White House insists GM's Wagoner resign

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/30auto.html?_r=1&hp

GM… WILL go into bankruptcy soon.

Look at what’s happened in the last month.

Bankruptcy lawyers have been hired by the White House to research an automotive company proceeding. (3 weeks ago)

Wagoner, The CEO has resigned. (TEXT BOOK move prior to a BIG bankruptcy proceeding…LEAVE rather than be FORCED OUT)

And finally …The Federal Goverment annouces plans for Warranty coverage on GM products SHOULD a bankruptcy occur. Their not doing this for NOTHING folks.

IT’S A DONE DEAL…The process is IN MOTION. :flush

Chrysler is also TOAST (as predicted HERE months ago)

FIAT :banghead and Chrysler DO NOT add up to “SUCCESSFUL CAR COMPANY”

The UP SIDE???

Whatever concessions GM gets through a structured bankruptcy…
FORD will get too!!! I’m talking about long term Union concessions and bond holder co-operation in any future capital requirements.

Look no further than our BANKING SYSTEM for clues…The Goverment forced a bankruptcy at LEHMAN which was a disaster. That laid the foundation for the goverment hand outs to all other banks. They SCREWED UP with Lehman, and we’re STILL living with those after shocks. GM will be NO DIFFERENT. They’ll TRY a few things, see how they work, and by the time they get done, they’ll know what they did right and what they did wrong. Either way…
Ford benefits…The same way Morgan, Wells Fargo, and BOA did. They got labeled TOO BIG TO FAIL due to the failout in the stock market from Lehman and now WE own them.

IF… and it’s STILL an IF, Ford ends up needing help…

GM’s failure could end up being Ford’s salvation.

I’ve been talking about Ford here for over 2 years. 2 years ago Ford was actually considered THE WEAKEST of the American car companies. Now it’s considered the ONLY ONE that has any shot of surviving. When I first started mentioning Ford it’s stock was $8… At the same time GM stock was at $38/share!!!
There was a REASON I have NEVER recommended anyone buy a SINGLE SHARE of GM …That reason???

NO PRODUCT PIPELINE…NONE…ZERO…ZIP.

Chrysler??? EVEN WORSE.

Ford has some INCREDIBLE products that will debut in this country within the next 3 years. Any COST savings they get due to a structured GM bankruptcy only helps them along.

The last time I saw a BARGAIN like this was in 1992…The company was actually Chrysler…BIG recession then too…DIDN’T matter…At the time CHRYSLER had what no other car company in America had…An INCREDIBLE FUTURE PRODUCT PIPELINE that hit the market at just about the time the recession started to end. Oh…one last thing…In 1992??? Chrysler was considered a CRAZY investment by all the “PRO’S” on Wall Street because they had just received a HUGE GOVERMENT LOAN ( sound familiar?) These were the same “PRO’S” who couldn’t buy enough of the stock once it hit $150/share in 1996!!!

That stock went from $9/share to $160/share in 4 years and ended with Mercedes buying Chrysler for $160/share.

Americans are NOT going to STOP DRIVING…Things SUCK now in the car business…This is EXACTLY the time to BUY THE STOCK…

Think I’m wrong???

Last summer dealers couldn’t GIVE AWAY big SUV’s…Prices for these vehicles dropped like rocks on the used and NEW market…

I’ll give you all ONE GUESS what cars have INCREASED IN VALUE by the biggest margin on the used car market in the last year???

Come on…Take a guess…

Yep…you got it…BIG SUV’s…Escalades, Expeditons, Pickups,
prices are UP on these vehicles more than 70% in some cases. (used car market)
Seems Americans all FORGOT about that $4.00/gallon gas last year…
One more question…GUESS…Just GUESS…what car have FALLEN by the biggest margin in that same period…THE TOYOTA PRIUS!!!
As a matter of FACT…Toyota is offering BIG incentives on these tin cans now. Seems AMERICANS sort of like their SUV’s after all…Who would of thought???

Gee…I wonder…What do you guy’s think those crazy Americans will do in a few years when the economy shows some signs of life???
They’ll all be driving MUCH OLDER CARS by then…We know this because NO ONE is buying new cars TODAY…I’m willing to bet (and bet BIG) that they might just all RUN OUT at about the same time and BUY, BUY, BUY, a whole lot of NEW CARS!!!

Happens EVERYTIME…You can set your watch by it…

I think its pretty bad that the white house is making business decisions for corporations…

That’s what happens when those Corporations REFUSE to make the decisions THEMSELVES. The LAST THING this country needs right now is a LIQUIDATION of a major American car company. A Structured bankruptcy is THE ONLY SOLUTION at this point. Someone HAD to make that call…The Feds did…Believe me…The MARKETS would NOT have reacted so orderly.
They had two choices…Keep handing them OUR money…or pull the plug, but do it in a way that doesn’t completely DESTROY what’s left of our economy.

This is like flushing a toilet…

It ain’t pretty, but if it isn’t done, the alternative is MUCH WORSE!!!

You are right in the end…It IS bad.

The irony of this is absolutely ludicrous…

The obvious course of action that should have been taken was circumvented by the INTRUSION of the government into the private sector WASTING MORE of the taxpayer’s money after the government FAILED to do due diligence BEFORE WASTING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Now, what should have happened BEFORE we flushed BILLIONS down the drain, is going to eventually happen anyway, and from all I’ve read on this, it was a suckers bet in the first place… Now, the MARKETPLACE and the workers will HAVE TO deal with the ramifications ANYWAY…

Did anyone else just look at their screen with absolute incredulity when Obama said - [i]"What I am talking about is using our existing legal structure [i.e. - bankruptcy] [b]as a tool that, with the backing of the U.S. government, can make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so they can get back on their feet and onto a path to success…"

[/b][/i] :shocked :shocked :shocked

And this could have been done BEFORE WASTING BILLIONS of taxpayer money… which is what should have happened… There are lots of employers / industries that are vital to the American economy, and guess what, when they go under the market WILL replace them if there is still a market for the product/service…

So now the same government who is wasting BILLIONS on top of BILLIONS on industries they have no expertise on, now wants you to give them MORE to do the same.

After all, they have SUCH a great track record on all of this with all the promised “transparency” to boot… :rolleyes ugh…

The question you may also want to ask yourselves is why were the banks, AIG, etc. who received out and out BAILOUT money from the government, not loans, also not asked for their CEO’s, who were responsible for BILLIONS on losses, to resign…

That is a role for the stockholders and boards, not Presidents… how much power are we willing to secede to the Executive Branch?

Is there no concept of Constitutionality to protect anymore? We are WAY beyond the role of government here…

Hmmm, interesting, I’m interested to see how this is all going to shake out.