Financial Advisor Update

Cramer: GM Can't Thrive Here

 

This post appeared earlier today on RealMoney. Click here for a free trial, and enjoy incisive commentary all day, every day.

General Motors (GM Quote) joins the list of unthinkables, the ones that may not be able to make it with its current structure. The ones that basically need to be Chapter 11'd to save the business from dying.

Typically there would be some price where the value guys come in, those suckers who buy things like Ambac (ABK Quote) at $6 on a secondary, or Citigroup (C Quote) at $25 or Merrill Lynch (MER Quote) at any price.

Typically there are big mutual funds with an inclination to say, "You know what? The market knows nothing about GM, and I want to buy it."

That isn't the case this time. I wonder if the value guys are running out of money.

China Watch: GM, Ford Gun It

Or maybe they are doing some homework and realizing that $4 gas simply ended the viability of this company and would probably end the viability of Ford (F Quote) if the prices stay up. GM does not have enough cars in demand that it can make a profit on, and it has way too many cars and trucks that aren't in demand to do anything but lose billions of dollars, despite the decline in headcount and costs per car. It feels like the Citigroup of the autos. Without the deposit base.

We marvel that this can be happening but the falloff in sales is so pathological that I don't see how these two just don't run out of money.

The amazing thing is that GM still pays a dividend, a bountiful 7% one.

Look for that dividend to vanish very soon. If you own it, look for a bounce to sell it.

And, value guys, that may be your chance to make your move!

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in the stocks mentioned.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. To order Cramer's newest book -- "Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer)," click here. Click here to order "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get "You Got Screwed!" and click here for Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he appreciates your feedback and invites you to send comments by clicking here.

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