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General Motors Is Back! Good News for Taxpayers and Investors

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

Shares of General Motors are once again trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Investors are excited! The stock is trading higher out of the gate. This after strong investor demand compelled the company to expand 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?

[Related: How Washington Could Ruin the Economy]

"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.

[Related: Sizing Up GM's Stock Offering]

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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843 comments

  • A Yahoo! User
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    A Yahoo! User Fri Nov 19, 2010 03:27 pm EST Report Abuse
    ford did it right and got fu(ked---fu(k obama---
  • 1 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this comment
    Term Limits Fri Nov 19, 2010 12:44 pm EST Report Abuse
    When the Buffets, Murdocks and the rest of the crooks make money off the IPO and then sell the stock will tank in two years. Guess what then the new bailout comes but first the airline industry will need a bailout after all the big mergers.
  • 1 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this comment
    sweet cheeks Fri Nov 19, 2010 01:46 am EST Report Abuse
    all i can say is quit whining, either buy it or dont. lol
  • 1 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this comment
    bob Thu Nov 18, 2010 08:27 pm EST Report Abuse
    What pisses me off is the fact that GM/feds screwed all the bond holders, left Michigan and other states with clean up bills of all the abandon buildings and other gm sites - clean up costs are in the billions - lemon car law suits gone, recalls from the past gone! start over with 0 debt - and bomber calls this a success! all they did is clean off gm's books and put junk on the taxpayers books - thanks
  • 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this comment
    James F Thu Nov 18, 2010 07:54 pm EST Report Abuse
    GM use to make a good car, back when they had Pontiacs and such. Now all they have is a bunch of over-priced junk in my book. My biggest @#$% is that tax-payer money was used to bail them out. The @#$% UNION should have had to bail them out, as they are responsible for their being in a hole to begin with. It really would break my heart to see those lazy union employees have to work for the same pay as other people. I know it must be really hard to exist and live on $40.00 or more an hour. Thank you UNION.
  • 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this comment
    Drew Dogg Thu Nov 18, 2010 07:27 pm EST Report Abuse
    They aint gonna have no sucess cause aint nobody got no money to buy new cars idiots.
  • 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 2 users disliked this comment
    eggnore Thu Nov 18, 2010 07:23 pm EST Report Abuse
    why? this is ridiculous. GM already paid back their loan with interest. the government made money off of the deal, so stop complaining they wasted their money. for those people complaining about their loss of money in stocks prior to the bailout, well that's the stock market. When you buy a stock you are putting your money into the company with hopes it will grow, but it is a stock! there is always the chance the company will bankrupt and you will lose all your money, its part of the risk of stocks. you should count yourselves lucky you still have the same amount of shares before the company went bankrupt. get an education and stop listening to the first thing you hear on the news.
  • 1 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 3 users disliked this comment
    Destiny VII Thu Nov 18, 2010 07:02 pm EST Report Abuse
    I don't understand these whining and complaining the bailouts. I rather have my tax dollar go to help the American company that would save thousand of jobs. You should whining and complaining all the 6 trillions dollars that Bush spent in the worthless war that lasted 8 years. It is make me sick in my stomach to see that is ok to put money in the country that didn't want us there. All that money and lives wasted in Iraq. Now, you are all complain and saying that the free market take care of itself. I doubt it very strong, especially Bush F......up the whole country so bad.
  • 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 1 users disliked this comment
    Lou lou Thu Nov 18, 2010 06:37 pm EST Report Abuse
    hey ray i am a tax payer where is my money at i didn' recive anything where is it where is it i am still a taxpayer where is it
  • 4 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 1 users disliked this comment
    JW Thu Nov 18, 2010 06:33 pm EST Report Abuse
    I want someone to explain something to me. first of all I'm not rich , in fact i've just started working again after 2yrs of being unemployed (now I'm under employed. go figure). Anyway I was in school when I decided to purchase some different stocks as the market started having problems beliving that when it got better it profit (for the most part I have).I purchased GM stock ($110 worth) before they hit rock bottom and the government took them over. I recived all kinds mailers once they did saying I couldnt sell the stock and you couldnt i tried. the name had even changed to moter liquidation something or other. now that they are back on the market as gm I figured my stock would be GM again and I'd have the 30 something dollars a share the government says its selling at. Well, I dont! It's in fact a masive some of $0.20 a share at last check. What is going on?

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