Meanwhile, adding insult to injury, GM has asked the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to prevent public tracking of a jet it leases.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is also ignoring public outcry and is so far resisting pressure to cut the salary of its chief executive. Maybe asking emergency help from the federal government requires that large compensation...
Staying with automarkers, Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache said the scales are tipping in favor of a federal bailout from GM and Ford, MarketWatch said. GM traded 12% higher and Ford shares were 15% higher in the first minutes of trade.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) -- The Federal Reserve Board officially approved BAC.'s acquisition of Merril Lynch (NYSE: MER) on Wednesday in a $50 billion deal first announced in September. BAC shares were nearly 3% higher and MER's over 4% higher in the first few minutes of trade.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded at Argus from Buy to Hold. EBAY shares declined nearly 2.5% in the first few minutes of trade.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has officially unveiled its Black Friday discounts. However, contrary to what some expected, there are no deep discounts of 30%, as it seems Apple is pretty confident it could avoid shopping season blues. AAPL shares were down 1.7% in the first few minutes of trade.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) -- activist investor Icahn has bought another 6.9 million shares - for less than $10 a share. YHOO shares gained 1.5% in the first few minutes of trade.
D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), Pulte Homes Inc. (NYSE: PHM), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL), -- Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday cut credit ratings on more than $9 billion of collective debt issued by the home builders citing expectations of continued deterioration in the U.S. housing market. All four generally opened higher.



Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2008 @ 10:09AM
majeed said...
I am new to stock market and i friend told me to buy GM and citigroup stock. I bought some and they went up since i bought them. Should i buy more ? some people told me i should not buy any stock right now. Can somebody help me.
Thank you
11-28-2008 @ 4:45PM
Rick said...
How to Fix GM – Plan One
1) Sell All of GMAC and the Insurance Business (Ditech)
2) Cut down from five regional offices to two. One in Atlanta (east of the Mississippi River)and one in LA (west of Mississippi River). That means Chicago, New York, and Dallas are closed. With about 250 people working in each location (750 total) at an average of $100,000 each, that is a yearly savings of $75 million. Operation cost (rent, equipment, etc.) at the three locations will save another $1.8 million. Benefits for the 750 employees will save another (at $20,000 each) another $15 million.
3) Next, there is an average of three offices per state (local offices in cities across the country), if we close them, that is another $3 million in office space.
4) Next, the District Managers work out of their house and the Zone Managers (or whatever term is given to them), could be let go. They make around $150,000 a year and there are about 75 of them. Again, a savings of $11.25 million. With benefits, a total of $12.75 million in savings.
5) Next, cut around 150 jobs at the Detroit GM Headquarters. A savings of around $18 million with benefits.
6) Next, cut Buick down to two cars (Enclave and Lucerne), cut Pontiac to one (G6), cut GMC to two (Yukon and Sierra), cut Saturn to one (Vue) – and put all cars to a new umbrella called “United GM”. This will save GM billions. Also cut back on two Chevy models and two Cadillac models.
7) Next, cut advertising in December, January, February, March, April, and May (with the exception of auto show advertising for a three week period during the show and its incentives). This will save GM around $1.4 billion.
8) Sell all five planes. This will save GM $100 million in sales and another $100 million in yearly travel expenses for a total savings of $200 million dollars.
Plan Two on Fixing GM
How to save GM
1) GM needs to cut their total car models to 25 (from 60). What they could do is get rid of all Buicks expect Lucerne and Enclave; get rid of all Pontiacs except G6; get rid of all GMCs except Sierra and Yukon; get rid of all Saturns except the Vue; get rid of Saab all together; get rid of at least three Chevy models; get rid of at least two Cadillac models.
2) Get rid of half the dealerships. Chevy seems to have the best distribution so change the Chevy dealerships to Chevy, BPG, Saturn, and Cadillac
3) Close at least three of the five regional offices
4) Close all Zone offices and have employees work out of their homes
5) Get rid of 50% or more of white collar workers in the field
6) The factories will close based upon which models will be discontinued
7) Have upper management take a 35% pay cut
8) Have middle management take a 20% pay cut
9) Cut advertising from $2.3 billion per year to $750 million
10) Get rid of advertising groups and have national advertising only
11) Get rid of co-op advertising dollars
12) Get rid of all promotional advertising
13) Cut all regional and national meetings that cost more than $100,000
14) No parties for auto shows
15) Have special cash incentives for cash only purchases
16) Once the Volt battery is discovered, convert at least half the cars and trucks left after the cut to Hybrid
17) Move 1/2 the engineers to be used to discover more fuel efficient standards and more alternative fuel / hybrid cars
18) Sell all five planes and travel coach (a $100 million savings from cost of planes and a $100 million savings in yearly air cost for a total savings of $200 million).
12-01-2008 @ 8:54PM
Stock Trader Larry said...
Look at the response for BAC since the approved acquisition of MER along with the rest of the financials. BAC will now be laying off thousands of MER employees contributing to the ever higher unemployment rate, while accepting government funds and and at the same time cutting back on lending. We're in for more trouble I'm afraid to say.
http://www.online-stock-trading-guide.com
12-02-2008 @ 9:32PM
gks152 said...
BAC shareholders need to wake up and vote down the MER deal. The collateral damage from MER is toxic. What Ken Lewis forgot is that MER was known as the Wal Mart of CDO's in 2007. It is far from over. Remember Lone Star?