jazzme

How Auto Bailout Is Punishing Ford

For a gut check on the roughly 80-100 BILLION $ that the US taxpayer/gov't virtually gave to GM and Chrysler the question is.
What would we have said if Japan or Korea had funded Toyota and Nissan or Hyundai and Kia who compete with us in the auto markets?
Another question is if Ford earned a little less that 1 billion in this quarter and hypothetically GM finds a way to follow suit (very unlikely) how long will it take for GM to repay the 60 or so billion $ to the US taxpayers? It ain't gonna happen folks!
Another question is if Chrysler is such a good and viable company how much cash has Fiat or the Italian Gov't invested?
I spent 37 years in the auto industry at the retail level and even a trench soldier can see this debacle.

Why Is It So Hard to Modify a Mortgage?

I recently spent 2 months trying a modification with my own mortgage company, Citimortgage. What an experience. I spoke with at least 8 different people each with different explanations of how the newest gov't sponsored plan (the streamlined one) would work. Gave the same info several times over. Explained that I actually wanted to stay in my home and simply needed some help due to falling financial circumstances and property values. This took nearly two months time inclunding a "backlog" waiting for a computerized property value report. Which, when it arrived could not be used because "someone" had arbitrarily put another (lower) value in and "the computer" rejected the actual and higher one.No one knew who or why that had happened. After all this the last person I spoke with said that because I had enough money to make 3 months payments saved up I didn't qualify. I actually had told them weeks before about the savings that I had.Maybe I should have lied? No matter. This was a boondoggle that resulted in me missing a better interest rate with a broker while waiting during which time the rates rose to a point that was stepping back. They did send me to the "regular" mortgage dept who said they might do a refi for around $ 3500 or more in costs at a rate as high as I have now with a bigger payment. Oh and by the way my credit is perfect..750 score..all payments were on time..etc. I seem to be a model citizen. We just fall through the system unless of course we are stupid enough to pay the fees to refi. No business deserves to fail for incompetence or lack of customer care than the bankers/mortgage companys. We seem to keep rewarding them though.

Chrysler's Bankruptcy: Historic Changes for Markets?

The action taken by Obama's group has ensured that the Federal Govenment will be either insuring corporate bonds henceforth or acually doing the lending as they seem to be the only entity that is risk adverse enough from this point forward. Saving a public or private company by bad mouthing private capital (secured debttors)is surely the best way to run off private capital. I am a Obama supporter but this is a huge mistake..a blunder of immense proportions. In essence he said yesterday that FIAT will be the answer to compete with the likes of Toyota, BMW,VW and Daimler Benz. I have 37 years in the retain car biz. I wouldn't put one plug nickel into any new franchise that may (or not) come out of this. It take millions to be a dealer today..the admin obviously has ignored just who might sell any new product. Let alone who may buy one..from FIAT !

Madoff Investors Deserve Sympathy, Not a Bailout

So many sophiticated investors..so little due dilligence. How many really believed they had an indiders advantage?
W.C. Fields said ib best perhaps.."you can't cheat an honest man"

The very core issue of our economic woes in a word.. Greed..on so many levels

Automakers: Bailout Arguments, Pro and Con

After 37 years of retailing both imported and domestics cars here's the perspective put simply.

If the domestics build say a really crummy ugly color that won't sell...they keep it for a year and tell the retailers (dealers and salespeople) that they don't try hard enough.
If the Japanese do the same...a running production change usually is made to either drop the color or change it within 6 months. They listen to the people on the retali fromt lines and learn from them.
Who deserves to survive? Who is less liklly to repeat the same mistakes?

Nardelli Pleads for Chrysler, but Would a Bailout Help?

This is positively right on. Chrysler has been failing for forty years due to poor quality,wrong product mix,lousy planning etc. Why keep them on life support? Even our favorite pets have to be "let go of" at some point.
When did we decide that a hedge fund owned corporation should get taxpayer backed loans.
Does anyone believe that Nardelli et al woud have shared the wealth had they hit the timing right when they believed that by taking a distressed bargain Chrysler off Daimler's hands they would end up making a killing? This was a private capital deal.
Maybe Ford and GM would actually benefit and become stronger. Plus they at least have public shareholders who have a stake in their demise.
Where are our priorities? We have a dramtically smaller pie to share than we did just 18 months ago.
I spent 37 years at the hard retail end of the car biz and fully understand the failings of Detroit. I can't tell you how many mistakes corporate hubris are responsable for. I sold/managed/owned at all levels of both import and domestic brands. Oh, and financially went down with the British ship of carmaking in 1981. The word government bailout wasn't possible as the government actually already had owned most of that industry.
I've seen this movie before.