It's worth half of Avon. It's worth one-sixth of Home Depot. It's worth one-66th of Exxon.

[Occam Bandage]

It's worth roughly the same as Mattel, which makes Hot Wheels cars. How the mighty have fallen.

At one time, General Motors was considered the pre-eminent US corporation, a giant among giants.

But now, on news that Goldman Sachs reduced the company's rating to "sell", GM's shares have plummeted to less than $12, the lowest level since 1955.

That means the world's largest auto maker has a stock market value of only about $7 billion. That compares with a market cap of about $56 billion in 2000, when the stock was at its all-time high of $94.62 a share.

To put that in even more perspective, GM's market value is now roughly equivalent to that of tax-preparation provider H&R Block or toy maker Mattel .

Even more humbling for the auto maker, GM's value is now:

Half that of cosmetics company Avon
A third of cruise operator Carnival Cruiselines
A quarter of Internet media company Yahoo!
A fifth of online auction house Ebay
A sixth of retailer Home Depot
A seventh of biotech firm Amgen's league
An eighth of drugstore chain CVS
A ninth of fast-food giant McDonald's
Last, but not least, GM is now 1/66th the size of fellow Dow component Exxon.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/25392542

Pity. You know, if they had just fucking paid attention to us whacko enviro-terrorist libs and our kneejerk "sustainability" screeching, perhaps they wouldn't have painted themselves into such an awful corner by tying their brand entirely to 12-mpg behemoths and ignoring the numerous opportunities to create electric, hybrid, and alternative-fuel vehicles before their value dropped to roughly half of my neighbors' kids' lemonade stand.

[trotsky]

1. "12-mpg behemoths"?

Is that what a Hummer can get, downhill with a tailwind?

[Occam Bandage]

4. With a sail on top.

[MNDemNY]

25. If the engine is off.

[I_Will]

2. Isn't the old phrase, "As goes GM, so goes the country" ?

Yikes!

[Vidar]

5. Speaking as a native, I can certainly say it's at least true of Michigan.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. It's actually "What's good for General Motors is good for the country."

As (almost) said by their former CEO Charlie Wilson: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827790,00.html

[CBGLuthier]

3. And when they finally go under, what will they blame

People buying "foreign" cars.

Not their shitty over-priced, inefficient, products. I would weep for the american workers that will be affected but GM and the others stopped caring about them decades ago.

[DefenseLawyer]

7. More likely they will blame "the unions"

For the costs of health care and pensions. People eat that shit up almost as much as the "jap car" canard.

[Dreamer Tatum]

14. Is it 1981 already?

"Jap car?" Can you point me to someone who would actually say that without irony these days?


Like it or not, the expense of the unions is a considerable expense. If any of the big automakers go down, it will be because of a complex mix of arrogance, stupidity, slowness, expense, and quality. Each continues to head in the wrong direction.

[DefenseLawyer]

26. I have no idea what your point is

Yes there are plenty of Americans who still buy into the "blame the Japanese" canard. If you don't think so, spend some time in Flint or Kokomo or a 1000 other places. (I'm going assume here you know what a canard is, but from your response I'm not sure) Now if you really buy into the idea that unions brought down GM, well I'm sure John McCain would be happy to hear that.

[Bob Dobbs]

29. "The expense of unions is a considerable expense"?!?!?!

Yes, it's called "Labor" which is an integral part of "Production".

"Raw materials" are also a considerable expense, but you can't build cars without them, either.

[Occam Bandage]

30. You know, it's funny. The European economy and standard of living seem adequate,

and they actually treat their workers with a modicum of respect.

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. They're not going under. The gubmint won't allow it. n/t

[Webster Green]

6. I haven't seen as many Hummer commercials lately..

Perhaps they are finally figuring this shit out.

Too late, assholes! :eyes:

[Indenturedebtor]

10. Heh I saw one last night

I laughed.

[hatrack]

17. Hummer - Losing Money Like Nothing Else We Make!

:eyes:

[flvegan]

19. What's odd is the number of ads I'm seeing for fellow behemoth Armada.

Nissan's roadgoing juggernaut. Actually *touting* how huge the frigging thing is.

[Matariki]

8. And in the meantime...

Denmark is revitalizing it's economy with wind technology. And the alternative energy etf I own is gaining 20% annually...

Simply squashing new technologies used to work for GM in the past, they must be dismayed. Dinosaurs.

[Indenturedebtor]

9. Yeah the lesson here is that irresponsible choices catch up to you

When you do what's right in the long term, failing some unforseen catastrophe, things normally turn out ok.

GM has been like a drug dealer rolling in the short term cash sellng a product that hurts people. Eventually the cops (reality) always catch up to you.

[NeedleCast]

11. GM Stock is really depressed right now

I bought about 100 shares recently in the hope that it will rebound.

Edit: And that the rebound comes from GM wising up to the fact that they can't keep doing things the way they have been.

[Occam Bandage]

12. Counterintuitive. Hope it works out for you.

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. Um, it's counterintuitive to buy something that's on sale?

Know what a lot of really wealthy people did on the last couple days of October in 1987, and in the middle of September 2001? They were buying stock.

[Occam Bandage]

23. Depends on why it's on sale, doesn't it?

[NeedleCast]

18. Yeah, it is

It's strange to see this one time "safe" stock being at 11 dollars and change per share.

[leftofthedial]

13. corporate capitalism is the worst possible way to organize an economy

it guarantees bad, short-sighted planning and motivates--even compels--those at the top to behave in the narrow interests of a few at the expense of the many.

[Dreamer Tatum]

20. Except for the largest economy in the world, of course

:eyes:

[Occam Bandage]

24. This post and that avatar make my head explode in delight. Not that I disagree with you, mind you.

[KansDem]

28. Second largest

European Union has a larger economy than the US. And European countries take better care of their citizens.

All those damn socialist Europeans!!!

[RB TexLa]

21. Companies come and go

[Duke Newcombe]

22. With their inefficient, poor build-quality bricks they sell us...

I'm praying for the sweet release of death for that broken company. They'd be doing well if Toyota deigned to buy them out.

Duke

[liberal N proud]

27. This is what happens when a company refuses to change with the time

Their philosophy has been "we will tell you what you like" for far too long.

They have refused to fully embrace new energy efficient technology. They were slow to respond when the Japanese companies quality exceeded theirs and that left an indelible impression on the consumer.

Then there is the SUV, the modern dinosaur. They just keep on producing them as if there is no energy crisis.

Hate to say, but this one time giant has fallen at their own fault

[orleans]

31. ha. who killed the electric car?

i heard on the radio yesterday, that goldman sachs would insure $10 million of gm stock for 2.9 million (teachers unions, etc that have big chuncks of stock)
and stock holders for 10 mil would have to pay $500,000 a year after that for five years. basically, it will cost $6 million to secure $10 million in stock.

[SoCalDem]

32. Maybe Michael Moore should buy it

:evilgrin:

[jmowreader]

34. If a guy had a million dollars and about a year, he could make a killing on this

A KILLING, I tell you.

Now, understand that this is a gamble because right now, GM has two choices--get smart and recover, or stay stupid and perish. Getting smart involves deemphasizing light trucks, developing a competitor to the Sprinter (one that works, please, not the halfass shit they usually come up with when they try to copy someone) and start comparing the Impala to the Accord in their ads. Everyone else sells midsize cars by comparing them to either the Accord or the Camry. GM doesn't do that--in fact, you basically have to know they make that car if you want one because they're so interested in advertising 12mpg station wagons they don't really have time to tell you about the world-class car they make now.

But if you've got a pair of big brass ones and about a million dollars to back them up, incorporate a shell and write puts on about 50,000 shares of GM at 10 for mid-July delivery. This is probably going to obligate you to buy a lot of $9 stock for $10 per share, which would be disastrous if (1) someone hadn't paid you a dollar a share premium to do it and (2) you didn't think GM would get its shit together and turn it around. If and when GM gets its shit together, you're looking at $80 stock within a year to 18 months.

At the end of the 18 months, you'll have one of two things: 50,000 shares of very good stock that you liquidate half of and bury the proceeds in the back yard, or a shell with $50,000 in tax loss carryforward. Since tax loss carryforward is considered a valuable asset all by itself, you sell the shell to a company who can use a little TLC.

[Hannah Bell]

35. Yep, for 45 years, no one at the major US car corps saw the need for small

more efficient cars, even in the face of competition from Japan.

Oh, pull the other one, guys.

Maybe things don't work the way we've been led to believe they do, eh?