The indelible images of ACORN workers helping a faux pimp and prostitute set up a tax shelter for a brothel certainly played into the advocacy group's slide toward bankruptcy, though its problems began long before last year's scandal.

The New York Times is reporting that officials at the housing advocacy group will hold a teleconference this weekend to announce a bankruptcy filing. The group is reeling from a disbanding of at least 15 of its 30 state chapters in recent weeks.

(Adds details from the filing and background on recent moves to cut costs, close stores and expand other businesses; updates share price.)

Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) again warned it may have to file for bankruptcy protection as the movie-rental giant continues to lose money.

In its annual report filed Tuesday, Blockbuster said its declining sales and cash flow, coupled with increasingly competitive industry conditions, "raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern." Blockbuster provided similar warnings nearly a year ago before it was able to refinance its long-term debt in the fall.

The conduct of Lehman executives "ranged from serious but non-culpable errors of business judgment to actionable balance sheet manipulation," the report by examiner Anton Valukas says.

Valukas, of New York law firm Jenner & Block, was appointed in January of last year to examine the causes of Lehman's failure by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Lehman's bankruptcy filing on Sept. 15, 2008, unleashed a crisis of confidence that threw financial markets worldwide into turmoil and sparked the worst crisis since the Great Depression.

Centaur LLC said normal operations would continue at Hoosier Park and Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino in Central City, Colo., despite the filing. The Indianapolis-based company said it would also continue work on its planned Valley View Downs & Casino project near New Castle, Pa.

A bankruptcy filing had been seen as possible since Centaur in October missed a $13.4 million payment due on its debt. The company borrowed heavily to pay for a $250 million state license fee and $150 million in upgrades to open the Hoosier Park casino in 2008.

Stargate Worlds and Stargate: Resistance developer Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has suffered the slings and arrows of economic turmoil for months now, leading to a number of unflattering reports about the company's finances. However, it seems the studio is taking steps to get itself back on the right track: A representative for Cheyenne recently announced on its official forums that the developer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Veoh, one of several well-funded start-ups that have tried and failed to cash in on the Web video boom, is finally calling it quits. The company let go of the remainder of its workforce yesterday, and sources say it plans on filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in the near future.

Veoh, which started as YouTube-style site, has struggled for years to find a business model that works and has burned through $70 million in funding from name-brand investors like Goldman Sachs (GS), Time Warner (TWX), Intel's (INTC) venture arm, Spark Capital and former Disney (DIS) CEO Michael Eisner.

WILSONVILLE, Ore. -- Movie Gallery Inc., owner of struggling movie rental chain Hollywood Video, said Wednesday it will continue to operate while the company is in bankruptcy.

Movie Gallery said the bankruptcy court in Virginia has approved the use of cash on hand for operations. The company will continue to pay employee salaries and benefits, honor customer gift cards and store credits, and pay vendors.

MIAMI (AP) - Newly released government files offer a glimpse into the money troubles that plagued Anna Nicole Smith at the height of her notoriety, ranging from millions in missing jewels to unpaid utility bills.

The Department of Justice files that detail her 1996 bankruptcy filing also note her lack of understanding of her financial woes.

"She did not know why she was in bankruptcy," an unidentified Chapter 11 examiner wrote in a 1996 report that was part of the government file obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act request.

PHOENIX -- Mesa Air Group Inc., whose operations include flying regional routes for major airlines like Delta, United and US Airways, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, hoping to shed financial obligations for leases on airplanes it no longer needs.

Mesa, which currently runs 130 aircraft, said the filing will allow it to reorganize its operations and allow it to get rid of its extra planes and become more competitive.

CIT made the filing in New York Bankruptcy Court after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed. CIT said in a statement that its bondholders overwhelmingly opted for a prepackaged reorganization plan that will reduce total debt by $10 billion while allowing the company to continue to do business.

The Chapter 11 filing is one of the biggest in U.S. corporate history, following Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., Washington Mutual Inc., WorldCom Inc., and General Motors Corp. CIT's bankruptcy filing shows $71 billion in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9 billion.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc's (CIT.N) bankruptcy filing could push at least some small businesses it finances to look for a new lender, but finding new credit will be tough.

CIT filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday, and said its creditors have already approved its reorganization plan.

The bankruptcy was long expected and followed a struggle to deal with its debt burden amid the credit crunch and recession, and paves the way for it to restructure its liabilities.

Small- and midsize-business financier CIT Group's bankruptcy protection filing Sunday could put most of its clients back into the precarious position the federal government was trying to prevent with its $2.3 billion cash infusion late last year.

CIT is the largest of the so-called factoring companies that provide capital to clients based on their accounts receivable to tide them over until they're paid.

CIT Group Inc. plans to file for bankruptcy as soon as Sunday afternoon, said people familiar with the matter, in a high-stakes restructuring intended to keep the doors open at one of the U.S.'s largest small-business lenders.

CIT's board was meeting about the likely filing early Sunday afternoon, these people said, and the company expected to seek Chapter 11 protection in New York in a matter of hours. The lender expected to have considerable support from creditors for its "prepackaged" reorganization, which could allow CIT to have its plan approved quickly and emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the ...

One of the nation's largest commercial-real-estate lenders filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware, the latest sign that problems in that market are far from over.

Capmark has been one of the biggest lenders to the nation's investors and developers of office towers, strip malls, hotels and other commercial properties. An independent firm that formerly was the commercial lending unit of GMAC LLC, a financing affiliate of General Motors Co., it had been in financial straits for months.

DETROIT - Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once epitomized America’s love for hulking trucks, is now in the hands of a Chinese heavy equipment maker.

General Motors Co. and Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp. finally signed the much-anticipated deal for GM to sell the brand on Friday.

Tengzhong will get an 80 percent stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company, will get 20 percent. The investors will also get Hummer’s nationwide dealer network.

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. ChiefExecutive Officer Kenneth Lewis told investors in Japan his“optimistic side is coming back” and the U.S. economy mayrebound more rapidly than expected.

“There is a potential for a rebound that beats theforecasts,” Lewis said in a speech prepared for a Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch conference in Tokyo.

Thin inventories, increased personal savings, lowerpayments on household debt and reduced numbers of unsold homesmay be setting up a powerful rebound, Lewis said.

Freedom Communications Inc., the owner of the Orange County Register, is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, according to a published report.

The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Sunday that the privately held company has reached agreements with its lenders to restructure its debts. The report cited unnamed people familiar with the situation.

Robert Emmers, a spokesman for Freedom, declined to comment Sunday night on the possibility of a bankruptcy filing, but he told The Associated Press that the company is "continuing to work with its lenders to resolve (its) balance sheet issues."

NEW YORK — The amusement park company Six Flags is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it needs to reorganize and shed $1.8 billion of debt.

Mark Shapiro, the New York-based company's chief executive officer, says the move won't affect the operation of its 20 theme parks in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Six Flags says it actually had a great year in 2008. It saw 25 million visitors and posted record revenues. But executives are trying to lighten a $2.4 billion debt load that they say is unsustainable.

Arcandor owns 52% of travel company Thomas Cook

Germany's Arcandor, which owns 52% of Thomas Cook, has filed for bankruptcy protection after the German government rejected a request for loan guarantees.

Arcandor, which employs about 70,000 people, had sought 650m euros ($930m; £561m) of guarantees because about 600m euros of its loans need refinancing.

Ralph Nader said a General Motors bankruptcy would launch "a conclusive Death Star to tens of thousands of jobs, thousands of small businesses and adverse effects to hundreds of communities around the country."

The Death Star, a moon-sized superweapon from the Star Wars movies, could destroy an entire planet in a single attack. The Death Star created by GM's bankruptcy filing on Monday probably can't blow up an entire planet, but it might be able to do some damage to an entire town.