GM Cash Engine Churns On in the Dark

General Motors(GM Quote) wowed the market with two impressive forecasts last week, sending its stock roaring higher. But how achievable are these targets?

The first, and most important, projection is that by 2005 the carmaker can earn $10 a share, up from the expected $3.50 this year. The second is that it can raise $10 billion of cash in 2002.

But a look at the numbers shows GM has based its projections on highly debatable assumptions whose sturdiness is difficult to pin down because of GM's unwieldy presentation of financial data. ...