Right Lane Cruiser
05-13-2009, 07:56 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Ailing US carmaker sees shares collapse after top executives dump personal stock holdings. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/12/generalmotors-automotive-industry)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/GM_Logo2.jpgAndrew Clark - The Guardian (http://network.guardian.co.uk) - May 12, 2009
Well there's some great confidence inspiring action. :p --Ed.
The ailing US carmaker General Motors saw its shares collapse to their lowest level since the Great Depression after six top executives dumped personal stock holdings, fuelling fear of imminent bankruptcy.
As GM and the Obama administration continued to plead with reluctant lenders to write off much of the company's $27bn (£18bn) in debt, the shares dived by 29 cents to close at $1.15 , valuing the largest of Detroit's motor manufacturers at barely $700m.
At one point, GM's shares fell as low as $1.09, their lowest level since April 1933. The slump came after half a dozen senior managers cashed out equity for a knockdown total price of $315,000.
The sellers include GM's former head of product development Bob Lutz, a veteran Detroit figure who stepped aside to become a senior adviser to the company last month and who offloaded his entire holding of 81,360 shares for $130,989.
Lutz's successor, Thomas Stephens, liquidated stock as did North America president Troy Clarke, manufacturing chief Gary Cowger, head of European operations Carl-Peter Forster and GM's chief information officer Ralph Szygenda.
A GM spokeswoman admitted that shareholders face "some pretty stark choices". If the company strikes a deal, GM will issue billions of new shares to banks, unions and the government to cancel debt, vastly diluting existing stock. If it fails to win an agreement, shareholders will rank as unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy courts and could get nothing.
The US treasury has kept GM afloat with $15.4bn in emergency loans. When asked about the stock sales, a White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said he would "resist the temptation to comment on individuals' personal stockholdings, except to say that the... http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/12/generalmotors-automotive-industry
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/GM_Logo2.jpgAndrew Clark - The Guardian (http://network.guardian.co.uk) - May 12, 2009
Well there's some great confidence inspiring action. :p --Ed.
The ailing US carmaker General Motors saw its shares collapse to their lowest level since the Great Depression after six top executives dumped personal stock holdings, fuelling fear of imminent bankruptcy.
As GM and the Obama administration continued to plead with reluctant lenders to write off much of the company's $27bn (£18bn) in debt, the shares dived by 29 cents to close at $1.15 , valuing the largest of Detroit's motor manufacturers at barely $700m.
At one point, GM's shares fell as low as $1.09, their lowest level since April 1933. The slump came after half a dozen senior managers cashed out equity for a knockdown total price of $315,000.
The sellers include GM's former head of product development Bob Lutz, a veteran Detroit figure who stepped aside to become a senior adviser to the company last month and who offloaded his entire holding of 81,360 shares for $130,989.
Lutz's successor, Thomas Stephens, liquidated stock as did North America president Troy Clarke, manufacturing chief Gary Cowger, head of European operations Carl-Peter Forster and GM's chief information officer Ralph Szygenda.
A GM spokeswoman admitted that shareholders face "some pretty stark choices". If the company strikes a deal, GM will issue billions of new shares to banks, unions and the government to cancel debt, vastly diluting existing stock. If it fails to win an agreement, shareholders will rank as unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy courts and could get nothing.
The US treasury has kept GM afloat with $15.4bn in emergency loans. When asked about the stock sales, a White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said he would "resist the temptation to comment on individuals' personal stockholdings, except to say that the... http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/may/12/generalmotors-automotive-industry