[Stanger98]

General Motors today posted its largest quarterly net loss, reflecting a $39-billion non-cash charge related to unclaimed tax credits and a loss at its former finance subsidiary GMAC.

The largest U.S. automaker posted a third-quarter net loss of $39 billion, or $68.85 per share, compared with a loss of $147 million, or 26 cents per share a year earlier. Total revenue fell to $43.8 billion from $48.9 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, GM reported a net loss of $1.6 billion, or $2.80 per share. GM's shares fell 7 percent to $33.50 in premarket trading, down from Tuesday's close of $36.16 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has lost almost 20 percent from its October highs when GM clinched a cost-saving labor deal with the UAW.

In advance of the quarterly results, GM had said it would book a $39 billion non-cash charge for the quarter. The automaker said that record one-time charge against deferred tax assets was triggered by its cumulative losses over three years and the risk of both weaker auto sales and GMAC results in coming quarters. GM's charge was triggered largely because it has been three years since it began taking charges to restructure its troubled U.S. operations. The move wipes out all the deferred tax credits it accrued over that time.

Doesn't sound good for Mr. Wondi unfortunately....

Oh and the picture below is from the article that I read, don't want to seem insensitive towards GM

[Punxsy Stang]

I wonder how ford is doing as well .

[Andy Smith]

Originally Posted by Punxsy Stang

I wonder how ford is doing as well .

I posted this link in the "Ford Needs Saving" thread earlier


Ford Motor trims losses to beat forecasts - Nov. 8, 2007
__________________

[tripleblack]

Gm's loss was NOT just from operations over the most recent quarter - in fact, they made a small profit for the quarter without the "extraordinary charges".

What is happening is some really arcane book-keeping and new corporate laws (Sarbane-Oxley or whatever 2 two bozos are called) that are jerking around American corporations like yoyos.

The IDEA was to make the corporations' books more transparent, but as usual, the guvmint concocted a routine that just makes their books, well, comic books.

We went from a small minority of sneaky types ripping people off with EnRon-type shenanigans (that of course landed the perps in prison), to a national program to hamstring every American corporation, driving many (like Chrysler) into the arms of private operators who can avoid the insane book-keeping rules fo S/O.

So the bad news is that GM had to recognize a big chunk of expenses (including some that will ultimately make them more profitable, per their new union contract) all in ONE quarter that they wanted to spread out over several years. Big hit, and it wiped out any hope of a profit for the quarter. But it was NOT the result of purposeful evil doing - but the inevitable downstream of out-of-control government and the nutso rules they make.

Whenever GM can get back to just making cars (instead of spending every dime they DON'T make placating the Feds), they just might survive.

[jim293]

Wow that is a lot of coin to lose.