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Today is the day GM is going to emerge from bankruptcy and I expect there will be a lot of crowing from certain quarters about what a wonderful thing has been done to save an American company. I wouldn't be handing out cigars just yet. Given the government's reputation for efficiently running things and considering that the bailout money we threw at GM that was supposed to keep them out of bankruptcy seems to have been thrown down a hole and buried, any instant claim of success has to taken in with more than a grain of salt...

So I'm reading a story about how GM is getting ready to emerge from bankruptcy and that the "new" GM will come out of the chute with $48 billion in debts. Now I know this is going to take some high level mathematics and some cipherin' that would test Jethro Bodine's limits, but flash back to yesterday's blog entry and Ford's situation. The article in the NY times said: Ford, meantime, has some $26 billion of debt...

From Bloomberg.com By Ben Livesey June 25 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. has asked investors to make improved offers for its European division, to rival the bid from Magna International Inc., the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co...

Wandering through the news this morning and came across the not-surprising headline: GM in Daily Talks With Obama Auto Task Force Then I came to this paragraph: GM will retain four plants it had planned to close, putting them on so-called standby status in case the North American auto-sales market accelerates faster than anticipated and it needs more capacity. Isn't it that kind of overly optimistic planning that got GM into their current condition in the first place?

With GM reaching a tentative deal to sell Saturn to Roger Penske, you sort of wonder why anyone would want to jump into the auto manufacturing business right now. One thing for certain, Penske is no fool. He must feel pretty sure that he can make this work...

OK, I admit I'm sort of a nut when it comes to my lawn. I love a great lawn and don't mind working on it, so my Sunday "review" of my 22 year old lawn tractor can be rationalized. But after yesterday I might need to join a Zaino support group...

Here's the problem with messing with private companies and the free market... where do you stop? "I honestly don't believe that companies should be allowed to take taxpayer funds for a bailout and then leave it to local dealers and their customers to fend for themselves," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who convened the hearing...

As the Detroit carmaker began retooling after filing for bankruptcy protection, a company spokesman said Monday he did not expect further cuts to GM Racing's budget, which supports NASCAR, NHRA, ALMS and short-track racing activities around the country and adheres to the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra. "Racing equals good ROI (return on investment)," said Steve Janisse, group manager for Chevrolet Communications. "There are no expected budget cuts right now." But will it sell the smaller, more fuel efficient cars that Government Motors is promising?..

Was it a red sky last and sailor's delight, or a red sky this morning and GM take warning? Today's the day for "the announcement" and naturally enough there was all sorts of media speculation about what it will all mean, liberally sprinkled with plenty of gloom and doom since that's all they seem comfortable doing. (If it bleeds, it leads) A NY Times blog yesterday had several experts weighing in on different aspects of the situation and this comment by a professor or economics on closing dealerships caught my eye: For us consumers, we’ll soon have only half as many places to buy G.M...

This is the weekend. Monday is the deadline. We have a member of the auto task force calling bondholders "terrorists" and it looks likely that Monday is going to be the day that we the people are going to own a large stake in GM...