While America Slept. Monday, November 24, 2008

What are they smoking? To convince Congress that they mean action, GM wants to negotiate a cut in debt levels, wants to ask the UAW whether it’s ok to delay a $7 billion payment to a union retiree health fund, GM wants to drop brands, and get more funding from GMAC, Bloomberg reports. All that done before a “10-12 page report” will be submitted by 12/2? Don’t bogart that joint …

How to make a lot of money: Buy GM’s GM’s 8.375 percent bonds due in July 2033. Last Friday, that bond went for 17 cents on the dollar, Bloomberg writes, citing a report of Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The bond with a rating lower than most GM cars will yield you 49 percent interest, and you can retire worry-free. Or not.

Chery pickins: China’s home-grown (non JV) Chery will expand up and down, Gasgoo says. On the up, they will continue their partnership with US-based Quantum LLC. Intent: A high-end brand for the export market. On the down, they will launch a low-end brand called “Karry.” Already, your basic Chery QQ3 can be bought for $4K in China. How low can you go?

Cash is king at Kia: While automakers worldwide are scrambling and begging for loans, Korea’s Kia bought $378m of their debt in cash today. Reuters has the story.

Bumps ahead but still flying high at VeeDub China: VeeDub’s Chinese honcho Winfried Vahland says that the fist six months of 2009 “will be difficult.” Undeterred, his company plans “for further growth.” More at Gasgoo. VW’s sales in China have risen 12.6 percent to 853,800 vehicles, almost catching up to the 881,500 sold in Germany, where growth amounted to just 1.8 percent in comparison. Some guys have all the luck …

Vultures circling over Opel: Despite Opel’s recent proclamations that everything is hunky-dory, nobody is buying it. Instead, the discussion is: Who will buy Opel? After Opel dealers talked about buying Opel, and a solar panel company made a low-ball offer, Automobilwoche reports that Opel’s union boss Klaus Franz is offering that the workers take over. Both Automobilwoche and Autohaus opine that the only serious buyers for Opel will be in Asia. “Opel needs an investor who knows cars,” says Autohaus, and that investor “can only come from China or India.” What makes them think of India?

Looking for a recession-proof business? Forget cars, have a look at Internet fraud instead. Citing a report by Symantec, the Financial Times reports that “the industry is worth a potential $7bn,” with stolen bank account information starting at $10 and credit card numbers selling for as little as a nickel each. Imagine: Your bank account number is worth more than three shares of GM.