1954
 

For General Motors. Their stock is under $5 right now - same as it was in 1954. Un-freekin'-real. Yep, crushin' all them EV1s and buildin' all them rebodied Yukons as H2s was REEEEEEEAL smart, visionary, long-term thinking wasn't it?

Now I hear they're trying to find someone to buy their corporate headquarters building in Detroit and lease it back from them in order to raise capital...

Good night GM. It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun.

Yeah, the sale of their own building would be a monumental event for them, and really a last ditch effort.

They will raise some money from that, which will keep them going for the short term, but before long all that money will be gone, their building will be gone, and they'll be left with more debt (huge rent payments).

It's really hard to see how a bky is not inevitable for GM. (Barring, of course, a "government bailout").

Probably the most efficient ways to kill the unions...

I'm afraid there is not going to be enough government to bail everybody out

a tear wells up in his eye...thinking of all the great things lost...what were they again?

GM sold the General Motors building a few years ago, moved out and moved into the Renaissance Center (Developed by Henry Ford, II) so this isn't selling the GM building...Remember WHAT'S GOOD FOR GENERAL MOTORS IS GOOD FOR THE USA!

Never was a GM fan, grew up on Fords until I got old enough to drive then sent British before moving on to German cars (except for my wife and her Subarus!)

the auto industry is part of the $700billion bailout...guess it was missed in the ballooning from just a few pages to over 400+ pages...

At least were not proping up our industry like those disgusting socialist French.....:(

I hate to say it, but it is about time. I left the idea of driving Detroit a long time ago. I got tired of being told what I wanted in a vehicle, having a vehicle that falls apart in 100k, and it just kills me that someone who installs lug nuts (unskilled labor) makes 80k a year + all the extras the union requires the manufacturers to add on.
I honestly believe that we can out build ,design, and develop anybody in the world. Too bad the auto market fell way short of the mark. JMO

i'd like to see the math on their retirement funding.

Well, the marketing was great the last few years...
The biggest selling factor was horsepower gains that came at the expense of fuel economy and the people in the Americas bought in all the way.
Now, bad economy, high fuel prices and North American manufactures that are WAY behind in bringing product to the market that will sell.
Go figure, they are in trouble. It is always "what is easy" to sell, not what is right to sell.

GM still has about 25% of the US market, certainly a far cry from their heyday in the 50's and early 60's.

I would hate to see the US car industry shut down - if you look at the UK, their auto industry is gone along with every connected industry that supported it. Those were good paying jobs. If GM goes, Ford and Chrysler will tumble too. So there would be a mad scrammble for the Asians, Chinese or Indian car manufactureres to pick up the pieces. How sad. Then we could be all driving their bland plain jane cars and buy whatever they are willing to make.


I want to be a part of the companies that will buy their spare parts and service business. There is real money there.

Detroit ultimately could only do one thing well since the early 1900s and that's "Big n' Dumb". They made it into an art form. All the vehicles from the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and to today have fit this model. "Efficiency" never was a consideration and I think it's a direct reflection of their fiscal points of view. Big, dumb, wasteful, brash, pushy, fat. Just like most of the midwest. Not all, but most (I know, I lived there long enough).

so is the Volt off then?

I may be stupid, but the optimist in me just can't see GM disappearing. Think Iaccoca. Or a buyout. I'm tempted to buy a bunch of GM stock. I mean, if just goes to a measly 10, I've doubled my money.

Anyone else willing to admit to the same temptation?

Bring back 1954:

http://www.54classicchevy.com/images...onvertible.jpg

http://oldcarandtruckpictures.com/Ch...oadster-03.jpg

http://www.movievehicles.com/images/54corvette.jpg

http://www.vccc.com/chapters/chilliw...20Cadillac.JPG

http://www.arleesclassicautos.com/ca...1954buick1.jpg

http://www.dealsonwheels.com/images/...11529E10_1.jpg

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...super-88-4.jpg

Thanks for the memories Jim, but I think it was clear then where things were headed...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/65...07ccf6.jpg?v=0

http://www.philseed.com/images/po356-54.jpg

werd

Correct, but GM is considering the sale of the Renaissance Center. I think the number they hopiing for is $500 mil. They purchased it for $600+ and have spent millions in (much needed) renovations, as the original design was a considerable failure.
Rough times in this town. Speculation is rampant that 80% of our staff will be gone by next month.

GM is so low today because someone(s) sold a huge amount of GM short yesterday. From what I hear the normal day to day number of shares of GM being bought/sold is around 30 million. Yesterdayt it was 65 million. Yesterday was the day that the restriction on short sales came off.

A recent rule change keeps the names of those short selling private...only certain govt. officials can know. Rumors abound on who, what WS greedy exec, might have done it. I wonder ??? if it could not have been done by some one(s) overseas that wants to ruin our economy ??

Yeah, sure... but could we add "within the bounds of reason and good taste?"

Because some people need a little supervision... otherwise, stupid stuff like this happens:

http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u.../portholes.jpg
http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...portholes3.jpg
http://i518.photobucket.com/albums/u...portholes2.jpg


And I just know that somewhere out there, some dude has put some on his 930.