GM Gets Sell Light, Twitter Spam

In news making financial headlines today: GM has finally been given the green light to sell most of its assets to a new company. More and more spam is showing up on Twitter.

NY Money Authority Lisa Murphy has the full details on these stories.

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GM SALE:  GM has finally been given the green light to sell most of its assets to a new company. After a weekend of waiting, US Judge Robert Gerber approved the sale saying he agrees that it's needed to avoid quote "immediate and irreparable harm" to the automaker.  GM's plan to emerge from chapter eleven quickly is backed by the government... and it hinges on the assets sale. It will allow GM to shed many of its costs and liabilities.

TRAVEL TAXES: States looking to balance budgets have raised taxes and fees on several travel-related expenses. Here in New York, the city will start charging more for hotel reservations made over the Internet.  In Newark, a new 5% tax will be added to car rentals at liberty airport.  Other states have jacked up the taxes on hotel rooms.  Hawaii went up 1%.  Nevada's went up by 3%... to the maximum 12%.  Massachusetts will also raise the tax on restaurant bills.

TWITTER SPAM: More and more spam is showing up on Twitter.  Crooks are using the popular messaging service to post links to websites.  Those sites sell porn, fake drugs and even promotions for fake anti-virus software.
Some of the spam attacks are exploiting security flaws giving the spammer access to users' accounts. Llast week, someone gained access to Britney Spears' Twitter, and posted bogus messages saying she had died.
Experts say to make sure you have your anti-virus up to date and have all Windows or Apple updates installed.