JPMorgan Chase names new CFO

JPMorgan named Marianne Lake as its new CFO to succeed Doug Braunstein.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- JPMorgan Chase named Marianne Lake as its new chief financial officer Monday. She will succeed Douglas Braunstein.

Lake had served as the CFO of JPMorgan Chase's consumer and community banking business and will transition into her new role in early 2013. Braunstein, who had been widely expected to step down by year-end, will become the bank's vice-chairman.

"Marianne Lake is an outstanding choice for this critically important role," Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of the bank, said in a statement.

Related: JPMorgan Chase posts record profits

Prior to controlling the finances for JPMorgan Chase's consumer unit, Lake was the global controller of the company's investment bank. She also worked in the firm's London offices, serving as the senior financial officer for the company in the United Kingdom before 2004. Lake started her career as an accountant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, working in that firm's London and Sydney offices.

JPMorgan's London office has recently been at the epicenter of the firm's recent risky trading activities. Errant trades made by an employee dubbed the "London Whale" have resulted in a loss of at least $6.2 billion.

Since the loss became public in May, Dimon has taken steps to assure investors that the bank's finances are sound. JPMorgan Chase recently reported record profits for its third quarter. Despite a sharp dropoff after news of the London Whale trades became public, shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) are now up 22% for the year.

Meanwhile, Braunstein, in his role as vice-chairman, will advise the firm's top clients and its investment bankers. Before becoming CFO in June 2010, Braunstein ran JPMorgan's investment banking division from 2008 to 2010.

First Published: November 19, 2012: 5:02 PM ET

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France loses another AAA rating with Moody's downgrade

French President Francois Hollande is pushing for reforms amid a persistant eurozone debt crisis.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney) -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of France, stripping a key eurozone economy of its prized AAA status.

The rating was cut one notch from AAA to Aa1. Moody's said its outlook remains negative, which means further downgrades are possible.

The downgrade follows a similar move by Standard & Poor's, which moved France off a AAA rating in January. Fitch is now the only ratings agency which gives French debt a AAA rating.

Moody's said its decision to downgrade is a result of France's structural economic challenges, including a rigid labor market. Economists see limited growth prospects for France as the eurozone crisis grinds on, and some have warned of disappointing results in future quarters.

The rating agency also cited the country's fiscal position and its exposure to eurozone shocks as a reason for the downgrade.

France's "exposure to peripheral Europe through its trade linkages and its banking system is disproportionately large, and its contingent obligations to support other euro area members have been increasing," Moody's said.

Related: Eurozone slips back into recession

Yet Moody's said France is still in good shape when compared to its neighbors. The agency cited France's large and diverse economy, and praised its commitment to structural and fiscal reform. France's borrowing costs remain low, with the country's 10-year bond yielding around 2% in recent months, suggesting investors do not view the country as a credit risk.

Pierre Moscovici, the French finance minister, said in a statement that despite the downgrade, French debt remains among the most liquid and reliable in the eurozone.

Still, the downgrade is a blow to French President Francois Hollande, who has pushed for higher taxes on the country's wealthy, and more funds from Germany to combat eurozone debt troubles.

Hollande has also pledged to accelerate reform measures, including a recent proposal to make France's industrial sector more competitive. But Moody's panned those efforts, saying more must be done.

"Those measures alone are unlikely to be sufficiently far-reaching to restore competitiveness, and Moody's notes that the track record of successive French governments in effecting such measures over the past two decades has been poor," the agency said.

First Published: November 19, 2012: 9:18 PM ET

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Bank of Japan punts on rates amid political turmoil

HONG KONG (CNNMoney) -- The Bank of Japan left key interest rates unchanged Tuesday ahead of elections next month that could upset the political order and alter the course of monetary policy in Japan.

The central bank also declined to expand its bond-buying program, a stimulus measure that has been amplified in recent months.

Economists had not expected new measures to be announced, and market reaction was muted.

Last week, Japan reported its economy contracted at rate of 3.5% in the latest quarter, sparking worries of a sustained slowdown. Central bank policymakers acknowledged the disappointing news Tuesday, saying the economy is likely to remain "relatively weak for the time being."

Yet the bank resisted calls for more aggressive easing, saying it would "pursue aggressive monetary easing" in a "continuous manner" by keeping interest rates low and "steadily" increasing the size of the bond-buying program.

The decision was delivered just days after Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda dissolved the lower house of parliament and called for a fresh round of elections.

Related: Japan election may ease economic gloom

Noda's decision was made under pressure from the main opposition Liberal Democrat Party, led by Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister who stepped down citing health reasons in 2007 after only a year in office.

Abe favors an even more aggressive easing of monetary policy, and has suggested changes to the laws governing the bank that would allow him to accelerate policy changes if elected.

Based on current forecasts in Japan, neither of the two main parties is likely to secure enough votes in the election to form a majority government.

Related: Japan's economy contracts at swift pace

Still, investors appear to be betting on a return to power for Abe, pushing up Japanese stocks and selling the yen last week on signs that he would push the Bank of Japan to relax monetary policy and adopt a higher target for inflation.

A new government may pursue fiscal stimulus as well. Analysts at Nomura said the chances of a supplementary budget for early next year had increased -- and could boost growth in 2013.

First Published: November 20, 2012: 12:22 AM ET

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Twilight poised to lift Hollywood to record year

The final "Twilight" movie became the fourth film of the year to do more than $140 million box office its opening weekend.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It's a no-brainer that teens are the biggest fans of the Twilight series' final chapter that hit the box office this weekend.

But another group of fans love the fangs and fur just as much: theater owners, investors and Hollywood.

That's because the film is poised to close out a blockbuster year for the box office, which has sent the stock prices of movie theater operators and studios soaring.

Total ticket sales are rising at a time when the industry has been struggling with increased competition from the Internet and an American public distracted with a surfeit of gadgets like iPads and online digital video streams.

"Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2" enjoyed an opening weekend domestic box office of $141.3 million. It is the fourth film this year to break the $140 million mark -- joining "The Avengers" "Dark Knight Rising" and "The Hunger Games."

It is a remarkable achievement since only four other films had openings as big before this year.

A key reason behind big opening weekends lately is the same digital technology that's the industry's biggest competition. Digital projectors have allowed multiplex theater owners to quickly add additional screenings of hot movies when there's strong ticket demand. In the past, they would have needed an extra film print to add a screen.

This year, a majority of theaters around the world adopted digital projectors over traditional film projectors. The ticket sales have jacked up stock prices of movie theater operators. Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) is up 28%, Cinemark Holdings (CNK) has soared nearly 40%, while Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) has more than doubled this year. Large screen theater operator IMAX (IMAX) is the relative laggard of the group with only a 20% rise.

Related: 'Avengers' rescues Disney, and Hollywood

Things are even better at the studios. Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF), the independent studio behind both "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," has seen its stock climb nearly 90% since the start of the year.

"One of issues from consumer perspective is convenience," said Rob Friedman, co-chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, the movie unit of Lions Gate. "To be able offer enough show times to make it convenient is a major factor."

The strong box office, ticket sales and opening weekends this year shows there is still an attraction to watching movies in theaters.

"There is very little to match the mystique of the opening of the film," said Keith Simanton, managing editor of IMDB. "The glamor has not gone away, even in this society."

And all of it is good news for the studios, which now have new ways to sell movies to customers.

"I think what we're seeing across every platform is consumption increasing," said Friedman.

That's why Lions Gate is not alone in posting strong stock gains this year.

Shares at other major media companies that own film studios, including Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500), News Corp. (NWS), Comcast (CMCSA), and CNNMoney owner Time Warner (TWC, Fortune 500), are all up between 20% to 50% so far this year.

Related: Movie ticket sales fell to 16-year low in '11

Some analysts are forecasting total domestic box office sales could reach $11 billion this year. Almost everyone expects it to top the $10.6 billion record set in 2009.

Part of that is also due to an increase in average ticket prices, helped by movies that are shown in higher-priced 3D or IMAX.

But no matter what, experts are thrilled.

"More butts in the seats -- that's what Hollywood needs," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.

First Published: November 18, 2012: 2:27 PM ET

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Wal-Mart warns workers on Black Friday strike

Protesters at a June anti-Wal-Mart rally in Los Angeles. Store workers in 12 cities have been walking out in protest since October, which Wal-Mart said violates national labor law.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As Wal-Mart workers prepare to stage a walkout on Black Friday, the world's largest store is fighting back.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) has filed a complaint with a federal agency accusing one of the largest labor unions in the country of unlawfully organizing picket lines, in-store "flash mobs" and other demonstrations in the past six months.

In its complaint Thursday, Wal-Mart said the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its subsidiary known as OURWalmart is trying to force the store into collective bargaining even though it is not the official union for Wal-Mart's employees. The UFCW represents over a million meat packers and food industry workers.

The complaint comes just days before Wal-Mart workers' plan to stage nationwide walkouts on Black Friday, arguably the biggest holiday shopping day for any U.S. store. Union-backed groups OUR Walmart and Making Change at Wal-Mart, along with a watchdog group Corporate Action Network are calling on the country's largest employer to end what they call retaliation against employees who speak out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.

The planned walkouts build on an October strike that started at a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles and spread to stores in 12 other cities. More than 100 workers joined in the October actions.

Related: Wal-Mart workers plan Black Friday walkout

Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar pointed out in a statement that the number of workers participating in the walkout is a "very small minority" of its 1.3 million workforce. Tovar said that Black Friday is like the "Superbowl" for retailers and that Wal-Mart is ready.

"If [the store employees] are scheduled to work, we expect them to show up and do their job. If they don't, depending on the circumstances, there could be consequences," said Tovar.

In a letter to UFCW's general council sent on Friday, Wal-Mart said the workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a representation petition. The retailer said the actions have disrupted business.

"The UFCW has orchestrated numerous pickets, mass demonstrations, flash mobs and other confrontational activities both inside and outside Wal-Mart facilities in support of its bargaining and recognition demands," wrote Wal-Mart lawyer Steven Wheeless. "Now, with the busiest shopping season of the year just days away, the UFCW is openly orchestrating and promoting attempted mass disruptions of Wal-Mart's customer shopping experience."

Related: Why it sucks to work Black Friday

OURWalmart organizers say they have 1,000 events planned this week. Support for the campaign, which has been gaining momentum across social media platforms, is mounting: The organization's Facebook page now has more than 28,000 'likes' and its accompanying YouTube video has been watched over 103,000 times.

The organizers have also collected more than $36,000 in online donations to sponsor workers who walk out.

"We remain focused like a laser about trying to build a bigger coalition and support workers as they build their organizations to challenge Wal-Mart stores," said OURWalmart's president Dan Schlademan.

Wal-Mart said that while it respects its workers federally-protected right to express concerns, it will also act to protect its stores and customers "from illegal and unprotected conduct that threatens safety or business operations," such as protestors trespassing on Wal-Mart grounds and interfering with business.

Wal-Mart is rolling out Black Friday deals starting at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving this year, two hours earlier than it did last year.

Shares of the company were down nearly 6% last week.

First Published: November 18, 2012: 2:49 PM ET

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Stocks: Optimism on fiscal cliff deal

Click the chart for more stock market data

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Investors head into the shortened holiday week with a measure of optimism and hope that lawmakers will not let the country fall off the fiscal cliff.

Congressional leaders appeared encouraged following their meeting with President Obama about the fiscal cliff last week. However, investors are likely to remain cautious and markets choppy ahead of an actual deal that will avoid the automatic onset of tax increases and spending cuts starting in January.

The U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and will shut down at 1 p.m. EST on Friday.

The fiscal cliff has kept investors on edge ever since Election Day. The Dow Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are all down about 5% since the president's re-election on Nov. 4.

While the ongoing debate on the fiscal cliff will likely dominate investor's attention, the impact of Superstorm Sandy on the housing market will also be in focus. A slew of reports, including existing home sales, the National Association of Home Builder's housing market index, housing starts and building permits, are due out throughout the week, and economists are expecting to see some signs of Sandy's damage.

"The states hit by Sandy normally account for around one fifth of all existing home sales so, even if activity was only disrupted for a few days, the impact could be significant," wrote Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, in a research note.

Dales said that October building permits could have been affected by the storm, since many government offices were closed for several days. New home sales could also be affected. But Dales expects existing home sales to be broadly unaffected, since they are recorded at the final closing stage rather than the initial contract signing stage. However, it could have a lingering effect on the November and December home buying.

Sandy has already stirred up the housing market, because a moratorium on foreclosure activity has been put in place in some of the hardest-hit areas in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The moratorium may extend the already lengthy time to foreclose in these states and weigh on home prices. More properties that were affected by flooding from Sandy could fall into foreclosure.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

In corporate news, several companies are on tap to report third-quarter earnings, including Lowe's (LOW, Fortune 500), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) and Deere and Co (DE, Fortune 500).

Retailers like Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500), Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500), Toys R Us, Macy's (M, Fortune 500) and Best Buy are also gearing up for Black Friday, the biggest holiday shopping day of the year.

Stores have been jockeying to get customers in their doors on Black Friday for years, but the pressure is even greater this year because shoppers have been distracted from the presidential election and shutout of malls in the norteastern states due to power cuts after Sandy.

Related: Black Thursday is the new Black Friday

Retailers are also worried that Americans may be less willing to spend freely this holiday season because of uncertainty over over the fiscal cliff.

Hoping to lure in customers, stores are offering their "doorbuster deals" earlier than ever this year. Toys R Us and Wal-Mart will be the first large retail chains to open their doors for bargain hunters at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 22. Target will open at 9 p.m. and Macy's will invite customers in at midnight.

First Published: November 18, 2012: 11:52 AM ET

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Hostess jobs: 'Great' to 'not worth saving'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- For many of Hostess Brands' 18,500 workers and their families, the closing of their iconic company Friday is a devastating emotional and economic blow.

But others say the jobs weren't worth saving because of pay and benefit cuts.

For a member of the bakery workers' union whose strike a week ago led Hostess to shut operations, it's a sad day. "It was a great job. A lot of people put kids through college, paid for mortgages," he said.

The worker, who spoke on the condition his name not be used, said he spoke out at the union meeting against going on strike. "I said, 'If you're unhappy with the situation, then you need to quit. There are people with responsibilities and mortgages. We all can't afford to strike,'" said the veteran who worked loading trucks.

Related: Hostess shuts down for good

The worker said he blames management more than he blames his fellow union members who went on strike. And he's worried about the future.

"I'm 61, I was two years away from retirement," he said. "There aren't many jobs out there for someone like me."

However, other workers said the concessions being demanded by Hostess were just too great.

Mike Hummell, a receiving clerk and a member of the Bakers' union working in Lenexa, Kan., said he was making about $48,000 in 2005 before the company's first trip through bankruptcy. Concessions during that reorganization cut his pay to $34,000 last year, earning $16.12 an hour. He said the latest contract demands would have cut his pay to about $25,000, with significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses for insurance.

Related: Laid-off workers face tough job market

"The point is the jobs they're offering us aren't worth saving," he said Friday. "It instantly casts me into poverty. I wouldn't be able to make my house payment. My take-home would be less than unemployment benefits. Being on unemployment while we search for a new job, that's a better choice than working these hours for poverty wages."

While the Bakers' union voted against the concessions and went on strike, the 6,700 members of the Teamsters union narrowly ratified their own concession deal. Many of the drivers, who also served as Hostess' primary sales force, were earning more money than the bakers, getting commissions for the products they sold to grocery stores.

Related: Twinkies will survive

Tracy Fea, the wife of a Teamster working at Hostess, said she's particularly mad at the Bakers' union for the strike.

"While they [Teamsters at Hostess] were not at all happy about the additional concessions, they did not want to lose their jobs," she said. "My husband and I feel that if these employees [Bakers] were so unhappy ... then they should have quit so the company could continue on and the remaining employees that want to work could."

But Joe Lannan, a Teamster based in Kentucky, said he understands the bakers who walked out. He said he voted against the contract and would have struck if the vote had gone that way.

He said the split among Teamsters was between more senior workers and the newer drivers, such as himself. He's been at Hostess about a year.

"There were a lot of nervous guys, mostly with more senior drivers. I've seen a lot of teary eyes," he said.

But he's hopeful that a lot of the drivers will be able to find jobs due to the demand for truck drivers overall.

"The company has been in decline for years. There was no way it was going to get fixed," he said. "Everybody I worked with was looking for other jobs anyway."

Because of his commercial driver's license, Lannan was lucky enough to quickly find a new job, getting a call with a job offer as a fuel truck driver Friday afternoon.

First Published: November 16, 2012: 3:08 PM ET

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Red Cross donations hit $145 million for Sandy relief

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The American Red Cross continues to see an outpouring of donations in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

The relief agency had raised $145 million as of Friday morning, up from $131 million on Monday.

Since the storm, businesses have announced donations totaling $123 million to the Red Cross and other nonprofit aid organizations, according to the Chamber of Commerce's Corporate Aid Tracker.

Companies that have pledged more than $1 million to relief efforts include Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Coach (COH), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Walt Disney (DIS, Fortune 500), FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Hess (HES, Fortune 500), Prudential (PRU, Fortune 500) and UPS (UPS, Fortune 500).

Related: Occupy Wall Street: The rebels found their cause

In addition to pledging $1.5 million to disaster relief organizations, Walmart (WMT, Fortune 500) donated 60 pallets of food and drinks, more than 2,000 board games and nearly 6,000 cases of cleaning supplies to people in New York State who were impacted by the storm.

PepsiCo (PEP, Fortune 500) delivered more than 100,000 cases of drinks and snacks to New York state, and said it will donate an additional 22 truck loads of supplies. Del Monte Foods said it will donate 146 tons of canned fruit, vegetables and broth, as well as dog and cat food.

With the money it receives, the Red Cross is operating shelters and offering food, water and relief supplies to areas struck hard by Sandy. The agency has set up 472 shelters to date in more than 10 states, providing 75,000 overnight stays to storm victims since the hurricane hit. It has delivered more than 6 million meals and snacks and has handed out more than 2 million relief items, including hygiene kits, clean-up kits, shovels and rakes.

Related: Why there are no Red Cross shelters in New York City

The $145 million that the Red Cross has raised so far beats the $8 million raised over the entire recovery period for Hurricane Isaac, which struck the Gulf Coast earlier this year, according to Neal Litvack, chief development officer at the Red Cross. It's also much more than the $14 million raised in the wake of 2011's Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane Katrina is the only U.S. natural disaster that has garnered more support, with the Red Cross raising $2.2 billion for relief efforts in its wake.

Donations for Sandy are still well behind the funds raised during international disasters like the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan last year and the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. During the entire recovery periods for those events, the Red Cross raised a total of about $302 million for Japan, and $475 million for Haiti.

Among the other nonprofit organizations raising money for relief efforts, the Salvation Army has received more than $7 million in donations made online, by phone and by mail. The AARP Foundation announced today it would donate the nearly $1.3 million it has raised through its relief fund to the American Red Cross and local organizations in affected states. Feeding America has brought in $1.2 million in financial contributions and 150 truckloads of food, which it said will go to food banks in impacted areas. New York Cares has received donations of almost $1 million. As of Nov. 9, the United Way of New York City had raised $3 million, according to a fundraising survey conducted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

How to help

If you'd like to donate to the Red Cross online, go to www.redcross.org. You can also mail a check to: the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C., 20013. To donate by phone, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or give up to $10 by texting the word "REDCROSS" to 90999.

Visit CNN's Impact Your World for more information about the best ways to help hurricane victims, as well as how to volunteer for cleanup efforts.

The IRS also announced incentives for companies that let employees exchange vacation days, sick days or personal leave for cash payments that are given to qualifying tax-exempt organizations involved in Hurricane Sandy relief. Companies that adopt a leave-donation program like this are allowed to claim the cash payments as charitable deductions, and the amount of money donated won't be considered part of an employee's income or wages for tax purposes.

First Published: November 16, 2012: 7:05 PM ET

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Twinkies hoarding begins!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Just hours after Twinkies maker Hostess declared it will shut down for good, grocery stores nationwide are already experiencing a run on Twinkies and the company's other iconic products like Wonder Bread, Hostess Cup Cakes and Ding Dongs.

"We're definitely seeing a sharp increase in purchases of Hostess products today," said Mike Siemienas, spokesman for grocery store operator Supervalu. "We expect this will continue as more consumers become aware of the news.

Irving, Texas-based Hostess Brands announced Friday that the company had initiated steps to shutter its operations, blaming a strike by bakers protesting a new contract that was imposed on them.

Siemienas said shoppers were snapping up Hostess products off of shelves across Supervalu's (SVU, Fortune 500) network of grocery stores nationwide, including Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Acme and Shaw's.

"These products are available while supplies last," he said. "But we're now preparing for the fact that we won't have them in the near future."

Related Story: The day Twinkies died: The Web reacts

When Supervalu stores run out of Twinkies and Ding Dongs completely, Siemienas said the company will fill up the empty shelf space with other store-brand snacks.

Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said it was also seeing a spike in sales of Hostess products. And Twinkies sales were on fire on Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500). In the last 24 hours, Twinkies sales jumped over 31,000% on the etailer's "Movers & Shakers" sales ranking. On Friday, Hostess products accounted for 10 of the top 11 bestsellers in the grocery and gourmet food category. The 10-count box of Twinkies is No. 1, while the box of the orange cupcakes is No. 2 and a 6-pack of Hostess Sno Balls is in the 6th spot.

First Published: November 16, 2012: 3:26 PM ET

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Hostess jobs: 'Great' to 'not worth saving'

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- For many of Hostess Brands' 18,500 workers and their families, the closing of their iconic company Friday is a devastating emotional and economic blow.

But others say the jobs weren't worth saving because of pay and benefit cuts.

For a member of the bakery workers' union whose strike a week ago led Hostess to shut operations, it's a sad day. "It was a great job. A lot of people put kids through college, paid for mortgages," he said.

The worker, who spoke on the condition his name not be used, said he spoke out at the union meeting against going on strike. "I said, 'If you're unhappy with the situation, then you need to quit. There are people with responsibilities and mortgages. We all can't afford to strike,'" said the veteran who worked loading trucks.

Related: Hostess shuts down for good

The worker said he blames management more than he blames his fellow union members who went on strike. And he's worried about the future.

"I'm 61, I was two years away from retirement," he said. "There aren't many jobs out there for someone like me."

However, other workers said the concessions being demanded by Hostess were just too great.

Mike Hummell, a receiving clerk and a member of the Bakers' union working in Lenexa, Kan., said he was making about $48,000 in 2005 before the company's first trip through bankruptcy. Concessions during that reorganization cut his pay to $34,000 last year, earning $16.12 an hour. He said the latest contract demands would have cut his pay to about $25,000, with significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses for insurance.

Related: Laid-off workers face tough job market

"The point is the jobs they're offering us aren't worth saving," he said Friday. "It instantly casts me into poverty. I wouldn't be able to make my house payment. My take-home would be less than unemployment benefits. Being on unemployment while we search for a new job, that's a better choice than working these hours for poverty wages."

While the Bakers' union voted against the concessions and went on strike, the 6,700 members of the Teamsters union narrowly ratified their own concession deal. Many of the drivers, who also served as Hostess' primary sales force, were earning more money than the bakers, getting commissions for the products they sold to grocery stores.

Related: Twinkies will survive

Tracy Fea, the wife of a Teamster working at Hostess, said she's particularly mad at the Bakers' union for the strike.

"While they [Teamsters at Hostess] were not at all happy about the additional concessions, they did not want to lose their jobs," she said. "My husband and I feel that if these employees [Bakers] were so unhappy ... then they should have quit so the company could continue on and the remaining employees that want to work could."

But Joe Lannan, a Teamster based in Kentucky, said he understands the bakers who walked out. He said he voted against the contract and would have struck if the vote had gone that way.

He said the split among Teamsters was between more senior workers and the newer drivers, such as himself. He's been at Hostess about a year.

"There were a lot of nervous guys, mostly with more senior drivers. I've seen a lot of teary eyes," he said.

But he's hopeful that a lot of the drivers will be able to find jobs due to the demand for truck drivers overall.

"The company has been in decline for years. There was no way it was going to get fixed," he said. "Everybody I worked with was looking for other jobs anyway."

Because of his commercial driver's license, Lannan was lucky enough to quickly find a new job, getting a call with a job offer as a fuel truck driver Friday afternoon.

First Published: November 16, 2012: 3:08 PM ET

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