Its official: GM files bankruptcy on Monday

[blackangst1]

Looks like Obama will have a press conf soon to outline how the feds will help them through restructuring. I wonder who is next? GM obviously has been around awhile...Im wondering if the feds will take on the retirement benefits of those already retired...I wonder how much THAT will be....lots of questions still unanswered.

Of course, since the link is from Fox, its probabaly not true

GM files

General Motors, once the largest U.S. auto maker by far, will file for bankruptcy on Monday in federal court in New York City, FOX Business Network has confirmed.

The filing will come after an announcement by President Barack Obama during which he will provide details of how his Administration plans to guide GM through the restructuring, according to people familiar with the scenario.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Detroit-based car maker was reportedly negotiating the sale of two of its once high-profile brands: Hummer and Saturn, among others.

People in Washington have told FOX Business that the Hummer sale may be being delayed by the Treasury Department. Details were scarce, however.

Also Friday, GM continued to negotiate with its creditors regarding a proposal offered by GM that would increase its bondholders? stake in a new restructured company to 10% with the opportunity to increase that stake to 25%.

Check out our GM page for the latest videos and stories on the auto maker.

The company needs its creditors on board if it hopes to pass through the bankruptcy and restructuring process quickly, a situation that appears to be taking shape for Chrysler.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

CNN was making a fuss about GM's stock being worth less than $1 today. I'm sitting there wondering why the story wasn't that it was worth anything at all.

 

[Infohawk]

So I wonder if the current price reflects the chance that they might not go bankrupt?

 

[Drakkon]

Ya know its funny...I have 2 "investment" books from back in 02/03 that said GM was a safe play and putting money there for the long haul (10+ years) wouldn't be a bad idea....they are a strong company that would continue to go up. Luckily i didn't follow their advice but I wonder how many people are ready to kill the guys that wrote those now.

 

[DaveSimmons]

That's one reason why an S&P 500 fund is a better choice, you're betting on 500 companies not just 1.

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
That's one reason why an S&P 500 fund is a better choice, you're betting on 500 companies not just 1.

Yep. My fund that had GM dumped it in Dec last year. Fund managers > me for making those decisions for the majority of my money.

edit: Strange Gonad's post is threading before my OP lol

 

[feralkid]

If you haven't sold it by now, you're probably better off keeping it.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: feralkid
If you haven't sold it by now, you're probably better off keeping it.

Or checking yourself into a clinic, considering we've known for a long time GM would file for bankruptcy. Believe it or not some people were still BUYING it recently, hecek even today, afterall you cannot sell it unless somebody buys it. I suppose they are going for a long bet, though, just like those buying the penny stocks of AIG or citi recently.

 

[StageLeft]

.

 

[sportage]

Booooooom go the markets Monday...
Or should I have said KA-Booooooom.

 

[JS80]

Originally posted by: feralkid
If you haven't sold it by now, you're probably better off keeping it.

you kidding? GM common is worth $0.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: sportage
Booooooom go the markets Monday...
Or should I have said KA-Booooooom.

They went up 100 today and everybody already knew that GM was going to go BK. Who knows, though. The markets may go up 300 points or sink 600 on Monday. I certainly won't guess which direction!

 

[coloumb]

Reminds me of when 3dfx was a hot stock... then suddenly the company was sold and the stock dropped to about .0175 a share...

So..I guess this means we wont' be getting back those beeellions of $$$ the govt loaned them to try to stay afloat...

freakin eh - I forsee a hot dog stand on the beach as my retirement...

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: coloumb
Reminds me of when 3dfx was a hot stock... then suddenly the company was sold and the stock dropped to about .0175 a share...

So..I guess this means we wont' be getting back those beeellions of $$$ the govt loaned them to try to stay afloat...

freakin eh - I forsee a hot dog stand on the beach as my retirement...

Gov already excused those, I think. I know it did with Chrysler. You aren't surprised by this, though, as most of us are not surprised by it.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Ya know its funny...I have 2 "investment" books from back in 02/03 that said GM was a safe play and putting money there for the long haul (10+ years) wouldn't be a bad idea....they are a strong company that would continue to go up. Luckily i didn't follow their advice but I wonder how many people are ready to kill the guys that wrote those now.

Probably a lot of people, but I don't have much sympathy for them. Sure, the people who wrote the books are idiots, but the people who buy individual stocks recommended by random investment books are even bigger idiots. In fact, for the VAST majority of casual investors, buying individual stocks at all except to play around with is remarkably stupid.

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: feralkid
If you haven't sold it by now, you're probably better off keeping it.

you kidding? GM common is worth $0.

That's the whole point, you can't "sell" for $0.

 

[ericlp]

Originally posted by: coloumb
Reminds me of when 3dfx was a hot stock... then suddenly the company was sold and the stock dropped to about .0175 a share...

So..I guess this means we wont' be getting back those beeellions of $$$ the govt loaned them to try to stay afloat...

freakin eh - I forsee a hot dog stand on the beach as my retirement...

Sounds good to me! At least it will be warm, and the view will be awesome! Plus if you get hungry you can always have a hotdog. haha

Hmmm, Well, if GM stocks get down to 1 cent I may buy 50K. Think if it went back up to a buck! whoohooo!

 

[Modelworks]

GM stock on the 3 fo $1 discount rack.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: coloumb
Reminds me of when 3dfx was a hot stock... then suddenly the company was sold and the stock dropped to about .0175 a share...

So..I guess this means we wont' be getting back those beeellions of $$$ the govt loaned them to try to stay afloat...

freakin eh - I forsee a hot dog stand on the beach as my retirement...

Gov already excused those, I think. I know it did with Chrysler. You aren't surprised by this, though, as most of us are not surprised by it.

As part of the restructuring deal, the bailout loans will be forgiven and another $50billion(?) will be given to GM for 72.5% ownership of the "NEW" GM. The Unions get 17.5%, the bondholders get 10%, and current shareholders 0%.

The bondholders, the american people, and current shareholders are getting bent over without lube.

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: Wreckem

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: coloumb
Reminds me of when 3dfx was a hot stock... then suddenly the company was sold and the stock dropped to about .0175 a share...

So..I guess this means we wont' be getting back those beeellions of $$$ the govt loaned them to try to stay afloat...

freakin eh - I forsee a hot dog stand on the beach as my retirement...

Gov already excused those, I think. I know it did with Chrysler. You aren't surprised by this, though, as most of us are not surprised by it.

As part of the restructuring deal, the bailout loans will be forgiven and another $50billion(?) will be given to GM for 72.5% ownership of the "NEW" GM. The Unions get 17.5%, the bondholders get 10%, and current shareholders 0%.

The bondholders, the american people, and current shareholders are getting bent over without lube.

Current share holders would have fared exactly the same in a bankruptcy with or without government intervention.

As for bondholders and taxpayers, it remains to be seen what will happen. It's predicted 3 to 4 car manufacturers will be casualties of our economic crisis. Without further help from our government, a minimum of two of those will be here in the U.S.

We've opened our markets to the rest of the world and some in the world have not reciprocated in kind. If it's in the best interest of Asian countries to tax and tariff the hell out of products produced by U.S. companies, we'd better damned well get our heads screwed on straight and start re-thinking our policies. The taxpayers have got boatloads of cash 'invested' in these two car companies. I've predicted several times before that I believe that Ford will also be asking for funds before this is over. If we expect to get a return on this money, we need to take steps to help ensure the survivability of these firms.

We need to get autos produced by U.S. owned companies priced competitively. Our Asian counterparts do this by subsidizing their auto companies, currency manipulation and in some cases adding fees, tariffs and the like that can double the price of cars made by U.S. companies sold in their markets.

What steps should we take to help ensure a return on our investment? Maintain the status quo? I think not.

Do we have to make changes - no. But unless we do, none of us will have any right to complain as our tax dollars evaporate. We can't maintain the status quo. The game must be tilted in our favor. Do it and our companies have a better chance of thriving with us earning a return on our investment. Don't and we're ensured failure.

 

[Paddington]

This gov't sponsored bankruptcy though is the worst of both worlds. Not only does GM go bankrupt (which is bad for obvious reasons), but they don't get any of the benefits of bankruptcy, namely wiping their union and pension obligations clean. They will perpetually be on the U.S. gov't dole, at least until some Republican is elected and spins them off/buries them.

I'm not one who celebrates this, BTW. I live not far from Detroit (and am actually taking a job a stone's throw from GM HQ in July). It's a sad day.

 

[Paddington]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
Ya know its funny...I have 2 "investment" books from back in 02/03 that said GM was a safe play and putting money there for the long haul (10+ years) wouldn't be a bad idea....they are a strong company that would continue to go up. Luckily i didn't follow their advice but I wonder how many people are ready to kill the guys that wrote those now.

It wasn't bad advice. GM earlier on this decade was kicking some serious ass. There was a "new GM" that emerged after Sept 11, which came out with awesome cars like the Cadillac CTS that sold well, and turned things upside down on Ford and Chrysler. Things started to take a turn for the worse around 2005 though, which is when GM started buying employees out of their contracts. Supposedly, they were on their way to recovery in 2009, but then last year the American Axle strike happened which royally screwed them, followed by the fuel price spike, and then the credit market freeze after Lehman Bros. died. So it was a triple whammy for GM, which was too much to take.

 

[imported_Imp]

I remember some people in OT talking about buying up GM stock since they got bailed out. :beer:

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
That's one reason why an S&P 500 fund is a better choice, you're betting on 500 companies not just 1.

That's one reason why doing your own research would be a better choice.
Only a complete moron would own a company like GM.

The concept of indexing is at best silly and at worst quite hazardous.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Originally posted by: Imp
I remember some people in OT talking about buying up GM stock since they got bailed out. :beer:

Fritzo?
I think he has already lost his shirt.