Stock Itch

What: General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM)

When: Wednesday, October 9th, 2008

Why: General Motors makes the best American sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette.  The Corvette is an awesome car (minus a few of the 1980’s bodies) that we get to see a lot of here in Indianapolis as the official pace car of the Indy 500.  The past 12 Indy 500 pace cars have all been GM products, 7 of which were the Corvette.  Sure, I have other reasons as well, but the Corvette is reason enough.

Personal Overview: General Motors Corporation stock has “tanked” in recent months (currently down 84.25% in the past year) and that GM is in serious need of a new business and marketing strategy. For an older company, I don’t think that is entirely a bad thing.  Difficult times breed innovation which is just what the American auto industry needs.

There are also rumors flying that they may combine with Chrysler, announcing a plan as early as this coming week.  I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not, but I must say that I love the Chrysler Town & Country minivan and the Dodge Viper is a pretty cool American sports car too.

Personal Expectations: I’m planning to hold onto this one for a while and then see what unfolds.  While some consider this “risky” right now, I’m looking at it as more of an opportunity.  If the worse thing happens, I’m not out a whole lot since I got in on the low side.  But if the company and the economy get turned around in the next decade, I’m going to be a happy guy when I remember when I bought in.  But in the near future, say a year or two, I’d like to see some dividens happening again, as the recent $0.25 – $0.50 quarterly dividends per share aren’t too shabby.

Here’s the summary of General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) common stock for the week of October 13-17, 2008. The stock gained $1.54, or 31.49%, from the previous weeks’ close of $4.89 (See chart).

Performance for October 13-17, 2008

SEC Filings for October 13-17, 2008

• None

General Motors Corporation News

• GM-Chrysler merger talks advance CNNMoney.com (October 18th, 2008)
• GM exec hopes US car market has hit bottom -paper Forbes (October 18th, 2008)
• GM sends Hummer sales book to potential buyers Forbes (October 18th, 2008)
• GM offers $1.6 bln, buyouts to close Ohio plant Reuters (October 17th, 2008)
• Car market decline spurs fresh Big Three merger talk Reuters (October 17th, 2008)
• Lenders eager for Chrysler-GM deal- WSJ Forbes (October 17th, 2008)
• GM’s Sales Drop in China Puts Forecast In Doubt Wall Street Journal (October 16th, 2008)
• GM campaign tells buyers they can still get loans BusinessWeek (October 16th, 2008)
• GM names CEO for its Hummer brand slated for sale Forbes (October 16th, 2008)