The long awaited Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Tesla Motors (TSLA) stock hit the market at $17.00 a share and it is up in a down market, trading between $18 and $19 throughout Tuesday morning.

I say stay away. First and foremost, investors should take note of the fact that most IPO's end up as losing propositions. In the case of Tesla, which lost over $55.7 million last year and will lose more this year, the bleeding has just begun.

The car manufacturing business is very capital intensive and Tesla only hopes to stem the tide in 2012 when it projects a production run of 20,000 Model S all electric sedans for $50,000 each.

What's another high-end stat, along with a decline in sales of apartments in the heart of New York City -- Manhattan -- that doesn't bode well for the economy? A decline in sales of performance and luxury cars.

Sales of Bavarian Motor Works' namesake brand in the United States plunged 15.2% to a 16-year low in 2008, as the credit crunch and the U.S. recession scared away even buyers for one the world's highest-quality makes, The Associated Press reported Friday.

U.S. sales declined to 249,113 vehicles, The AP reported. Global 2008 sales slumped 5.8% to 1,202,239 vehicles. BMW's shares rose 49 euro cents to 22.39 euros Friday on the Frankfurt exchange.

Economist Richard Felson said BMW's sales decline "is indicative of a pervasive economic slowdown and a loss in confidence, across society and on both sides of the Atlantic."

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) easily beat Q1 estimates due in part to higher prices.
• Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE) posted strong Q3 numbers due in part to financial market volatility.
• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) Q3 results were hurt by derivatives loss and hurricane damage.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) had a brutal Q3 due to writedowns and a scarcity of deals.
• BMW Q3 earnings tumbled due to slower vehicle sales brought on by the economic downturn.
• Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) fell short of Q3 estimates but reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
• Ford Motor Corp. (NYSE: F) reported a modest Q3 loss and a quickly dwindling stockpile of cash.
• Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) first-ever quarterly loss is predicted by at least one analyst.
• Kenexa Corp. (NASDAQ: KNXA) was downgraded by one analyst following its Q3 report.
• MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) easily beat analysts' Q3 projections, sending shares soaring.
• Move Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE) reported solid Q3 results on cost cutting and website revamp.
• Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) price-target cuts since its Q3 earings report continue.
• Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) broke even in Q3, but Wall Street had been expected a modest profit.
• Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) net profit plunged due to the economic slump and strength of yen.
• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) fell short of Q4 expectations despite popular High School Musical.
• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) Q3 profits tumbled and revenues were flat.

BMW posted relatively poor earnings. Given the state of the global car industry, that is no surprise. Vehicle sales across all car companies in the U.S. dropped 32% last month.

But the German car firm operates at the high end of the market. People who buy its cars should not have trouble getting money. With some models running over $100,000, a lot of BMW customers are simply rich.

In the last quarter, BMW's profit fell 63%. According to Bloomberg, "The maker of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars predicted in August that it would break a vehicle-sales record." Now it has abandoned that hope and admits 2008 unit sales will be down.

The news is more evidence that around the world the upper-middle classes and the rich are being hit by the credit crisis just as much as those further down the economic ladder. When the rich get poor, what happens to those just hanging on financially? The answer is that they perish, at least in an economic sense.

In some ways, BMW's news is worse than the news that General Motor's (NYSE:GM) domestic unit sales fell 45% in October. The GM news was expected. BMW, on the other hand, was supposed to dodge the downturn. It said that it would just three months ago. The car industry is going to hell that fast.

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

I am the Global Editor at MoneyShow.com and each week I interview an investing expert. This week, I spoke with Christoph Scherbaum, editor of the German edition of Personal Finance, who says German investors are cautious, but optimistic about their market.

Q. Christoph, some experts predict the beginning of a prolonged slowdown that will push consumer price inflation in Germany to as low as 2% next June. What do you think?

A. Consumer prices are not really a problem. August inflation was less than 4% and is estimated at 3% until year-end. The delayed effects of rising commodity prices will have a steeper decline. In addition, second-round effects through higher wage developments are now more visible. Therefore, the European Central Bank-despite poor economic data-will wait for a reassessment of its inflation target for 2010 until the second half of 2009

Q. To what extent do you think the US's financial worries are extending to German financial institutions?

A. It's a difficult question, but we have no big problem with our banks. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck recently stated: "Although this financial crisis undoubtedly is the biggest economic risk for the German economy, I think the potential impact on us-after inquiries and interviews with the Bundesbank president-to be limited". He also reaffirmed the intent of a balanced federal budget in 2011.

One of the few hopes the U.S. car companies have had is that they have been perceived as closing the quality gap with Japanese models. Recent JP Power data shows Detroit running in a dead heat with imports in the consumer satisfaction race.

That bubble has been at least partially burst due to new information from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index. According to the AP, "U.S. car buyers are growing less satisfied with their purchases from domestic automakers while their Asian and European competitors continue to improve."

In the new survey, BMW and Lexus tied for the top spot followed by Honda (NYSE: HMC) and Toyota (NYSE: TM). Several brands from GM (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) dropped down the rankings.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Detroit is in such deep trouble that a perceived drop in the quality of its cars can only make its recovery more difficult. There are several ways around that, but none of them are very palatable.

GM yesterday introduced buyer incentives across most of its brands. That means its margins on those vehicles will be lower. It may pick up some market share, but any victory there will be costly. The U.S. car companies are cutting their marketing budgets, so they cannot "advertise" their way out of the problem.

Effectively giving cars away can certainly help hurdle the quality barrier, but losing a lot more money could sink a large U.S. auto company.

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

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is cutting production at its Volvo unit, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move, which could affect one-third of workers -- some 700 -- is seen as an attempt to cut the costs and losses at the upscale Swedish brand.

The question everyone is asking is whether this move is done in preparation for a sale. According to "people familiar with the matter" who discussed such things with the Journal, CEO Alan Mulally is interested in putting Volvo, whose sales have been declining, on the block. Of course, to analysts, Mulally sang a different tune last month, saying the priority is improve the Swedish auto maker operations "dramatically."

As Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. continues to build its stake int he company, he may also have a thing or two to say on the matter.

For now, Volvo is cutting where it makes larger, less popular vehicles, and it plans to make fewer cars overall. But can this make Volvo more profitable for Ford, or at least more attractive to buyers? There are costs associated with producing a smaller number of vehicles, but with Volvo reporting 22,000 fewer vehicles sold during the first quarter, cutting production makes sense. Another matter Ford has to consider is the massive losses it suffered lately just from the kronor-dollar exchange rate.

With recession fears, housing market worries and high gasoline prices, retailers have been facing tough times and so have luxury car dealers. March proved another tough month for carmakers, with overall U.S. sales declining after the weakening economy put a curb on consumer spending.

Amid the challenging market conditions, even the rich are joining the general anxiety. With the dollar losing ground each day it is difficult to know how much your savings are valued at any more. Then, a simple question appears "Can I afford to buy a luxury car?" It seems like not too many gave a positive answer as most luxury car brands faced sales declines last month.

Sales for BMW fell 8.7%, while Lexus saw a plunge in sales of 13.6%. And even Mercedes-Benz was down nearly 4 percent. Overall luxury vehicle sales fell almost 13% compared with the same month last year, according to Autodata.

Luxury car maker BMW AG revealed today its plans to slash another 5,600 jobs by the end of 2008 as part of a restructuring effort aimed at boosting company's profits. Its decision is expected to bring annual savings of 500 million euros ($752 million) starting in 2009.

According to a BMW spokesman, part-time workers would take the hardest hit, with 5,000 fewer posts. Half of them had already been eliminated last year and the rest are set to be cut by the end of 2008. The restructuring plan also involves more than 3,000 full-time jobs, including 2,500 in Germany, and 600 other positions in other regions. Thus, the restructuring plan comes with a total number of 8,100 jobs cuts. This is 7.5% of BMW's work force, which totals almost 108,000 workers.

Ernst Baumann, the company's head of personnel, said BMW may make more cuts if the dollar continues to decline. Baumann did not specify the total costs that the restructuring plan would bring, but he believes expenses will result in the "three-digit million" euro range.

Do you like to drive fast Italian cars? If so, you're in luck. In the next few years, you'll probably be able to buy a zippy little Alfa Romeo -- and at a bargain price. Best of all, it will be made right here in the good old USA.

According to The New York Times, Fiat of Italy is considering building a new car factory in the U.S. to produce Alfa Romeo sports cars. Fiat hasn't sold cars here for over a decade, but the falling dollar makes the American market too potentially lucrative to pass up. Fiat believes that locating the factory in the US is the only way it can sell cars here profitably, due to lower labor and transportation costs in North America. The Center for Automotive Research in Michigan recently found that European autoworkers make $10 more an hour than autoworkers in the US.

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007. Voting has now closed and readers have chosen the Cadillac CTS as the hottest automobile of the year. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.

What is it about a car that makes it "hot" for you? Is it slinky lines, European styling and a deep throaty growl? Perhaps you prefer a ride with all the luxury appointments: leather, navigation, DVD players, and surround sound. Are you the kind of driver that seeks out a pavement-ripping roadster with more horsepower per pound than a F-1 formula racer, or are you more into the touring feel? Whatever your criteria for choosing a hot car, we're asking for your opinions on the following four vehicles, and we like to know which one you'd choose as Hottest Car of the Year for 2007.

There is a bit of a shuffle these days in regard to when manufacturers release their year models, so for comparison I am using what I believe is the latest available production model for each of the four competitors. Please feel free to consider more than just one model year as you make your judgment. I want to know which vehicle make and model you think owns the road.

According to a new survey by GfK Custom Research, the dominance of U.S. brands in the world market is on the wane, while European and Asian companies grow in brand power. GfK surveyed 30,000 consumers in 25 countries to compile their GfK Roper Reports Worldwide Power Brands study. Respondents rated 33 companies on familiarly, appeal, and worthiness to recommend.

U.S. companies losing traction included Coca-Cola (from 1st to 2nd), Colgate (3rd to 6th), McDonald's (6th to 7th), Kodak (NYSE: EK) (8th to out of the top 15). Pepsi (7th to 5th) and Nike (9th to 8th) ran counter to the trend, advancing their brands.

Phillips took the biggest tumble of all ranked companies.

The top ten most powerful brands in the world market, 2007:

1. Sony (NYSE: SNE)
2. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO)
3. Nokia (NYSE: NOK)
4. Nestle
5. Pepsi (NYSE: PEP)
6. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL)
7. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD)
8. Nike (NYSE: NKE)
9. BMW
10. Samsung

While American auto behemoth General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) achieved its first quarter of profitability in awhile earlier this week, BMW AG is racing toward breaking the sales records [subscription required] it set in 2006. All three of the company's core brands -- BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce -- are expected show sales growth. The revenue growth should reach the bottom line in the form of record earnings.

However, there may be trouble on the horizon in the form of increased regulation due to concerns about global warming, as governments around the world consider new limits on C02 emissions. In the United States, the auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are both lobbying to limit changes in the law.

While it may be environmentally sound, if consumers aren't willing to pay up for increased fuel economy, the car companies will have to shell out big-time to meet new standards. BMW would probably survive, but changes in the law could send the Detroit automakers into a death spiral.

Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) has become the recall king, something the company never had to wrestle with in the past as it won most of the JD Powers and other car quality surveys. But, as the company's market share had ballooned in the US, Toyota had to ramp up production for North America and quality seems to have suffered. (Toyota's sales in the US rose 25% in September.)

As Toyota attempts to overtake General Motors Corp (NYSE:GM) as the world's largest car company, there is new evidence that its growth may be undermining quality. In a new study by Strategic Vision, Toyota's reputation for quality took another hit. In the new survey, Honda took the largest number of categories. GM was second with wins in the small SUV, small specialty, convertibles and heavy duty trucks. Toyota only won in three segments compared to seven last year.

Toyota may now be facing the headwind that large manufacturers like GM faced in the past. With a larger model line, more factories, and a greater number of vehicles being produced, keeping quality high becomes more and more challenging.

In the same survey by Strategic Vision, BMW placed highest in vehicle quality but was not included in overall results because it makes only luxury cars. But, with a modest number of models and smaller production, BMW has a better chance at quality control in each vehicle. Or, at least that is the working theory.

Maybe, just maybe, the fact that Toyota is not perceived as making the world's best cars could help GM.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.