What’s In The News: July 20, 2012

From Fnno.com, This is the financial news network. I’m Chuck Pierce. Here’s what’s in the news for Friday July 20, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports the Treasury Department and Fed are increasing efforts to sell billions of dollars of remaining assets that were acquired in the bailout of the financial system, say investors and government officials. Some major Wall Street firms, including Blackstone Group (NYSE:BX), Allianz SE’s (PINK:AZSEY) Pacific Investment Management Co., Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) and Oaktree Capital Management (NYSE:OAK) may be interested. The Wall Street Journal also reports the Obama administration wants Congress to make it easier for people to discharge a portion of certain student debt by filing for bankruptcy protection. That wouldn’t affect the majority of student debt, issued by the federal government. It would apply only to the roughly $150B, or 15% of total outstanding student debt, issued by private lenders such as SLM Corp.’s (NYSE:SLM) Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC). Reuters also reports auto companies will hire more people and expand plants over the next year to keep up with increasing consumer demand for vehicles to replace aging cars and trucks, according to a surveyed by KPMG. Bloomberg reports American Airlines (PINK:AAMRQ) CEO Tom Horton said his bankrupt company doesn’t need a merger as much as its smaller suitor US Airways (NYSE:LCC) because its value is rising. Finally, Bloomberg also reports Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) is a prime mover behind a bill in Congress to let states collect sales tax from out-of-state merchants that sell to their residents. If it’s passed, online retailers such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which now mostly don’t collect sales tax, will lose a price advantage that has helped them take business from stores like Wal-Mart. For more coverage and analysis of the business world follow us on Twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com.