Z-06

:rotflmao: Someone has to say this --- LEFT!!!!!

Wall Street Journal For GM Bondholders, Time Is a Weapon President Obama delivered a powerful warning to General Motors' unions and bondholders, suggesting that he was prepared to push the company into bankruptcy to force them to accept serious cuts. Now the great game of chicken begins. Does he really mean it? A bankruptcy would force bondholders to take big losses on $29 billion of unsecured debt. But that doesn't mean the bondholders will quietly accept their fates. In many cases, these are the same investors who won a big victory over the government in the case of GMAC, the auto maker's finance arm, just three months ago. The bondholders' biggest weapon is time. That is how they won the GMAC battle and that is how they can foil the Obama administration's expectations of a "quick rinse" through bankruptcy court. If the bondholders don't agree to the government's terms before a filing, GM could be mired in an old-fashioned bankruptcy slog. Given the size of GM's liabilities, $177 billion at year-end, it could be an epic one. Mr. Obama's speech showed the tensions of speaking to two different constituencies at once. His first audience was clearly creditors and labor, with whom he spoke passionately about making "hard choices," brandishing the word "bankruptcy." The second was prospective car buyers, for whom Mr. Obama needed to show that a bankruptcy filing would be short and effective. The execution looks to be harder than the rhetoric. The shortest period for the emergence of a large "prepackaged" bankruptcy, in which all parties agree to a deal prior to a filing, was the nine-month process used by telecom firm NTL Inc., according Bankruptcydata.com. And that was a relatively simple case of a healthy company that took on too much debt. There have been only three other prepackaged bankruptcies of companies with more than $10 billion in assets, with each of those cases lasting an average of seven months. If creditors don't agree to the terms of the deal before a bankruptcy filing, the wait gets much longer. Kmart Corp. spent 15 months in court, while United Airlines parent UAL Corp. took more than three years. "It all depends on how much agreement you get before you file," said one bankruptcy attorney involved in the auto industry. "A company this vast, you could legitimately question whether they could get it." The government's best cudgel isn't just pushing the company into bankruptcy proceedings, but withholding the financing needed to keep GM afloat in a bankruptcy process. That would be tantamount to liquidation, a worst-case scenario for bondholders. But Mr. Obama showed his hand when he said, "we will not let our auto industry simply vanish." Bondholders can gain more confidence by their successful battle over the government's $6 billion rescue of GMAC. That bailout went largely unnoticed in those last, chaotic days of 2008. At the time, GMAC was rushing to convert to a bank-holding company, which would allow it access to the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Federal Reserve set a number of conditions along the way. Chief among them was that 75% of existing bondholders would agree to take a loss by tendering into a new bond plan. The hope was to lessen GMAC's indebtedness and improve its capital, much as is the case with GM. Only about 59% of bonds were tendered in the final flurry in late December. The Fed's board waived GMAC through anyway, explaining its decision "in light of unusual and exigent circumstances." That set an uncomfortable negotiating precedent: The Feds fold. The bondholders' first volley Monday wasn't surprising. They expressed disappointment that they were left out of the planning for GM's restructuring. While Mr. Obama's stance was meant to shake up the bondholders, he will have to get tougher to make sure the quick rinse doesn't become a long slog.

Aatbloke wants your car.

And Blonde Secretaries? And I-Drive

Wall Street Journal New GM Chief Says Company Can Hit U.S. Goals The new head of General Motors Corp. said Tuesday the company could reach the goals set by the U.S. auto task force ahead of a June 1 deadline. Fritz Henderson, installed Monday as interim chief executive, said GM remained focused on restructuring out of court and understood the tasks needed to avoid a "quick rinse" bankruptcy. Mr. Henderson told reporters that GM had made "a good down payment" on a new restructuring plan after the federal task force said Monday GM's existing efforts were insufficient, and turned down a company request for fresh loans. The government will provide GM with working capital until June 1 as GM develops the plan and tries to thrash out deals with unions, creditors and other stakeholders. "More time isn't going to help the process," said Mr. Henderson, admitting the company would be forced to seek court protection if it failed to deliver by June 1. GM has made contingency plans for "a quick rinse" bankruptcy process. Mr. Henderson said the car maker will look to accelerate it existing restructuring efforts and identify ways to "go deeper, go faster." He said the task force did not specifically identify new targets for cost and debt reduction, but it was clear the company had to do more, and do it more quickly. Mr. Henderson added that the task force had not set a timetable for his tenure as interim CEO. The company failed to meet an internal target of deciding whether to sell its Hummer brand by March 31, though he said there were "several" interested parties, with a decision expected "within weeks." Meantime, Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it is offering a new incentive plan, including 0% financing and a job-loss assurance program, to try to jump-start slumping vehicle sales and boost consumer confidence. The auto maker will offer 0% financing through its finance arm and will cover payments for up to 12 months on any new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury vehicle if customers lose their jobs. The offer will run through June 1. Just hours later, GM weighed in with its own plan, which provides payment protection for the first 24 months of ownership. If a buyer loses his income, the company will make up to nine months' worth of payments for up to $500 a month. GM will also help protect the retail value of a new vehicle at trade-in time for a customer's next GM vehicle. Ford's shares were recently down 1.8% at $2.71 while GM's were down 7.8% at $2.49. Ford's stock is up 18% so far this year but has still lost 52% of its value in the last year, while GM's is down 22% so far this year and has lost almost 90% of its value in the past 12 months. Rival Chrysler LLC began offering 0% financing, along with rebates, employee pricing and discounts up to $6,000 in January as it looked to clear out dealers" inventories and boost sales. So far, the moves haven't seemed to help Chrysler as it struggles to stay afloat. The Big Three--Ford, Chrysler and GM--have been slammed by the recession. Chrysler and GM in particular are faltering, and President Barack Obama's administration said Monday that the two auto makers' plans don't show a "credible path to viability." Ken Czubay, Ford's vice president of sales and marketing, said the company wanted to help rebuild faith in the marketplace as consumers remain anxious about the economy. As consumer confidence has been falling, consumers have been cutting back their spending, and are particularly averse to buying big-ticket items such as cars and trucks. The tight credit markets also make it difficult for would-be buyers to get the financing they need to make a purchase. Last week, market-research firm J.D. Power & Associates said retail new-vehicle sales continued to tumble in the first part of March and said the rest of the year is an open question. Auto makers are expected to report March sales Wednesday.

True that they were betting on bets! But the point is by publicly condoning them by saying they did everything according to the law is a moral defeat against these institutions. Well they might have done everything by law, but when you think it is not right morally/ethically, at least do not give money again so that they will play again. Or change the law before giving the money. What is preventing them now from doing the same CDS fiasco again? This goes to Congress in general not Obama or any specific person. One thing game theoretically speaking government has which those financial institutions don't is the capability of changing the rules of the game. But sitting put is destroying their stranglehold in this game while strangling the country. It is like let us say GM sells you a lemon, and does everything by law to let you know that you do not have a lemon, will you buy again from GM? Not by this country's standards, otherwise Toyota will not have established a strong presence. Yet we pour money into these financial institutions because AIG has Congressional retirement pensions locked in their CDS bets. We keep pardoning them because they are the best we have. Fear will not improve this country. Bandaid fixes are not going to do any justice. Will you live in a country which has murdering legal? It then becomes moral and ethical issue. No criminal is made until a law is formed. It is time to make a law and make these guys criminals.

While he is doing a brilliant job. In broader perspective the entire strategy is penny wise pound foolish. The same if not higher standards should be applied to Banks and Financial Institutions who not only destroyed their investors' wealth but the wealth of the entire country and now need even more wealth. Automobile industry actually creates wealth. No matter how sophisticated models financial institutions may use they DO NOT and WILL NEVER create wealth. Their job is to efficiently manage wealth to make sure the wealth creating industries and consumers are not short of the media - money when the wealth is distributed. Castles cannot be built in air. The entire financial system forgot that basic and went to create complex models.

:rotflmao:

Congratulations and Good Luck with your new job. Will you drive your purple machine with twin kidney grill to work everyday?

I am going to be the product engineering guru. Just say that all cars will be RWD from the Ultra Luxury Cadillac to Aveo and future Spark replacement . For wusses there will be AWD capability. And yes some cars will not have B Pillarz. Engines will all be DI with twin turbos wherever possible. Small Blocks will also be thoroughly updated with DI and latest technologies. Diesels will be available in all vehicles. I will hire dwightlooi to take over engine and drivetrain portfolio. Volt will proliferate into every category as possible. Honda, BMW, Lexus and others will follow GM rather than lead it in technology. Engineering wise with help of Dave I will put EXCITEMENT!!!!!!!!!! back not only in one brand but also in all GM brands. I will leave up to Oldsmoboi the decision regarding which brand to kill.

You tell me. You know it better than I do, since you are a Doctor in GM's Europe model progeny.

So possibly a end of May release the earliest?

Need help in the products engineering department?

Now when is the Board Of Directors going? High time for the ones there to step down too.

Given the situation with SAAB I think 2.8L is short lived. We might see 3.0L twin turbo. It is a gorgeous car. Buick or Saturn or Pontiac.

Happy Birthday To You Dawd-ge-fyan.

Is this an article for the future?

I had both my cars and my company truck idling for an hour. Planting and nurturing tree is so "unglamorous" it is like copying the nature. Turning lights off of a whole fricking city - that is innovative and will have mass following.

It is a high school for people who have graduated from one and still have hormones of their teens bubbling out to be a teenager again - A Cyber Orgy.

Was DeltaI designed to accomodate AWD? If not how expensive such a fix would have been for just one vehicle? I agree an AWD would have given more flexibility to HHR and more versatility to the folks using the vehicle as a truck/van.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for three groups of people: Pedophiles Animal Abusers Automobile Abusers . Camino, have ever had a chance to ask for some advice from an expert in the field and how the sibling animosity might be reduced? I am sure this behavior might be researched by someone somewhere.

But for many that GM is hoping to convert into GM's fold and changing perceptions about GM's cars it might.

One Yellow H3 and One Yellow FJ right behind eachother.

I will agree with PCS. My dad had gotten two Indian Hounds to guard our farm back in 1999. They were almost identical except one had a crescent shaped white mark on his head and other had a circular shaped one on his head. Those two puppies were like best friends. They ate, drank and pooped at the same time. We never saw each of them without the other. If you called one the other would come running with him. Someone stole one of the dogs when the dogs were a year and a half. Soon after the incident, the other one fell sick and was not the same playful animal we saw growing up. When the stolen dog returned home after a couple of months he was in an abomination of a condition. He weighed almost third of what he was when he was stolen. His eyes were blood red and was running a fever of 103 F. He was badly abused and beaten. He only let my father and his brother around him while he lay in his favorite spot where both of them slept when they were pups. The beaten dog died within a week after he came back. The other dog just laid on the spot crying for a week, neither eating nor drinking anything. He finally died in exactly seven days after the first one died. I had never seen such a closeness in any litter pups. That is why when I saw Arkus and Zora together, they reminded me of the pups we had.

The place he is looking at it is more Tie Rods or Suspensions than Breaks.