Ford posts 2.1B profit while GM posts 16.6B loss

[valkyrie]

It seems that Ford is doing something right. Oh, yeah, don't let the government meddle in or take over your business. Now there's one to live by.

SOURCE

There is nothing wrong with being accountable to the taxpayer if you take welfare. It was not a gift but a loan that they were to pay back. You just don't lend money to someone that has no way of paying it back. That's just not responsible. I support the decision to make these corporate welfare recipients accountable to the taxpayer. When the loan is paid back in full they can buy back the stock used for collateral.

As for Ford, yes, they saw the trends in auto sales and adjusted themselves accordingly. It's what a smart company does.

On the other hand, our Ford F150 caught fire spontaneously last Tuesday and finished out it's life engulfed in a hot flame (I managed to put out the trees that were on fire with a garden hose but no hope for the truck until the fire department showed). There was a recall on the cruise control that we couldn't get an appointment with the dealer to have repaired/replaced in time (they never had the part). We'll likely take the 1999 vehicle off of our farm taxes next year as a loss. The truck was parked outside. No one was hurt. Things can be replaced.

 

[Gonz]

There is nothing wrong with being accountable to the taxpayer if you take welfare

There is somethign wrong with the government getting involved in private industry. Do not bail them out & do not own 65% (or any amount) of their stock.

For the record, Iacocca did not take a single dime from the US taxpayer. The government, in essence, co-signed the loan from private banks.

 

[catocom]

I want a Tucker, but if I found one, I couldn't afford it.

 

[jimpeel]

There is nothing wrong with being accountable to the taxpayer if you take welfare. It was not a gift but a loan that they were to pay back. You just don't lend money to someone that has no way of paying it back. That's just not responsible.

That is a very apt description of what happened in the housing industry when the government forced banks to make loans to people who could not pay the payments. The sound bites were great to the ears of politicians. "Home ownership for all Americans" was the clarion call, the siren song of the politicians.

Politicians think that businesses can operate at a loss just like they do. The problem that they do not understand is that businesses have no power to simply print their own money.

 

[Gonz]

they do not understand is that businesses have no power to simply print their own money.

Ultimately, neither do they. Once they're done stealing ours & borrowing theirs, it's not worth the paper it's printed on.

 

[2minkey]

either of you guys ever watch how decisions get made and resources get allocated at a high level (say, by VPs and their toadies) in a large (perhaps car company-sized) corporation? because from what y'all are saying, sounds like you have not.

 

[Gonz]

A bureaucracy is a bureaucracy

 

[jimpeel]

Ford to pay off more than $4 billion in debts

And they won't be doing it with bailout money.

Now that's how you run a business.

SOURCE

Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ford to Pay Off More Than $4 Billion in Debt


By Matt Egan
FOXBusiness


Ford Emblem 276

In an effort to save $470 million in interest payments and strengthen its balance sheet, Ford (F) said Wednesday it plans to pay $3.8 billion in cash to a retiree union benefits trust.

Combined with an April payment of $3 billion on a revolving credit facility, Ford said the moves reduce its debt by more than $7 billion in the second quarter.

Ford said it is retiring its debt owed to the United Auto Workers retiree medical benefits trust ahead of schedule by making the payments. The auto maker, which unlike General Motors and Chrysler did not need to file for bankruptcy during the recession, cited increasing “momentum” in its recovery plan and expected “solid profits” and cash flow this year.

"We are pleased to make these payments ahead of schedule for the benefit of Ford and our UAW-Ford retirees who count on the Trust for their health-care benefits," CEO Alan Mulally said in a statement. “Our business results make it possible to take these actions while still accelerating the investments we are making in our business to serve our customers with the very best cars and trucks."

Ford said it is making scheduled cash payments of about $860 million on Notes A and B held by the UAW trust. While Ford had the option to pay Note B with stock, it said it will pay in cash. At the same time, the auto maker and its credit arm are paying a combined $2.9 billion to retire the remaining obligation on Note A at a discount of 2%.

Ford also said it plans to make a $255 million cash payment to make it current on a previously deferred trust. The company said the actions, combined with the April payment on a revolving credit facility, will save it $470 million in annual interest expense.

“We are very pleased with this transaction, which continues the process of diversifying the Trust's assets at very attractive values and assists the thousands of Ford retired employees, their families and survivors and others who look to the Trust to fund their retiree health benefits," said Samuel Halpern, president of Independent Fiduciary Services, the independent fiduciary and investment manager for the UAW trust.

Shares of Ford responded well to the moves, rising 5.q% to $10.38 Wednesday.

 

[Winky]

Jimmy, you know why they did it this year?

Ya know what's coming next year, right?

 

[Gonz]

Old people must die before Jan 1 & all profits must also be taken before they kill our economy with the largest tax hike in history.

 

[Winky]

Gonz

Bingo!

 

[catocom]

Re: Ford to pay off more than $4 billion in debts

And they won't be doing it with bailout money.

oh? so you've seen the books then?

 

[Winky]

While you are doing due diligence of Auto manufacturers
tell us how GM's profitability has improved since it was nationalized.

i.e. since Osammie took over daily operations
or perhaps more accurately one of his Czars.

Back on off topic:

OK folks find us other examples of major corporations accelerating
their taxable events before the real start of the Obamanation depression
really kicks in.

Ya know with any luck he just might get hisself re-elected?

I can see it now…

 

[2minkey]

A bureaucracy is a bureaucracy

so, it's that simple, huh?

you do understand that every company in the US that has more than a handful of employees is a bureaucracy, right?

hmmmm. maybe not....

 

[Gonz]

Wrong-o oh mighty intelect.

Every company that morphs from one or two DECISION MAKERS to a corporate board with officers is a bureaucracy

 

[Winky]

Mark my words

watch this space

 

[catocom]

man, that 3yr, and 5yr looks awful

Thanks for the linkage

 

[2minkey]

Wrong-o oh mighty intelect.

Every company that morphs from one or two DECISION MAKERS to a corporate board with officers is a bureaucracy

"bureaucracy" refers to a form of organization where tasks become specialized and stratified as organizational units. a corporate board with officers is irrelevant to whether something is a bureaucracy, though such things often accompany bureaucracies.

 

[jimpeel]

Re: Ford to pay off more than $4 billion in debts

oh? so you've seen the books then?

Ford didn't take any of the bailout money so it follows that they -- not being in possession of same -- will be paying with their own money.

GM, on the other hand, did accept the bailout money and then bragged about paying some of it back. It turned out, however, that all they did was move bailout money from one account to another. So they did pay a debt using money from that same debt. It was pure accounting tricks.

 

[catocom]

Re: Ford to pay off more than $4 billion in debts

Ford didn't take any of the bailout money QUOTE]

not overtly...
I don't know that some of that money wasn't funneled to them.
There's more than 2 trillion unaccounted for.

The ford foundation is into all kinds of stuff.