For the December 14 period, short interest in financial stocks sky-rocketed compared to figures on November 30. Shares sold short in Citigroup (C) grew 20 million to 104.9 million. Shares short in…
According to Reuters India’s Tata is about to close a deal to buy Jaguar and Rover from Ford (F). Reuters writes that the IMF says that the subprime mortgage problem will slow…
It actually is not very unusual for a stock to lose half its value, especially if it is in the right sector. Shares in Countrywide Financial (CFC) are down over 75% in…
According to Reuters, the pace of holiday spending dropped off in late November and early December. Reuters writes that Ingersoll-Rand (IR) is buying Trane (TT) for $10.1 billion. Reuters writes that chip…
Ford (F) looks likely to pick Tata of India to buy Rover and Jaguar. The Times of London says the price for the sale will be slightly over $2 billion. The upcoming…
Douglas A. McIntyre Part of what was supposed to happen in Detroit this year was that the new UAW contract was going to lower costs for the Big Three. This would bring their cost to…
Chrysler is recalling over 575,000 vehicles. According to Reuters "long-term wear on the gear shift assembly could cause them to shift out of park without the key in the ignition." The move…
The November 30 short interest of NYSE traded stocks shows that the market is predicting a further drop in financial and tech stocks. The numbers compare to November 15, 2007. The short…
The new cost cuts at GM (GM) and Ford (F) are not going to help them with their debt service. Cash flow will be hurt by a combination of lower US car…
A booming market in widgets makes most widget company management look good. It turns out to be the same with private equity. The people who run Blackstone (BX) looked like rocket scientists…
Going back to 1962, GM (GM) sold half of all the cars bought in America. By 1981, it had only dropped to 45%. In 1999, the Big Three still had a 71%…
Ford (F) and GM (GM) said they would cut back production for 2008. Demand is just not there due to higher fuel prices and a slow economy. But, that is not the…
November was supposed to be ugly for domestic car sales, but Ford (F) did fine. Ford sales totaled 182,951, up 0.4 percent versus a year ago. The company had seen 12 straight…
Douglas A. McIntyre According to Reuters, a fire closed most of the oil pipeline between the US and Canada. Reuters writes that the head of VW said the the Russian car market would eventually be…
According to Reuters, GM (GM) will begin to build hybrid cars in China next year. Reuters writes that BHP Billiton (BHP) is insisting that a merger with Rio Tinto (RTP) will not…
