GM IPO

Government Motors plans to press ahead with their IPO despite Depression 2.0, historically low car sales and hard feelings of many americans against the company. GM, which is 61% government owned and 39% UAW owned, is prepared to offer significant discounts to investors to purchase their stock. In other words, the owners, being the Obama administration and the UAW, will take a loss to get their hands on some cash. GM has pushed the IPO out until after the November elections which suggests that whatever GM's owners have in mind will be bad for Democrat election hopes.

But will investors buy GM stock at any price? This company was once a blue chip industrial powerhouse in the world, dominating the market and seen as a stable investment even in hard times. After decades of management blunders, shady deals and playing footsie with the UAW at the bargaining table the company collapsed in 2009 like a neighborhood burrito restaurant.
The government only stepped in to save GM because they feared massive job losses amongst Democrat party faithful in the UAW. Ignore Rattner's claim that Emmanuel said "Fuck the UAW" as smoke an mirrors in an election year. All Democrats are bought and paid for by unions. Always!
Investors were plundered by GM, the UAW and the US government in GM's bankruptcy. Pension funds, 401Ks and individuals lost billions of dollars that they will never recover. GM also betrayed all of it's current and future salaried retirees when it closed it's pension plan and handed it over to the PBGC. These losses were the result of piss poor management by senior leadership at GM, who are still playing musical chairs in leadership roles.
GM is still struggling to survive in a depression despite having repudiated all of it's legacy costs, except UAW contracts. After betraying investors, salaried employees, suppliers, customers, dealers and communities, what are the chances that they can ever be trusted again? Who is going to say to himself "well this guy lied and stole from me before, but it was just circumstances so I'll trust him with my money again"? I suspect that only the desperate or stupid will fall for this IPO.

And, will GM ever be able to sell cars the number of cars they once did? In former recessions many people who could afford to buy a new car went out and bought a GM to help put people in their communities back to work, help America and out of nostalgia for the car brands of their past.
GM has closed facilities in many communities, harming people and communities, shipped work overseas, harming America, and left a bad taste in American's mouths that overwhelms emotional feelings about nostalgia for GM cars. In short, GM is considered by most Americans to be no more of an American company than Toyota or Honda, who both treat their stakeholders and customers better than GM. In short, I think most Americans have written GM off as a thing of the past and have moved on.
There is a lot of bad feelings for GM in this country and no amount of investment or advertisement can overcome it. When many people who can afford a new car go shopping, they will look at "anything but GM". Many investors will say the same.