Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Awesome
I'm no market expert, but I doubt any serious investor is going to look twice at a GM stock offering. This last time GM got in trouble all of the secured creditors got nothing and the unsecured creditors got everything. This is in complete violation of the bankruptcy laws.
Breaking it down, people with investments in the company (like old folks investing their retirement, or working stiffs with 401k's) who are required by law to be first in line in bankruptcy proceedings got robbed of everything. It was handed over to a bunch of unsecured creditors (unions).
What makes you think that it won't happen the next time?
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While I would probably disagree with many of your views this particular post cannot be repeated often enough. The actions of GM leading up to and during the bailout were nothing short of criminal and appalling to anyone with a sense of how fair and honest business should be done. They behaved no differently than a deadbeat who maxes out every line of credit available to them with the express purpose of defaulting, then hid behind the government while giving loyal bondholders the middle finger. Meanwhile Obama demonized GM creditors as "greedy" and "selfish" for daring to have the audacity to expect money loaned in good faith would actually be paid back.
If you're looking for stock market returns it's not like there aren't literally hundreds of thousands of other companies you can invest in. If you're new to investing as some here have stated then steer clear, FAR clear of this one as it will be a darling of the hedge funds and high frequency prop trading desks. If you're unaware of how these guys (and the stock market of the 21st century in general) work then you will almost undoubtedly lose your shirt. In the long run you will be far better off investing in boring old blue chips that have a history of increasing dividends and actually repaying their debts. Johnson & Johnson, Chevron, ADP, McDonalds, and Pepsi are a few that come to mind and are among those that I own. They're not sexy, they're not exciting but over time you will significantly outperform the market indexes thanks to the power of compounding dividends. Investing in volatile growth stocks like this one will undoubtedly be only works if you know when to buy and when to sell, which is a lot more difficult for the average retail investor than anybody thinks it is.
As for this one, I can't see how anyone in good conscience can do business with a company that operates in this way, as an investor or even as a customer for that matter. I will not invest one penny of my hard earned money in the "new" GM nor will I ever purchase a new vehicle from them again. I will concede that it's pretty unlikely they'll pull a stunt like this again but for me it's a matter of principle.