Doug
The other possible reason for short sellers is to hope and try to scare off the bottom fishers who bought GM at higher prices a month ago or so in hope of getting those precious few shares away from them. If the bottom fishers still refused to sell, the short sellers will start covering and go home... It is important that bottom fishers hold on those GM shares and wait .. GM can offer special bond offerings to GM stockholders only that can be converted into stock much later at more favorable terms than GM can get out cold in the markets. I would gladly buy some GM "bottom" bonds at 7% which is reasonable provided that GM will pull through over the next couple of years. I can elect to convert or hold it to its maturity. GM can easily raise a few billions to bridge ti over the tough times without any worrying about paying over market rates to the uncaring non GM shareholders.... Remember ... GM stock is about 90% owned by institutions already... Institutions have plenty money to help GM out at favorable rates as well as thumbing noses at bond raters...

Short sellers really dont have the right to borrow your GM shares to short. You can ask your broker not to allow short sellers touch your GM shares, but I am not sure how to do that. Brokers want to have it both ways to double up on commission revenues which is not honest, in my opinion. I guess the only way you can prevent short sellers from short your shares is to ask for your stock certificate , but it costs money and too much hassle. GM can pay your broker to give you a stock certificate for free if GM really needs to. So as far as things are, I dont believe what you are wrtiing home about at all..

How GM goes will be contingent on how the rest of U.S. business goes. In case you are not staying up, the government is diligently trying to figure a way to shore up Fannie and Freddie over this week end and the IndyMac news is not much help. Anyone familiar with the expression of being between a rock and a hard place? That has been the Fed's position for the last few months and it has now worked it's way over to our darlings in Washington. The Fed pulled a flea flicker on Friday to keep Wall St. from a deep South vacation and you have to give Bernanke credit as it worked. However, the ruse is now out and the rumor of Fed credit lines squelched, so what comes out on Monday will dictate the tenor for next week. It like the old line attributed to Lincoln about fooling the people - you cant do all, all of the time.
I am waiting to see how the government is going to explain bailing out private enterprise with taxpayer backing. If you have an political savvy you know this is worse than what Clinton had with Monica. Those type of scandals are for the press - screw with everyone's money in bad times and tell them they have to pick up the tab for the rich and foreign investors???
Next week is going to be interesting. Expect the buck to get passed everywhere - watch the mice scurry.

The short-sellers are playing a very dangerous game with GM and the "heavies," which are holding. They are likey to be destroyed, as going from $20 to $10 is a lot easier than going from $10 to $0. They've already made the easy money, so I am short, the shorts (long) in my opinion of GM's prospects. NAO is what's killing GM and the UAW isn't helping the situation. Raises which are based on productivity and profitabilty are good... Those who perform, deserve to be rewarded. Unfortunatly, during my nine years with "the company," I saw things which were anything but fair... GM is going to need to close the gap between GM-world and the Real-world, in order to become competative. The UAW could help, but that has not been the case, historically... They should be demanding NO OVERTIME! Why should a few high-seniority men eat all the gravey, while so many of the young workers are laid off? Nobody at GM seemd to care about the long-term health of the company, just whether their own parachute was close at hand and viable... This goes for a lot of top-level management, too. If I had had the power and insight, I would have fried some of these bastards who were raping GM in the eighties... I was told to keep quiet and follow orders, so some manager of facilities for NAO, in Warren, could proceed in a stupid direction, which benefitted a specific vendor. I'd bet that this guy is no longer at GM, probably at the annointed vendor's company, getting his payback... Just like in the government, although not as big. Ach! Oh well, it's still is a dangerous thing to short GM, because not only are their pockets deeper, they have more pockets than a Japanese pool table on a Saturday night! I thought that GM was finished twenty years ago, but I was just looking at outside appearances and inept management, within NAO. Hopefully, things are better than when I was aboard.

GM needs to cut payroll starting with the unclassified workers or workers that make more than $200,000 per year. There is a lot of duplication with unclassified workers as well. Each regional office has three Sales and Marketing Directors and three Marketing Directors. Why not get rid of the Marketing Directors and let the Sales and Marketing Directors do both jobs. Also, GM pays salaries of their contractors. How did GM end up signing a contract for this? Not only do they pay contractor salaries but they also give them percentages of their total dollars spent as well. All contracts should be approved by the board of directors so when situations like the market going from $40 per share to $10 per share in one year, GM has no restrictions. Also, if GM opens up its workforce to women, African Americans, and Hispanics, they will not only be more representative of their consumer, but opening up the pool of talent will bring in fresh ideas, different perspectives, and salaries that are more representative of other companies. Also, GM spends a lot of money in lobbying and has an office in Washington DC. Is this really necessary given GM is now in terrible financial times. Should not that office close and the money be used to keep GM afloat? Also, does GM need all those engineers? Maixmizing shareholder equity is one of the requirements of a company and can result in imprisionment if the company cares more about their own gain and ignore what is best for investors.

GM needs to cut payroll by 40%. GM also needs to cut advertising dollars and get rid of the non-performing advertising agencies or those who have not brought an increase in GM sales over the past two years. GM also needs to get rid of non-performing cars and trucks. Those who have not seen an increase in the past two years. GM also needs to add more diversity to its management force. By taking these steps, GM will be more profitable.