Money Minute: GM CEO Hits Repair Mode; Next-Gen iPhone On the Way?

Updated

General Motors' new chief tries to repair the automaker's damaged reputation.

After more than a decade of ducking evidence about a serious safety problem with more than a million GM (GM) cars, the company's recently named chief executive is trying to get out in front of the issue. Mary Barra says "something went wrong" with GM's process and as a result, "terrible things happened." She says repairs on the 1.6 million cars with an ignition problem should begin in three to four weeks. Barra also says GM is changing the way it handles future recalls. And it's starting be recalling an additional 1 million vehicles for a variety of other problems.

Get ready for a slew of stories over next few months about the next generation iPhone. Apple (AAPL) hasn't yet announced that there will even be an iPhone 6, but that hasn't stopped the speculation. A prominent analyst from ISI Group says the first thing you'll notice is the size. %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%He expects two new models this year, one with a 5½ inch screen. The analyst says iPhone users are currently suffering from "large screen envy" because of the jumbo size of some competing models from Samsung and others. As for Apple's stock, the ISI analyst has a "strong buy" recommendation with a $600 dollar price target. Apple closed Monday at $527 a share.

Here on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) jumped 181 points Monday, recouping about half of last week's big loss. The Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) gained 34 points and the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) rose 17.

Walmart Stores (WMT) is making a big move into used video games. Beginning next week, the retail giant will pay for your old games, and later this year start selling used games. Trade-ins earn store credit that can be used for any products sold at Walmart or Sam's Club. The move is seen as a big threat to GameStop (GME), which is leading retailer of both new and used video games. And it's a big business. Last year, used game sales in the U.S. totaled $1.6 billion.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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