General Motors (GM - commentary - Cramer's Take) sold 87,506 North American-made cars and 132,524 light trucks in December, about 25,000 more than expected but consistent with comments from the company regarding an uptick in sales in December.
Expectations are for industrywide sales of North American-made vehicles to have run at a pace of 7.5 million vs. November's rate of 7.6 million, which would be the slowest such pace since October 1982. Total industrywide sales (including imports) are expected to have run at a pace of 10.0 million compared to 10.2 million in November, which would also mark the slowest pace since October 1982. Sales look likely to beat forecasts based on the data at hand thus far.
The infusion of capital into GMAC by the U.S. Treasury seems likely to boost sales in the time ahead, as the infusion will provide fresh capital for lending. Car sales, therefore, probably have reached a bottom, at least for now.
P.S. Will you be there when Cramer makes his next move?
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Tony Crescenzi Blog Car Sales Running Weak 1/5/2009 12:58 PM EST Sales have probably reached a short-term bottom, at least.
Tony Crescenzi Blog Mortgage Rates Set to Drop Below 5% 1/5/2009 11:55 AM EST The rally in the mortgage-backed securities market is helping to drive mortgage rates lower.
Tony Crescenzi Blog Long-Dated Treasury Yields Up Again 1/5/2009 9:41 AM EST However, short-dated Treasuries are seeing only small increases.
Tony Crescenzi is the chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., LLC, and advises many of the nation's top institutional investors on issues related to the bond market, the economy and other macro-related issues. At the request of the Federal Reserve, Crescenzi is a regular participant in the board's Livingston Survey of economic forecasters. He is also the author of the revised investment classic, The Money Market,
first published in 1978 by Marcia Stigum, and The Strategic Bond Investor. At the time of publication, Crescenzi or Miller Tabak had no positions in the securities mentioned in this column, although holdings can change at any time. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Crescenzi also is the founder of Bondtalk.com, a popular Web site covering the bond market and the economy. Crescenzi appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.
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