Wednesday, May 27, 2009

D minus four

The clock is ticking for GM—it’s got until Sunday to come up with a restructuring plan that will keep it out of bankruptcy. Word on the street (okay, various broadsheet papers) is that you and I, my fellow tax-chumps, are about to become majority stockholders in the tanking automaker—to the tune of 70%.

The UAW, which appears to be a better negotiator, will come out with 17.5% of the stock, although that’s less than the autoworkers had hoped for. (They're also accepting stock as funding for retiree benefits. Now there's a longshot for you.)

As in the case of Chrysler, GM’s bondholders have tossed their $700 hand-stitched sabots into the machinery, refusing to accept the offer of $0.41 on the dollar for their debts, which (as with Chrysler) is an invitation to bankruptcy.

You know someone’s out of whack when the UAW seem more reasonable.

Especially when you figure that the bondholders are likely to get much less than this offer under bankruptcy.

Comment dit-on en anglais?…schmucks.

Well, whatever. In a few days most of Detroit will be one big garage sale.

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