GM execs now free to buy, sell, trade company stock: But not for long

gm pontiacTwo years ago, when General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) was entering into a major restructuring program, the company made the unique decision to restrict its executives from buying and selling GM stock; the fear was that the inside information to which they'd be privy would give them too great an advantage over regular shareholders. And, while the corporate communications department didn't say as much, how would it look if the CFO started selling huge blocks of shares two months into a wholesale corporate overhaul? I'm guessing, not so good.

But now (the hope is), the restructuring is mostly complete. In the recent quarter's results, whose reporting was delayed, the company announced better-than-expected sales, but far-worse-than-expected profits. Of course, as GM hasn't been issuing forecasts for its restructuring period, either (that restriction has not yet been lifted, says GM), it's not as if analysts' expectations have a solid basis. Nor are executives saying much about the progress of the restructuring other than "it's not stopping."

Today the announcement came that GM executives (some of them, anyway) would be able to buy and sell the company's shares once again. Perhaps now we'll have a window into exactly what GM execs do think of the restructuring -- at least until May 31, when the window once again slams shut on the inner workings of the auto company.
Get the latest on cars and trucks
from GM and all brands at AOL Autos.
Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+6.5112,890.46
NASDAQ+11.372,927.23
S&P 500+1.991,351.95

Last updated: February 09, 2012: 09:37 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

19.13-0.11(-0.57)

Alcoa

10.64-0.03(-0.28)

Apple Inc

493.17+16.49(+3.46)

Google Inc 'A'

611.46+1.61(+0.26)

Bank of America

8.18+0.05(+0.62)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.96+0.34(+0.55)

Exxon Mobil Corp

84.88-0.44(-0.52)

Ford

12.69-0.15(-1.17)

Citigroup

33.66-0.57(-1.67)

IBM

193.13+0.18(+0.09)

Yahoo

16.00+0.22(+1.39)

Starbucks

49.20+0.48(+0.99)

Microsoft

30.77+0.11(+0.36)

Home Depot

45.27+0.10(+0.22)

Learn More About GM Cars

General Motors Brands:
Find Your Next Car

AOL Autos New Cars and Used Cars

DailyFinance Headlines

Benzinga Headlines

TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines

BioHealth Investor Headlines

WalletPop Headlines

DailyFinance BlackBerry App

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Page Loaded in 1328841450882 ms.