Continue reading General Electric to Energize Electric Car Market

General Electric to Energize Electric Car Market originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Motors Profit Has Company on Track to Go Public Again

General Motors Profit Has Company on Track to Go Public Again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 May 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, this sounds like a great idea, right? The people of our city are unemployed, leading to less cash and less spending -- so let's print our own money! As those gentlemen in the now-defunct Guinness ads shrieked: Brilliant! In Detroit, a group of businesses are now accepting what is called Detroit Cheer. With this local currency you can buy a pizza, receive some electrical services, and day care for your pooch. The Cheer can also be exchanged for cash at local bars. Sounds like it would be illegal, right? Well, the article notes that it isn't -- as long as the printed currency doesn't look too much like the dollar it is perfectly legal. I don't think anyone is going to confuse the Detroit Cheer with the American Dollar.

Continue reading Is It Time to Print Your Own Money?

Is It Time to Print Your Own Money? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AK Steel Holding Corporation

Continue reading AK Steel earnings preview

AK Steel earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chrysler announces major dealership closings

Chrysler announces major dealership closings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 May 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Toyota posts first annual loss in 59 years

Toyota posts first annual loss in 59 years originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading It's official, Chrysler files for Chapter 11

It's official, Chrysler files for Chapter 11 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Will your next car have a made in China sticker on it?

Will your next car have a made in China sticker on it? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I've recently been giving some thought to how we can help Detroit get out of its rut.

And what a rut it is: The average home price is hovering around $6,000 and vacancy rates are soaring as everyone who can find somewhere else to go flees Detroit. I suggested making Detroit into a retirement community, but now I have a better idea: Make AIG (NYSE: AIG), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Citigroup (NYSE: C) executives have their little conventions there.

Continue reading Make bailed out companies hold meetings in Detroit!

Make bailed out companies hold meetings in Detroit! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) is not only the world largest car company, it also probably has the best balance sheet. It has only modest exposure to worker benefits and health costs, unlike its US competitors. In most cases its vehicles are still the model of "defect free" auto products.

All of that makes it especially bad news that Toyota will sharply cut employment and other costs in its North American operations. According to CNNMoney, "The company will offer "no wage increases for the foreseeable future" and a "voluntary exit program" will be set up for employees who wish to pursue other opportunities." A polite way of telling some workers that they are fired.

Continue reading In Toyota (TM) cuts, another sign of GM bankruptcy

In Toyota (TM) cuts, another sign of GM bankruptcy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ford drives home weak January sales

Ford drives home weak January sales originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Will Ford have to look for government aid after all?

Will Ford have to look for government aid after all? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fiat probably hoped to get a 35% share of Chrysler without putting any skin in the game. Why would the Italian auto company expect that? May it is just naive. The US government is unlikely to let a foreign company get a piece of a US company for free, especially if the Treasury is writing the checks to keep the American company afloat.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Chrysler LLC has found an international partner in Fiat SpA but the auto maker isn't out of the woods, mainly because the deal is contingent on Chrysler getting $3 billion in additional government loans."

Why should Fiat walk in and get a piece of a firm that could be turned around using taxpayer cash? The answer is that it shouldn't. The Treasury should insist that Fiat put at least as much money into Chrysler as it is.

Fiat is really not giving Chrysler much for its 35% in the US car company. It will help retool some plants and use them to build small cars that both companies will sell. Whether that helps Chrysler won't be known for some time. In essence Fiat is getting its stake almost for free.

Treasury may want to tell Fiat that bailout money is in short supply especially with the economy getting worse. Fiat ought to pay its own way if it wants to get a piece of the American car market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Note to Fiat: Treasury may want some cash for Chrysler deal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lions put the cherry on top of an awful year for Detroit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal

General Motors restarts merger talks with Chrysler originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In a high stakes game of chicken this past week, the Senate GOP and UAW leadership could not agree on setting a date certain for cutting members wages and the hard-line senators would not accept anything less. (See Auto 'support fund': Senate & UAW clash.)

One of the ironies of the proposed, and not passed, Federal bailout, or support fund, as I have begun to call it, depending on your point of view, is that the proposed $14 billion is more than the value Wall Street currently places on the two companies.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) closed Friday at $3.94, down $0.18 or 4.37%, with a capitalization of $2.4 billion. Ford (NYSE: F) closed at $3.04, up $0.14 or4.83%, with a capitalization of $7.04 billion. The combined value therefore is $9.44 billion; yes folks, another Washington bargain!

While world markets sank on the news of the failed talks, U.S. investors yawned and were unimpressed with activity in foreign markets -- all three of the major indices ended up for the day. Perhaps that's because temporarily propping up the two companies by spending more than they're worth made no sense to anyone outside Washington D.C. or Detroit.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture and planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of GM or Ford.

Sunday Funnies: Feds could buy GM & Ford originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If one of more of the car makers fails, unemployment in Michigan could go above 10%. The state is already the mortgage foreclosure capital of the world. The tax base has bee ravaged. Michigan may not be able to take much more.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription requited), "Michigan has been in a seven-straight year recession," says Patrick Anderson, chief executive of Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing, Mich., consulting firm.

The news headlines about states in trouble have gone to California. But it does not rely on one industry for a huge portion of its employment. Car companies are also major tax payers. Michigan's budget could go billions of dollars into the red if that income disappears.

What happens if a car firm goes down? Michigan could go into receivership. It has already happened to several of the cities there, including Flint, one of the largest.

Of course, if that happens, the federal government will be left holding the bag. Congress will have to find another few billion to fix what is becoming a long, long line of bailouts.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

With car companies on the brink, Michigan may be the next bailout originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Detroit is lobbying very hard for government assistance. Claiming severe hardship, the Big Three automakers -- Ford (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler -- are requesting loans that will prevent a complete collapse of the industry.

The past few days have been full of debate on the matter. With so many issues and questions regarding the merits of a bailout, answers will be difficult if not impossible to come by.

"Throw something up against the wall and hope it sticks" seems to be the modus operandi of the current administration with respect to the financial sector bailout. Now, Detroit is essentially asking for the same thing.

Critics are rightfully upset. There is no guarantee that loans to Detroit will ever be paid back. What results will accrue for taxpayer effort? Is this simply a black hole? Which industry will be asking for help next?

These are all legitimate questions.

The case for the bailout is simple: No money from Washington results in bankruptcy with a chance of complete failure. With that failure comes the loss of three million jobs up and down the auto food chain.

And there is the rub. This is more than just the Big Three automakers -- they and their suppliers are all at risk of complete and total collapse.

One such supplier is Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA).

Continue reading Bet on an auto bailout: Lear Corp. (LEA)

Bet on an auto bailout: Lear Corp. (LEA) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like the automobile industry is being led like a turkey to the slaughter as we approach Thanksgiving. While companies like General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) have been working overtime to produce a fleet of statistics to bolster their case for a Washington bailout, it's clear that President Bush and the Republicans are eager to wield a sharpened ax on its ever-more vulnerable neck.

The pre-bailout buildup follows the same narrative structure as the one for the Iraq war and the $810 billion bank bailout bill. With the Iraq War, the specter of a mushroom cloud was dropped on our unsuspecting heads. With Paulson's plan for a reverse auction to buy toxic waste, it was the threat of heavenly retribution. And now, the auto industry is promising 2.5 million lost jobs and $200 billion in government costs -- up from $125 billion last week -- if Washington does not bail it out.

The political forces lining up against the automobile industry appear more powerful than those who want to bail it out. While congressional Democrats want to divert $25 billion from Paulson's plan to bail out the auto industry, Bush and the Republicans oppose the idea. And until January, they appear to have the upper hand.

Continue reading Republicans to Detroit: Drop dead

Republicans to Detroit: Drop dead originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading General Motors (GM) suspends work in European factories

General Motors (GM) suspends work in European factories originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.