In this series, we take a look at the 25 stocks on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) that have turned in the worst performance during the past decade -- what went wrong, and what happens next.

More than one U.S. automaker found its way onto our roster of SPX underperformers, and so it comes as no surprise that The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) also makes an appearance. The stock peaked at $76.75 in March 1998 -- around the same time that Plains Resources agreed to acquire GT's All American Pipeline System, along with two other businesses, for $420 million in cash.

What went wrong? At number 20 on our list of SPX losers, GT shed 72% of its value during the 10-year period ending June 30, 2008. Declining auto sales at General Motors (NYSE: GM) is a topic that's made headlines as recently as this month, but Goodyear started feeling the impact of slowing auto sales well before the millennium turned.

Just about ten years ago, in the summer of 1998, a strike at GM resulted in an oversupply of tires. Goodyear was forced to lay off workers, and the company's third-quarter earnings report was a disappointment that year. In a bid to stay competitive in the struggling auto industry, Goodyear teamed up with Sumitomo Rubber Industries. It was not just a strategic move; it was a merger that fulfilled the recent prophecy of then-CEO Samir Gibara: he'd vowed in 1998 that Goodyear would surpass Bridgestone and Michelin to be the #1 tire company in the world. Of course, this particular bragging right cost the company $936 million ... and let's just say that GT couldn't exactly write a check for that amount.