Edward Lapham
Automotive News
July 17, 2008 - 3:57 pm ET
The folks in General Motors shareholder relations must be breathing a sigh of relief that the price of GM stock has bounced up a little with the rest of the market.
When the share price was in free fall, a lot of normally passive investors undoubtedly got nervous and wondered what they could do about it. Some probably even thought about getting organized and revolting against management.
Apparently, the stock didn't sink low enough to start a revolution.
For some time, there has been opposition to management from shareholders such as Jim Dollinger, a Buick salesman from Flint, Mich., who has been an antagonistic critic of GM management, especially CEO Rick Wagoner.
Dollinger has attended the past couple of GM annual meetings and loudly voiced his discontent. Between annual meetings, he tries to generate support though his Web site:
www.generalwatch.com.
But without a big shareholder like Kirk Kerkorian to act as champion and lead the charge -- and without the support of the institutional investors that control the board of directors -- shareholder movements usually don't go far.
That's perplexing for smaller investors who have their retirement nest eggs built with auto stocks. Especially hard hit this time are GM employees and retirees who have had their benefits cut and seen the value of their GM stock evaporate.
full text at
http://www.autonews.com/article/2008...953044993/1125