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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Failings by Lehman Brothers executives and its auditor led to the bank collapse that unleashed the worst of the financial crisis, according to a report by a court-appointed investigator.

Lehman “repeatedly exceeded its own internal risk limits and controls,” and a wide range of bad calls by its management led to the bank’s failure, says the report, authored by examiner Anton Valukas.

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NEW YORK (Fortune) — CIT Group is the first big bailout loss for taxpayers, but it won’t be the last.

CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday. The New York-based small business lender said all its common and preferred shares will be canceled, which will wipe out the $2.3 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program investment the Treasury Department made last December.

Though the government is also highly unlikely to recoup all the money it plowed into AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae and General Motors, CIT is the first bailout to go to zero — in just 11 months, no less.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Dealers who have been muscled out at Chrysler Group and General Motors are trying to get Congress to force the automakers to take them back.

The push by the dealers to reverse the cuts has garnered strong bipartisan support, especially from powerful Democratic leaders Financial Service Committee Chairman Barney Frank and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

The measure, which restores franchise rights that were stripped out as part of the bankruptcy process, was attached as an amendment to an appropriations bill to fund a variety of federal regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is expected to easily pass the House Thursday.

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NEW YORK – Struggling automotive parts supplier Lear Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after receiving the support it needed from lenders and bondholders.

The move had been expected from Lear, which missed an interest payment on its bond debt last week and revealed its intention to seek court protection from its creditors. The Southfield, Michigan-based company made the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

It listed $1.27 billion in assets and $4.54 billion in liabilities. Subsidiaries outside the U.S. and Canada are not part of the filings, the compan

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors’ plan to emerge from bankruptcy, with a lot of help from the federal government, has been approved by a federal judge.

Judge Robert Gerber gave his approval late Sunday after three days of hearings last week, saying it “is the only available means to preserve the continuation of GM’s business.”

Under the plan, the Detroit-based automaker, which filed for court protection on June 1, creates a new company and sheds crushing debt and expensive contracts.

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DETROIT (Reuters) — Auto seating supplier Lear Corp. said on Wednesday it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a reorganization supported by key secured lenders and bondholders and that it had obtained $500 million in bankruptcy financing.

Lear (LEA, Fortune 500), which had been in talks with its lenders since late June, said in a statement that its board of directors had approved a bankruptcy filing as the “fastest and most effective way” to reduce its debt in the face of slumping global auto demand.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors owes hundreds of millions of dollars to major suppliers who have never made an auto part, rubber tire or sheet of steel — and they’re not likely to get paid anytime soon.

GM is on the hook for more than $100 million for advertising it purchased before filing for bankruptcy earlier this month. The list of utilities who are GM creditors takes up 80 pages in its bankruptcy filing.

Among the company’s top 50 creditors, 10 are outside the auto or transportation industries. GM owes these firms just under $250 million. But they have to take a back seat in the bankruptcy process.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler will soon be making cars again.

Chrysler Group announced Monday that it is restarting a factory, after shutting down all of its manufacturing for nearly seven weeks following the bankruptcy of Chrysler LLC. Chrysler Group is the new company that emerged last week with most of Chrysler’s assets and a new ownership structure.

The first plant to reopen is the one that makes the Dodge Viper sports car.

The Viper has a 600 horsepower V-10 engine and a price tag that starts at about $90,000. The Viper was introduced in the 1992 model year, and only 25,000 have been sold since then.

The Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit that makes the car employs 115 people.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — These are hard times for car dealers. Across the nation, General Motors and Chrysler dealerships are pulling down their big roadside signs and closing their doors.

The companies say they have no choice but to cut the cord and save money. The dealers, who say they are being scapegoated for the epic problems at GM and Chrysler, are hopping mad.

So are lawmakers.

On Friday, top executives of General Motors and Chrysler as well as several dealers appeared at a congressional hearing. It marked the second Capitol Hill hearing on the issue this week.

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The filing will not affect the operation of the company’s 20 parks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, said spokeswoman Sandra Daniels.

“This restructuring will have no impact on families who come out to our parks. They will not see an inch of difference,” Daniels said.

In an online letter to employees, President and CEO Mark Shapiro said Six Flags inherited a $2.4 billion debt load that “cannot be refinanced in these financial markets.”

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker and for decades an icon of American manufacturing, stood on the brink of a bankruptcy filing and a de facto government takeover on Monday.

A bankruptcy petition will be filed at 8 a.m., according to a source with direct knowledge of the bankruptcy proceedings.

President Obama will address the nation shortly before noon on Monday to explain the rationale for the filing and his hopes that this is the best route for a turnaround, two officials close to the situation told CNN.

“Today will rank as another historic day for the company — the end of an old General Motors and the beginning of a new one,” the administration stated in documents released Sunday.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors has fallen far short of the bondholder support it needed for its proposed debt-for-stock offer, according to a source familiar with the matter, virtually guaranteeing that the nation’s largest automaker will be forced to file for bankruptcy court protection within the week.

The bondholders own $27 billion in corporate notes. GM (GM, Fortune 500) needed owners of 90% of those bonds to accept stock in return for the debt in order to reduce its interest expenses to a more manageable level.