Bloomberg Pegs GM's Q2 Loss at $3.7b
GM ALWAYS releases the really bad news on a Friday.The two-day interregnum gives Wall Street's money men a chance to get distracted by booze, babes and baubles. More SOP: auto analysts predictions of GM's losses are usually too high. (You might suggest an intentional disinformation campaign, but I couldn't possibly comment.) This time out, Bloomberg makes a pretty good case for, uh, what are we going to call THIS one? Holy Black Hole Friday? Anyway… "Collapsing values of leased sport-utility vehicles may force General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner to announce $2.3 billion in losses tomorrow on top of more than $1.4 billion that analysts have forecast." Uh-oh, here comes that damn "headwind" analogy again… "This is clearly one more headwind they have to fight,'' Lehman Brothers analyst Brian Johnson opined. "If they end leasing, it could end up being a 5 to 10 percent headwind to sales.'' To paraphrase Police Chief Martin Brody, "You're going to need a smaller, faster and more seaworthy boat." [Triskadecaphobes note: Bloomie's survey of 13 auto analysts reckons GM will report a loss of $2.41 a share.]
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Tar Pit Friday?
What were the Q1 losses again? I'm too busy and lazy to look it up and try and find it. The significant thing to note about the number that comes out tomorrow is the 3rd quarter numbers will be an even worse blood bath. Looks like they are headed for a 2008 loss of $13-15B, yikes. Spin away guys, just don't forget the Coriolis Force: toilet water spins clockwise in North America.
Robert, did you just sneak in a House of Cards reference? Nifty indeed! How does this compare with Q1, and how much do you think they've got in the bank? Perhaps a link to the financial reports?
It's not as bad as everyone thought it would be. For the 2nd quarter, it's only a loss of $15.5 BILLION, with a B. Oh wait, it's worse. See: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080801/clf021.html?.v=101