Mexican plant that builds medium-duty trucks sold to businesses rather than consumers will close later this year. The other plants will close in 2009 and 2010, with sooner closings possible if sales do not improve. Each U.S. plant has about 2,500 employees.

The company said it believes that high oil and gasoline prices will be the norm, and that prices are likely to go higher due to strong global demand for oil.

"These higher gasoline prices are changing consumer behavior and rapidly," said Wagoner. "We don’t think this is a temporary spike or shift. We think it is permanent."

Goodbye Hummer Wagoner also said GM is looking at possibly selling its Hummer unit as part of a strategic review of the SUV brand based on military vehicles. The Hummer H3 mid-size SUV gets about 13 to 14 miles per gallon in city driving in the most recent EPA ratings pay day loans. The H1 and H2 are larger vehicles on which EPA does not give mileage estimates.

The brand has become the symbol to many members of the public of a gas-guzzling large U.S. vehicle.

Hello Volt He also announced that GM has approved production of the Chevrolet Volt, a so-called plug-in hybrid vehicle that can run about 40 miles without any use of gasoline. The Volt will be built in GM’s Hamtramck, Mich., plant and is due in showrooms by the end of 2010.

"We believe it’s the biggest step yet in our industry’s move away from its historic, nearly complete reliance upon petroleum to power vehicles," he said. "We believe the Volt is an important investment for the future of our company and our shareholders."

Ahead of the rollout of that new model, GM plans to increase production of some more fuel-efficient car models. It’s adding a third shift at its Orion, Mich., plant to build more of the Chevy Malibu and Pontiac G6 models, as well as a third shift at a Lordstown, Ohio, plant that builds the compact Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models.

It also plans a more fuel-efficient gasoline engine for its small car models that will get about 9 miles per gallon more than current GM engines in the segment.

The plans were announced ahead of GM’s (GM, Fortune 500) annual meeting Tuesday in Wilmington. They followed similar plans unveiled last month by rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), although Ford did not give details of plant closing plans.

About 19,000 U.S. hourly employees had already agreed to take buyout and retirement bonuses to leave the company in recent months, but it had originally planned to replace most of those workers with lower-wage new hires who were not due the same expensive benefit package. 

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Malaysia's inflation rate may jump to a nine-year high this month after the government increased domestic fuel prices today, strengthening the case for higher borrowing costs in the Southeast Asian nation.

Inflation may average 4.2 percent this year, up from a March forecast of 2.5 percent to 3 percent, central bank Governor ZetiAkhtar Aziz said in a speech in Kuala Lumpur today. Price gains may reach 5 percent in June, she said.

“Prices will adjust and it will peak sometime in the early part of next year,,'' Zeti told reporters after the speech. “During this period, there have to be adjustments to these price increases.''

Asian central banks are grappling with surging inflation, caused by record oil and food prices, and slowing growth amid faltering U.S. demand for the region's exports. Bank Negara Malaysia hasn't raised its benchmark interest rate since April 2006, two months after the country's last fuel price increase.

“Probably, Malaysia will start raising rates,'' Robert Subbaraman, an economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today. “Central banks are really in the spotlight right now.''

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday announced the nation's first increase in gasoline, diesel and electricity rates in two years, joining neighbors including Indonesia, India and Taiwan in raising energy costs after crude jumped 86 percent in the past year.

No Policy Change

Bank Negara will watch “closely'' for any second-round inflation that may be caused by higher fuel and power costs, Zeti said.

“There shouldn't be second round effects if there is awareness,'' she said faxless payday advances. “Global growth is also moderating, so the risk to all these developments taking place will be carefully evaluated and assessed, and at this point in time there is no change'' in our interest rate policy.

The measures will cut government spending on subsidies that keep domestic prices artificially low, Abdullah said. The price of 97-RON grade gasoline increased 41 percent to 2.70 ringgit (83 cents) a liter today, and diesel prices jumped to 2.58 ringgit a liter from 1.58 ringgit.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd., the nation's biggest power producer, will be allowed to raise prices in Peninsular Malaysia as much as 26 percent starting July.

Consumption Growth

Higher prices may cause consumption growth to slow by about one percentage point, Zeti said. Still, the $151 billion economy can achieve expansion of 5 percent this year, she said, citing the lower end of the central bank's March forecast of 5 percent to 6 percent.

“The government has the capacity to deal with both the rising prices and how it impacts on certain target groups,'' she added. “Compared to other countries, our rate of inflation is relatively lower at this point in time and so we have to take advantage of our situation and adjust to it.''

The country's inflation rate may peak at 5.3 percent in early 2009 before easing to below 3 percent in the second half of next year, Zeti estimates. Inflation will average less than 4.2 percent in 2009, she said.

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The chief executive of Lowe’s Cos. on Friday said population growth and the aging of the country’s more than 130 million existing homes provides a favorable long-term outlook for the home improvement industry.

"Homes will continue to need repairs and maintenance," said Robert Niblock while meeting with shareholders in Charlotte at the company’s annual meeting. "We want to remain on the minds of consumers."

Niblock acknowledged that Lowe’s (LOW, Fortune 500) faces a tough economic environment, but said the nation’s second-largest home improvement retailer is maintaining its high standards for stores, managing expenses and focusing on customer service.

Earlier this month, the Mooresville-based company reported a nearly 18% drop in first-quarter earnings and lowered its guidance for the year payday advance. Niblock cited the economy and continued turmoil in the housing market.

At the meeting, he said Lowe’s remains committed to finding opportunities that will strengthen the business.

Also during the meeting, shareholders re-elected three board members. They also rejected a nonbinding proposal that would have awarded bonuses and long-term compensation based on performance compared to other companies in the industry.

Lowe’s board increased its quarterly dividend by 6.3% to 8.5 cents. The dividend is payable on Aug. 1 to shareholders of record as of July 18.

Shares fell 32 cents to $24.07 in afternoon trading. 

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