Monday, June 1st, 2009
“GM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday, marking the humbling of an American icon that once dominated the industry and setting up a high-stakes gamble for taxpayers.
Under the plan, the Obama administration will spend a bit more than $30 billion to fund the bankruptcy and in exchange receive 60% of GM’s stock, while the Canadian government will put in $9.5 billion for a 12% stake, senior administration officials said.”
As a taxpayer I’m not in favor of the “high-stakes” gamble made by the administration resulting in a 60% ownership stake in GM, while bondholders have again received the shaft. The administration has changed agreements i.e. bondholder agreements making it very unlikely that corporate bonds in GM will ever be purchased again eliminating a source of future funding. Will profits be able to carry the company and provide stockholders with a return on its investment? What do you think?
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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Many mutual funds have a bond component and maybe your 401k is invested in a fund with a corporate bond component. If it is, then the administration is trying to force you to take thirty cents for every dollar of your original investment and placing you in the position of an unsecured creditor, way down the list in the event of a total liquidation, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.
The administration is playing the bondholders against the workers. In other words the administration is trying to force you into accepting less for your investment and not what you agreed to when you originally lent the money, purchased the bond. They what to take your money and give it to the UAW, violating your underlying agreements and then adding insult to injury when you object, portraying you as the bad guy.
Some brave bond trading companies have taken a courageous stand against the administration by saying their investors, you and me, are secured creditors and should do better than thirty cents on the dollar. Standing up for bondholders should not be a courageous stand. After all, this is a fundamental funding source and an established way of doing business protected by underlying agreements. The administration’s heavy-handed tactics threatens the very core of the most successful economy the world has ever known, all the while making innocent people villains.
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