Toyota gives Big Three Christmas gift of sorts

How else can you describe the news that Toyota lost money for the first time in 70 years? Now, no matter how much Richard Shelby and his anti-union Southern senator buddies try to spin it, this is clearly not just a Big Three problem caused by, in fair part, an intransigent UAW.

“It is just a matter of time before all major automakers are losing money,” an auto analyst in Tokyo for Credit Suisse Securities, Koji Endo, said. “And things will just get worse next year, when companies start losing money for the second consecutive year.”

This will certainly change bailout talk in the new Congress. Read the full story for details on the depth of its losses, especially here in the U.S.