John_S

GM Must Die

You're absolutely right. Shared leadership here means shared failure. They should get a dime of money from anyone until all the GM executive management and union "leaders" are gone.


On Nov 17 09:24 AM IXLR8 wrote:

> If the CEO should go, so should the head of the UAW and its entire
> leadership (?) team.
>
> .

General Electric: Genuine Risk of Collapse?

Well written article.

I've been looking for GE to get close to the single digits for a while now. The SP500 is going below 700, the Dow below 7000, so it has to happen.

This article does a good job of explaining what the fundamental problems are at GE.

I would be building a position in GE, but the announcement that they would not cut the dividend spooked me. That seems to be the way to let people know you are about to cut.

GM Bailout Would Be Agony for Taxpayers

Well, I'm sure it's obvious to anyone paying attention that the financials are the underpinning of our financial system and well economy. I know I like to be able to trust a bank to hold my money rather than keep it in my mattress. The loss of the financials pose tremendous systemic risk to the economy and the United States.

The loss of GM or al of the big three presents no systemic risk whatsoever. It will confine the problems to Michigan and a few other states with support industries (parts). This will in no way cause a systemic crisis.

Looking at your comments (currently 11), they are all on the topic of saving GM. Are you an unfortunate stock holder or an unfortunate employee? If you're an employee, don't worry you'll still have a job in the end. It will probably be with Toyota, Nissan or another auto manufacturer with a clue as to how to run a business.

GM should fail. The sooner GM enters bankruptcy, the sooner someone can step up to offer debtor in possession financing and get a new management team to do something about GM's problems. Until then, GM should not get a penny of taxpayer money. They will waste it like they have for the last 30 years.



On Nov 16 10:19 AM John D wrote:

> Burden on taxpayers?? If the auto industry does not get the same
> relief that the financials are getting - there is no use in bailing
> the financials out - In very simple terms - people need to have a
> JOB in order to make some MONEY to pay the TAXES to bail out the
> financials as well - if you bail out one and not the other - WHO
> is going to pay the TAXES to bail out just the financial sector??
> therefore it would be usless to do only one. It's not just GM - Ford
> & Chrysler that are in financial trouble - it's the WHOLE country
> - they are just caught in it the same as everyone else - this is
> not the time to say the Big 3 don't run their businesses efficiently
> - look at the stocks - they are definatley not alone - EVERYONE in
> North America needs help now - and it's OUR job to pull together
> and do that - not to lay blame - Trillions on WAR in Iraq but not
> a few billion to FEED your OWN ?

Should We Really Bail Out the Big Three Automakers with $73.20 Per Hour Labor?

The only thing the government should offer to GM is debtor in possession financing to help them emerge from bankruptcy if no one else will provide that financing.

Giving GM money now is like giving heroin to an addict. It won't help them and only seeks to enable their terrible behavior. Once that addict gets into rehab (bankruptcy for GM) there can be real assitance offered that might make a difference.

Sure there is a risk that GM will continue to do completely moronic things like it has for 30 years, but once their in bankruptcy they'll have someone looking over their shoulder the rest of the way forward. Then the have a real chance of curing what ails them.

GM needs to go into bankruptcy. The sooner, the better.

UltraShort ETFs: At a Tipping Point?

That's not a Head & Shoulders. That's a triple top. Triple tops rarely, if ever hold.

The QID is going higher.

Expect the indexes to take out their lows from 2003 before the end of the year.

Citi Needs More Than an Executive Shuffle to Really Fix Things

Citibank should not be trying to acquire anyone. They are just desperate to shore up their very weak balance sheet. It shows.

The drop below $10/share has seriously impaired their Tier 1 capital ratio. Thanks to the TARP money it's not quite bad enough to demand a run for the exits, but things are only going to get worse from here for the stock market, the economy and ultimately for Citi's common equity.

Their Tier 1 capital ratio seems to be ensured to fall below 6% before the end of the year without additional capital injections from the Fed or a highly aggressive sovereign wealth fund.

The price action in the Citi common last week was terrible and is a harbinger of things to come.

Is Your Money Safe at Citibank?

My quick math says at this stock price their Tier 1 capital ratio would be below 6% without the $25 billion dollar injection from the US Treasury.

Citibank is in real trouble from what I can see.

Look at how many other Bank CEOs bought stock before their bank failed or was forced into a merger. Smells like a PR gimmick. I wonder if Citi loaned Pandit money to make the acquisition.

Citibank is too big to fail for the US government. They ill have to bail them out and wipe out equity holders or force an acquisition by a more stable bank. BoA, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo all have picked up some very weak companies through acquisitions. This weight on their balance sheets and the desire not to let one bank get too large will prevent those three from acquiring Citi.

It seems like US Bank (USB) is the only one with the balance sheet (Thanks in part to TARP.) and the management to be able to acquire Citi. Citi has so many problems I am not sure they would be willing to acquire it with government backing.

As the market's drop another 20% here in the near future, Citibank may well "outperform" and drop another 50%. In my opinion, this bank is at risk today. With another 30% or 40% reduction in Tier 1 capital, they would be on life support.