Here is something I have never given before, and never take myself, but....a stock tip. Short GM. Just short it. Based on everything I see in the financial press, and despite a run-up after a pep rally by GM yesterday where they used the old magician's trick by trying to misdirect the stock buying public away from the dismal earnings they posted, I believe they are going to take GM into bankruptcy. I mean, deliberately and knowingly take it into bankruptcy. Ie, that management full intends RIGHT NOW to take it into bankruptcy. As one analyst said, and I agree, Monday the situation reached the tipping point. Most analysts are downgrading the stock, for good reason. GM is hemorraging cash, and the pep rally was to try to keep cash coming in a little longer. They stopped offering earnings guidance months ago, which means they have something to hide. (If earnings are good, you crow about it. If they are bad, you 'fess up to it. If they are stunningly bad, you hide it.) I believe GM and the UAW are deliberately not telling the public what they are planning. This is probably that rare moment when ALL indicators point in the same direction; they all point toward bankruptcy. Why sell a large portion of GMAC, your cash cow? The only reason is to try and raise cash in the short-term. It would be a brain-dead stone cold terrible idea to sell a stake in it in the long-term. But what if there isn't a long term? I also believe that the UAW is fully aware of a bankruptcy plan, and that they have accepted it as inevitable. The UAW was recently in court arguing FOR GM to be able to execute plans to reduce employee costs, which I believe is an effort to pare down "NEW GM's" future, post-reorganization employee and retiree liability, before forking over "OLD GM's" pension plan to the PBGC (taxpayer). GM is getting ready to dump a bunch more employees and retires overboard.
GM will sell off as much assets as possible to raise hard cash, dump the pension plan, and try to reorganize as the NEW GM, in much the same way as the airlines (look at United Airlines as an example) have done and are doing. The temptation is just too great, and there is no alternative. The blood flow (red ink) is just too large. I believe this will happen relatively quickly. How quickly? I would guess pretty soon. They have to stop the bleeding before the patient is dead, so they need to act pretty fast. I also find it reprehensible that both sides (GM and UAW) seem to be in cahoots in trying to obscure their real intentions, with the apparent goal of deceiving the public, then luring people to the slaughter. Certain entities in the financial industry seem to be in collusion also; without looking, I can almost guarantee you that Morgan Stanley has a more favorable rating on GM than any other firm.
Another confirming signal: Volume in "puts", or options which indicate that the buyer feels the stock price will fall, surged across almost all strike prices, even those not particularly "near-the-money".
What caused me to realize what is about to happen (bankruptcy) is an unusually high open interest in GM March 06 7.50 puts (option symbol: GMOR). When I first saw that, I was like, that doesn't make any sense; that much volume and open interest is EXTREMELY speculative. It's crazy. Who would buy those puts? So I brushed it off. Only later, on my drive to work, did it dawn on me that the buyer or buyers are making a substantial bet (520,000 shares so far) that GM will be in bankruptcy by March 19, 2006. Why do I think their actions mean that? The buyer or buyers of the puts simply sought the put with the cheapest purchase cost, the highest strike price, and the longest maturity possible. Which shows that the buyer or buyers are simply betting that GM will be in bankruptcy by March of next year, and accordingly although they care about the strike price some, they don't really care about it very much. Because without much regard to strike price (critical when selecting options), bought the cheapest put with the longest maturity available at a low cost. The most important factor was cost (to be able to control the most shares), followed by maturity (longer is better, gives you more time for the maneuver to work), followed by strike price. Normally, strike price would be most important, then price versus maturity would have to be weighed against one another. So this move seems to turn normal logic on it's head. Is this an insider move (GM or UAW)? GM insiders are supposedly currently "banned" from trading the stock. The reason they are "banned" is because the company knows that they would dump that stock like a hot potato if they could, but that would be baaaad for the company, hence the ban. But there are more insiders than just top management. ie, insiders that don't have to report transactions to the SEC. Those GMOR puts sure smell like insider trading to me. The last time I looked at the options chain, those puts could be purchased for ten cents per share (price is probably up a little by now). So for ten dollars you could control 100 shares of GM, a hundred dollars to control a thousand shares, a grand for ten thousand shares, and $52,000 to control 520,000 shares. Say someone bought one hundred GMOR contracts tomorrow for, say, $1500 (in this example the cost has risen). If GM DID go into bankruptcy by March, they would stand to make more than $7 per share, or more than $70,000 on a total maximum risk of only $1500. If GM traded down below about $7.34, they would still make a little money, or they could possibly even make a little money reselling the puts themselves, but clearly their belief is that the company will enter bankruptcy. In the event of bankrupcy, and GM stock going to zero, the current holder or holders of the GMOR puts would net $3.8 million!
Is GM going to go into bankruptcy? Highly likely; all indicators point towards bankruptcy. Within five months? I don't know. Could they go bankrupt that fast? Oh yes, absolutely. If they wanted to file tomorrow they could, then begin the liquidation process. But I think they need to tie up some loose ends first. Still, I see no incentive to continue operating at such a substantial loss for very much longer. Better to get it over with sooner. I think GM will head for bankruptcy court within the next six months for sure.
Note that I am advocating two different things here, one more so than the other. Do I think someone could...
1) make money by shorting GM stock right now? Absolutely, positively, unequivocally yes, I do think so. I think shorting the actual stock has a much better chance of providing some return, but it will take more money than with options, with higher risk.
2) make money by purchasing GM puts? Yes, but buying the put has a lesser chance of providing some return, although for a much smaller initial outlay at any strike price, and with limited risk. (limited to what the purchaser paid for the puts.) Admittedly more speculative, especially the GMOR puts, but the risk versus reward is very attractive. For $1500 the "little guy" could control the same amount of shares as someone with a $300,000 trading account. (Exercising them would be harder with a small brokerage account.) Would I personally risk $1500 to maybe, just maybe, make $70,000, and maybe end up losing the $1500 instead? Well, I would, you should decide what is right for you. How about other GM puts of different costs, maturities and strike prices? Good question! A smart speculator would definitely peruse the GM option chain closely and see if he or she could identify the put that would suit him or her best, if he or she were so inclined to speculate in GM stock.
Do I know what I am talking about? Maybe I am an army of one, but I don't think so. I am convinced that GM will enter bankruptcy soon. So you be the judge...research it yourself. Be advised that my money is where my mouth is.