GM's Rolling, but Road to $10 EPS Won't Be Smooth

General Motors is putting the pedal to the metal just as its engine is starting to overheat.

The nation's leading automaker audaciously claimed last week that it expects to triple earnings by 2005. If GM achieves this goal, it will have pulled off a remarkable U-turn. Already, investors have begun to take note.

Based on GM's forecast that it will earn $10 a share by 2005, the stock looks like a juicy bargain. No wonder, then, that the market is beginning to fall in love with GM and its recently energized management team, led by CEO Richard Wagoner, Chairman John Smith and CFO John Devine. ...