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A share of Ford stock is cheaper than a gallon of gas or a cappuccino at Starbucks. (http://www.freep.com/article/20081009/BUSINESS01/810090388/1014?GID=6E50buqMaQSBSyvvZdJf196be1F7dqGPvGKYvOcIUPs%3D)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Pickup_Trucks_on_Dealer_lot.jpgSarah Webster and Katie Merx – Detroit Free Press – Oct. 9, 2008

Literally miles of unsold Dodge P/U’s and SUV’s on lots around the country.

If the panic continues, Ford could be finished by early next year. -- Ed.

U.S. auto stocks sank to historic lows Wednesday, as investor fears about credit availability and the weakening global economy combined to produce a stunning sell-off of Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and dozens of other auto stocks. "Everyone is bailing."

'Everybody's in a panic'

A confluence of factors, shareholders and experts said, are responsible for the sell-off…

"I think everybody's in a panic because nobody can get a loan to buy a car," John Wojdyla, a Ford shareholder in Royal Oak, who has decided to hold on to his shares, told the Free Press. "News reports that people can't get auto loans is a part of it."

Several dealers said this fear is grossly exaggerated and causing an irrational drop-off in showroom traffic and confidence…

Serious concerns about cash

… Fitch said it projects that without additional capital or asset sales, "Ford's liquidity could decline to the minimum required level of $10 billion to $12 billion within the next 18 months."

Over the past few years, global operations have helped prop up Detroit's automakers and their money-losing North American business units.

But now, trouble lurks even abroad… http://www.freep.com/article/20081009/BUSINESS01/810090388/1014?GID=6E50buqMaQSBSyvvZdJf196be1F7dqGPvGKYvOcIUPs%3D

I've been engaging in some more thought experiments....

As oil continues to deplete, personal transportation will increasingly become lighter, smaller, more efficient, and more electric. And the lots full of the opposite will continue to grow...........rejected for personal transportation.

But these machines still have some potential value in some capacity, don't they? If so, for what?

Retrofitted generators for small industry? Replacement engines in micro-buses for public transportation?

In short, what do we do with a million F-150 engines? You guys are smarter than me. Give me your thoughts.

I've got a limit order in to buy Ford stock. I'm trying to bottom fish, and catch it at the very bottom.

I seriously doubt the US will allow Ford and GM to go away. Both could file for bankruptcy, so there is certainly a lot of risk in buying their stock.

Stock prices should bottom before the recession is at its worst, since the market is a leading indicator.

When people are in a panic, that is a time to buy, but with the caveat that you are making a risky investment that could either pay off big, or become a total loss. You wouldn't want to bet the farm on F or GM stock. Since the charts are still so ugly, it's too soon to buy.

Harry

Ya know... most folk on the hybrid blogs have been predicting something like this for YEARS. Ford flat-out refused to innovate for decades and this is the result. I feel really bad for the employees who are losing their jobs because the executives are lazy and greedy.

We are expecting the US automakers to pay us back the loans for $25,000,000,000?
I really doubt we will get paid back. Kiss that money goodbye.

I've been engaging in some more thought experiments....

As oil continues to deplete, personal transportation will increasingly become lighter, smaller, more efficient, and more electric. And the lots full of the opposite will continue to grow...........rejected for personal transportation.

But these machines still have some potential value in some capacity, don't they? If so, for what?

In short, what do we do with a million F-150 engines? You guys are smarter than me. Give me your thoughts.

Not smarter than you, but maybe melt them and sell to a Civic plant in Indiana?

Well, I really hope American manufacturing can bounce back and beat the Japanese, like in how our technology beat them in WW 2. It's just that the Big 3 never got in the game of fuel efficiency or real good hybrids yet.

If the engines are already built, maybe they could be retuned
for optimized-load efficiency and put to work as combined heat
and power cogen plants for homes or light industry. Generate
power, heat the building, maybe charge the electric car, but
overall extract much more benefit from burning the same fuel.
.
Unfortunately it isn't such a hot idea for gasoline engines in
terms of safe fuel storage in the home environment, but maybe
the diesels could run on #2 oil.
.
_H*