GM to pay more than $400 million in worker bonuses

Mott the Hoople said:
That's bullshit. I had and still do have family working in the auto industry. The cost of labor wasn't nearly as significant as the fact they made cars people didn't want to buy. The cost of labor wasn't an issue when gas was a buck 75 a gallon and people were buying the GM land yachts. When Gas hit $4/gallon and no one wanted those big gas guzzlers and sales dropped of the cliff then high labor costs became an issue. Ford survived cause they made the necessary changes to the market place and the still pay high union wages (and guess what? Non-union shops like Honda, Toyota, BMW, & Hyundai pay comparable wages in this country cause they know if they don't they'll be unionized.) but they were selling cars people actually wanted to buy. If you think GM and Chrysler drove off the cliff due to unions then stick to the petroleum business. You're acumen doesn't cross over to manufacturing.
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The cost of labor...here's a guy that knows...

Health Care
Health care: an issue that cries out for leadership.

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Health care in this country is in shambles. At a cost of almost $12,000 a year for the average family, the system is bankrupting families and it's bankrupting companies - specifically my old industry. Take General Motors. They're currently paying out $1,525 per vehicle for health care. Compare that to the $201 Toyota is paying and it sounds even more absurd. And what about those families and individuals who can't afford insurance at all? Junior breaks his arm and all of a sudden, a fall off a bike is an $8,000 trip to the ER.

Despite all of this, none of our politicians will touch the issue. Oh sure, they'll talk about it during campaign season, but once the votes are cast, it's the forgotten issue again. The last time anyone proposed real reform was in 1993, and that plan went nowhere. Fourteen years later, Hillary Clinton's failed plan is still used as an excuse to continue ignoring the problem. That's disgraceful.

I suggest you listen carefully to the '08 candidates' "plans" for health care. Let's see if any of them have the political courage to really tackle it this time around. I don't want band-aid ideas either. I want concrete solutions - and I want to hold these guys to their promises.

http://www.leeiacocca.com/thoughts-on-leadership/health-care.aspx
 
Topspin said:
Hey one who never stepped in an economics class, companies fail, recessions happen.

So your buying stock in GM and chrysler I presume. I wouldn't touch them with your money much less mine. Tie yourself to that sinking ship if you like, I'd rather invest in non socialist companies that don't plant trees in lue of making a car people want.
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This sounds more like being pissed on from a great height economics rather than trickledown! We have just been through the worst recession in seventy odd years and without the world's concerted actions you would have been staring at total financial meltdown. Now if you don't believe that then there is no hope for you. We lost much of our manufacturing sector in the the last twenty years believing that financial services and invisibles would take over instead.

As to cars, GM supplied the gas guzzlng SUVs that you wanted. Now latterly you are having to wake up and realise that those days are over.
 
tom prendergast said:
This sounds more like being pissed on from a great height economics rather than trickledown! We have just been through the worst recession in seventy odd years and without the world's concerted actions you would have been staring at total financial meltdown. Now if you don't believe that then there is no hope for you. We lost much of our manufacturing sector in the the last twenty years believing that financial services and invisibles would take over instead.

As to cars, GM supplied the gas guzzlng SUVs that you wanted. Now latterly you are having to wake up and realise that those days are over.
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More avoidance, you may have believed the hype fest that was blown up your ass to save the Kennedy's yatch club and detroit. The rest of america is skeptical (ie rise of the tea party).
Asked again, would you buy or do you own GM stock????
 
Topspin said:
More avoidance, you may have believed the hype fest that was blown up your ass to save the Kennedy's yatch club and detroit. The rest of america is skeptical (ie rise of the tea party).
Asked again, would you buy or do you own GM stock????
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I might do, I track it but it just seems to hover around the $35-36 mark.
 
they have about as much earnings as your rare earth company go for it.
Myself and most investors look for companies with huge profits. LOL
 
Topspin said:
they have about as much earnings as your rare earth company go for it.
Myself and most investors look for companies with huge profits. LOL
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How long do you think Apple or indeed the military could survive without rare earths? Molycorp has the only mine outside of China producing REEs and China has publically stated that will divert 35,000 tonnes per year to the domestic market. I sure you understand the economics of monopoly suppliers and indeed the dangers of the US military depending on the Chinese for such strategic materials.

Mountain Pass rare earth mine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:MolycorpMountainPass.jpg" class="image"><img alt="MolycorpMountainPass.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/MolycorpMountainPass.jpg/250px-MolycorpMountainPass.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/3/30/MolycorpMountainPass.jpg/250px-MolycorpMountainPass.jpg
 
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Look I hope you make millions on molycorp. I never wish anyone bad on investing. But please don't try to sell it as anything other than wildly speculative.
China could export, so could other countries and I'm far from an expert on mining but why couldn't other companies mine them here. Good luck with it. I speculated on hybrid batteries a decade ago and did ok.
 
P.S. it's a great idea I considered it briefly then decided against.
I'm now an old fart just turned 51, I mostly stick to blue chip 5 star stocks with good dividends since I've already accumulated enough to live on the investment income.
 
Topspin said:
Look I hope you make millions on molycorp. I never wish anyone bad on investing. But please don't try to sell it as anything other than wildly speculative.
China could export, so could other countries and I'm far from an expert on mining but why couldn't other companies mine them here. Good luck with it. I speculated on hybrid batteries a decade ago and did ok.
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I have blue chips as well, BP, Shell, National Grid and wait for it...Apple.
 
Topspin said:
Look I hope you make millions on molycorp. I never wish anyone bad on investing. But please don't try to sell it as anything other than wildly speculative.
China could export, so could other countries and I'm far from an expert on mining but why couldn't other companies mine them here. Good luck with it. I speculated on hybrid batteries a decade ago and did ok.
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Other companies can mine for rare earths but as the article says you would need 20 Molycorps just to service the demand from wind turbines. If you read this article you will know why there is such a shortage and also why China is restricting exports.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/26/rare-earth-metals-us
 
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thanks I may buy a few shares when it dips a little. A little worrysome that they shut the mine down just 8 years ago.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
That's bullshit. I had and still do have family working in the auto industry. The cost of labor wasn't nearly as significant as the fact they made cars people didn't want to buy. The cost of labor wasn't an issue when gas was a buck 75 a gallon and people were buying the GM land yachts. When Gas hit $4/gallon and no one wanted those big gas guzzlers and sales dropped of the cliff then high labor costs became an issue. Ford survived cause they made the necessary changes to the market place and the still pay high union wages (and guess what? Non-union shops like Honda, Toyota, BMW, & Hyundai pay comparable wages in this country cause they know if they don't they'll be unionized.) but they were selling cars people actually wanted to buy. If you think GM and Chrysler drove off the cliff due to unions then stick to the petroleum business. You're acumen doesn't cross over to manufacturing.
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You are correct in citing the fact that management didn't adjust to the market.

You are incorrect in trying to shift the bulk of the blame to that decision. The pension and health care costs are what drove GM into the ground. Any company that agrees to start paying out pensions at 50 or 55 years of age is doomed to fail. Especially if the company also agrees to continue paying health care costs. It simply isn't sustainable economically given the extended average life expectancy.
 
They still haven't paid their loans from our government. They used loans from the government to cover other loans from the government then claimed they "paid us back"...

Now they are giving bonuses in a show of PR.
 
Damocles said:
They still haven't paid their loans from our government. They used loans from the government to cover other loans from the government then claimed they "paid us back"...

Now they are giving bonuses in a show of PR.
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Those bonuses are just piss in a bucket compared to those paid to Goldman Sachs et al.
 
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