General Motors Is Back! Good News for Taxpayers and Investors

Posted Nov 17, 2010 03:56pm EST by Peter Gorenstein in Investing, Autos

General Motors is going public and investors are excited. Thanks to strong investor demand, the company expanded its initial public offering of common shares by 31 percent. The company also raised its initial share price to $33 per share.

After coming out of its government-mandated bankruptcy, GM has posted 3 straight quarters of profitability and is hoping to shed its "Government Motors" moniker with the IPO.

Former "Car Czar" Steven Rattner couldn't be more pleased. "I think we can declare victory," he recently told Tech Ticker.

But two important questions remain:
Will we taxpayers get our money back?

The answer is, probably not, though that's likely a function of the government wanting to sell shares sooner rather than later. Even after the IPO, the Treasury Department will still own about a 26% stake in the company.

Which leads to the second question: Was the bailout really worth it?
Less than two years ago the nation was gripped with fear about a possible GM bankruptcy. Now some Americans are asking why should we care so much about GM in the first place?

"There's a huge supplier network. GM just sits at the top of that. There are tens of thousands of jobs in design, in marketing, in overall management. This is the kind of company we need in this country to support what's left of our middle class," says Bill Holstein, author of Why GM Matters.

This is not your father's Cadillac maker. General Motors is no longer the world's largest automaker, and its U.S. market share has declined dramatically since Detroit's glory days.

The company has discontinued all but four brands in the U.S., dropped 900 dealerships and has vaporized more than $80 billion in debt.

But experts believe this leaner and more efficient version of GM is primed for long-term success, and GM's market share has ticked up in recent months . "General Motors is making cars that Americans want ... . It's taken a lot of years, a lot of trauma, a lot of pain, but they're there, they are competitive internationally today," says Holstein.

Excitement over the IPO suggests investors agree, but the future of this American icon ultimately rests with the car buying public, and not just in America.
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General Motors shares jump on Wall Street return

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

GM employees ring the opening bell.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


NEW YORK -- General Motors stock began trading on Wall Street again Thursday, signaling the rebirth of an American corporate icon that collapsed into bankruptcy and was rescued with a $50 billion infusion from taxpayers. The stock rose sharply in its first minutes of buying and selling, going for nearly $36 per share - nearly $3 more than the price GM set for the initial public offering. The stock traded for less than a dollar when the company filed for bankruptcy last year.
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click above for more infor : )
The DOW is `up to 77 + change on the stock market 2day due to GM Stock Offerings...
I wish I would've purchased more, but I live & learn : ) 4-Sure....

 

Yeah. I'd be happy with them also. If they gave us retired guys back our insurnace!