Ford, GM down - banks move in for the kill
While the nation is busy grappling with constant insults from endless war on every front, one ruthless knife in the backbone of our economy has gone largely unnoticed.
For the first time in history, two of the nation's Big Three car manufacturers are in such dire straits that they have to take out loans secured by their most essential assets, yet no one, neither in our government nor in our media has raised an eyebrow at the stakes.
Facing a deep financial crisis, Detroit's two top auto makers have had to pledge some of their most essential assets -- such as factories and equipment -- as collateral to win badly needed new loans.
Of course, this is the death knell for America's auto industry, a sector for which things can only get worse.
And the second they do - the Big Three can kiss all their assets goodbye!
For General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., once such icons of American industrial prowess that banks and insurance funds stood in line to serve them, the need to provide lenders with collateral underscores the combination of woes now facing the industry: lean, effective competition from international auto makers, rising health-care, pension and steel costs, and unfavorable exchange rates that U.S. executives say give Japanese rivals an advantage.
Leave it to corporate backed media, owned and operated by banking interests, to mischaracterize the source of the problem.
True to corporate form, they mention EVERY cost under the sun EXCEPT the cost of borrowing money - the only cost that the US government can easily control.
Tuesday, chief executives of the two companies and of DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group -- the third member of Detroit's Big Three -- took their concerns to Washington in search of relief.
But while President Bush promised to maintain a "continuing dialogue," the auto makers walked away with scant sign that Mr. Bush is willing to help them on their big worry about soaring health-care costs.
"I assured these leaders that the government is addressing rising health-care costs through a variety of initiatives that I think over time are going to make a significant difference," Mr. Bush said.
Nevermind that the dollars these companies are being forced to borrow under outrageous terms are actually printed by authority of the people and in a blink of an eye can be produced INTEREST-FREE to save the last industrial base in America from being dismantled by voracious moneylenders.
But, since international bankers own congress and the president, along with much of the continental United States, they get to rape American industry at will.
Meanwhile, American taxpayers and autoworkers foot the bill.
The executives said the president did agree, however, that he and the auto makers should "study" how high-cost care of "catastrophic" health problems is insured.
So, you see, banks and shareholders (often one and the same) cause all the problems, but our government not only blames it on the people, they make us pay for it.
For Detroit, the challenges are stark. A chart released by Ford Tuesday appeared to show a 2009 profit of a few hundred million dollars -- a fraction of what Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. earns in North America in one quarter.
Poor shareholders! Let's pillage the country to make up the difference!
Actually, what's happening here is that moneylenders and shareholders are competing with eacother - to see who can suck the most blood out of workers.
The forecast surfaced as part of a restatement of earnings from 2001 through 2005 to correct the accounting of interest-rate swaps in Ford's credit division and certain other derivative transactions.
The derivatives market is a parallel universe unto itself that feeds off the physical economy - a disaster waiting to 'unwind'.
The restatement narrowed Ford's third-quarter loss to $5.2 billion from the previously reported $5.8 billion.
Such financial conditions provide the backdrop to the shift to collateralized loans by GM and Ford.
Suuuure, that's the backdrop - for those who lose interest and fail to read further.
For everyone else, this is the reason behind the scramble for new loans:
The shift to secure asset-backed loans was in part prompted by a change in how large corporations must account for company-funded pension plans on their balance sheets.
-->Starting Jan. 1, companies must recognize all future pension obligations as liabilities.<--
Since GM has a large number of retirees, its liabilities will increase sharply and will outweigh the value of the company's assets.
That will leave it with negative shareholder equity -- the difference between total assets and liabilities and a measure of net worth -- which will make it harder for GM to borrow money because terms with the company's bondholders could prohibit it from pledging certain assets to back loans.
I wonder, who came up with this brilliant scam? Not pension holders, I'm sure.
Ms. Proia, the GM spokeswoman, said having negative equity is a balance-sheet issue and would have no impact on GM's operations such as cash flow.
Amazing! They openly admit that this is nothing but an accountant's fantasy - contrived to extort billions in interest.
Ford also expects the accounting change to leave it with negative shareholder equity, although it isn't bound by the same kind of bond terms as GM, Mr. Leclair said.
And we're back to where we left off, with them insisting that 'global competition' is to blame for the new economic 'realities'.
Their long slide in the global auto industry has now put their balance sheets under pressure.
Last year, the companies' declining market share and mounting losses in their core auto operations prompted Standard & Poor's Corp. and other credit-rating agencies to cut their debt ratings to "junk" status.
That made it more expensive for the companies to borrow money, especially when they seek unsecured loans.
Now their depressed credit ratings are pushing the two auto makers to new sources of financing.
GM, which posted a $10.6 billion loss last year, in July extended a credit line from a [criminal] syndicate of banks under ['new terms'] that give the company a $4.6 billion revolving loan backed by North American assets including inventory, plants and property.
On Monday, GM used equipment in some of its U.S. plants to secure a $1.5 billion loan to be arranged by J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities. Since secured loans are less expensive than unsecured financing, they are now a more attractive option for GM.
Oh my, grandma - what BIG interest rates you have!
The better to swallow your assets with, my dear!
Gina Proia, a GM spokeswoman, said the move is intended to "enhance" the company's liquidity. "Given our credit rating, secured loans are the most cost-effective way of funding," she said. "We see it as a prudent move."
Now, where have I heard that before?
Bankers function by reference to prudence. It's imprudent for them to do anything until they have to.--Brian Freeman, Executive Director, Chrysler Loan Guarantee Board.
This is twisted beyond belief.
America's corporations are infiltrated by banking agents working hand in hand with their backers to dismantle American industry.
Tuesday, Ford said it is moving in the same direction. As part of a conference call on its earnings restatement, Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair said Ford aims to put together a loan deal that is likely to be secured "by a significant portion of the assets of the company."
Ford's losses amount to about $7 billion so far this year, and the company is on pace to approach GM's $10.6 billion 2005 loss.
Without specifying a time frame, Mr. Leclair said Ford would have a deal to announce "fairly soon." He added that Ford is pursuing the deal "because it is prudent to do so."
* * *This is the first time in Ford's 103-year history that it has resorted to such financing. "It is a recognition that we have some issues," he said.
Now, that's the understatement of the century!
And, believe it or not, even more insults await workers and taxpayers under cover of chaos of war on all fronts.
Ford has roughly $23 billion in cash and expects to end the year with about $20 billion -- a figure supplemented by $3.4 billion TAKEN OUT of a fund employers set up to pay retiree health-care costs. For all of 2006, Ford will burn through $8.4 billion.
GM's cash will be fattened significantly when the company closes the sale of a controlling stake in its General Motors Acceptance Corp. unit to a group of investors led by Cerberus Capital Management. GM plans to close the sale by Nov. 30.
You can expect GM shares to tank shortly afterwards, with the company filing for bankruptcy no later than 2007.
GM will receive $10 billion upon closing, and also will hold on to $20 billion of GMAC automotive leases [that no one wants because they're worthless], which it plans to sell at a discount to raise some $4 billion in cash over three years.
For GM, Ford and Chrysler, an increasing amount of their cash flow gets eaten up by the cost of providing health care to their active and retired workers, along with their spouses and dependents.
Lies, lies, and more lies.
After meeting with Mr. Bush, the car makers soon will take their health-care case to Capitol Hill, where newly empowered Democrats already are talking about a reinsurance plan that would help offset catastrophic-coverage costs.
Democrats, who are more focused than Republicans on shoring up employer-based health care, also are talking about new tax breaks for employers.
In other words, 'we the people' CANNOT win.
Tax breaks, and every other 'incentive' under the sun always DIRECTLY benefits corporations with the understanding that they will benefit employees indirectly.
Corporate lawyers, however, always come up with new ways around those obligations after tax breaks become law.
GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner suggested Tuesday that he is hopeful the new majority would come up with a plan to help employers.
God knows they NEVER come up with a plan to help EMPLOYEES.
The fact that Mr. Bush left the door slightly open to a reinsurance proposal suggests he is reluctant to reject auto makers and their Democratic allies out of hand, after suffering the loss of both the House and Senate in this month's midterm elections.
This really takes the cake.
Democrats feign support for working Americans and both Democrats and Republicans feign political 'cooperation' for the sake of the 'nation.'
Meanwhile, BOTH actively undermine any chance working Americans ever have of seeing their children or their grandchildren maintain the standard of living they, their parents and their grandparents worked so hard to secure all their lives.
Not only can Americans kiss their freedom goodbye, they can kiss their incomes, their pensions, and everything else they ever worked for - Adios!
Maybe the problem is the poor quality of cars made by GM and Ford, which is why they cannot afford to stay in business?
Maybe the problem is that they kept making fuel inefficient SUVs and bet their company on a bad, destructive (to the environment and resource consumption) strategy?
Maybe the problem is that the US worker is paid far more than workers who build competing vehicles? But it is not just any worker, b/c Toyota and Honda make plenty of money on cars build in the US - just not by the union workers in Detroit.
And if you insist the US worker should consume a disproportionate share of the world's resources - 50% in most categories by 6% of the population, as if that is a God-ordained necessity - with all the guarantees and lack of accountability that a union contract provides, then the solution is tariffs.
The banks are hardly to blame for bailing the Big Three out of their dire situation. While it certainly is possible they abuse their position, the problem is the automakers are forced to go to them with their hats out b/c of the problems noted above.
Wait until China starts making cars - then the Big Three will fall. Absent some major change in strategy (they still fight higher EPA requirements and lower emission), quality and cost structure, that is.
give me a break!
bankers are to blame and every banker on earth knows it!
The fact of the matter is - every business decision that's made at Ford and GM is subject to approval by a banker! So, all those lousy decisions you're complaining about eventually fall on the head of bankers - they bank roll it because it's profitable to THEM.
As long as the money is rolling in for the time being, they're okay with it. As moneylenders, they know that they don't shoulder the biggest risks - BORROWERS do.
It's exploitation - pure and simple. And as far as the old 'first world workers can't expect to get more than other third world workers' CRAP - take your crumby diversions elsewhere - because that's all that is a DIVERSION.
NO ONE should be exploited.
The source of the problem is not WORKERS who just happen to be benefitting ever so slightly from the setup - the problem is the BANKER or moneylender, aka, exploiter extraordinaire and professional swindler in a suit.
They literally create 'money' from thin air and reel in unsuspecting borrowers who are then trapped in a legal arrangement for which they eventually have to pay their left arms and legs.
The fact that it is often deferred, more so for 'first world' workers only makes it all the more treacherous and deceptive - a real knife in the back for people who think that bankers actually give a shit about them - when, really, THEY DON'T.
in addition to visiting the 'Money Links' tab (below the banner) and clicking on a number of those excellent sites - beginning with 'The Money Myth Exploded', I also recommend that you read my post titled 'Heart of Darkness' the REAL reason the dollar is doomed
In it, I tried to explain the dynamics of 'financing' at a social level as opposed to a 'numerical' one.
for shifting the focus back to where it needs to be. Masters of deception they are, and I guess they need to be in order pull off this heist. This post is excellent and you've done a marvellous job in deciphering the misleading news that we are being fed and bringing the focus back to the root cause. Reading this news I just recall the Merchant of Venice, a pound of flesh in some instances, an arm and a leg in others, and factories and capital assets for the rest. BTW, until recently the nominal short term interest rate in Japan was at zero percent. That may have something to do with Japanese industrial succes vis-à-vis the American industrial predicament. The founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, surely knew of this threat and this scheme and he was outspoken in his opposition through various venues. However now, he's probably turning in his grave.
great article thank you for sharing it: and great work on the research.
Well it all look very complicated to me and I am afraid I don't have exact informations to argue about this. I am just sorry to hear about the huge financial crisis. It's all a political debate and the economical aspect is on the second place.
Unsecured Loans