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9.52 -0.81 (-7.84%) Jul 10 11:30am ET
Open: 10.46
High: 10.46
Low: 9.46
Real Time: http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:GM
All-time-low stock prices for GM hits home for investors
by Kristin Longley | The Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- After nearly 43 years with the company, it was loyalty that convinced Douglas Smith to hold on to his General Motors stock, even when signs pointed to the contrary.
But after GM shares dropped earlier this week to a 50-year low, Smith and other local retirees are concerned about the company's future --and their nest eggs.
Shares on Monday hit $9.92, tying their lowest point since Sept. 13, 1954, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes.
The stock later rebounded to close Wednesday at $10.33, still low for shares that have traded as high as $43.20 in the past year.
Smith doesn't rely on his 2,500 shares for supplemental income -- he diversified long ago and his savvy wife is good with finances, he says -- but it bothers him to know his investment is down about $80,000. He might need that money some day.
"It hurts -- heck, I'm not rich," he said. "But it's a decision I made a long time ago and I'm sticking with it."
In a county where General Motors still reigns as the largest employer, any GM change ripples throughout the community. At its peak, the company employed 82,000 workers here.
And many people still carry GM stock, along with the deeply imbedded belief that the company will rebound.
"I still have faith," Smith said. "I hate to see it this low, but they may come back. Maybe not to their glory days, but you have to hope for the best."
People tend to invest in companies that are familiar to them, said Ken Duetsch, an executive at Citizens Bank. Duetsch and his colleagues began recommending years ago that local GM shareholders sell out of the stock, but many people wouldn't hear of it, he said.
"There's an emotional attachment to stock such as GM that runs deep," Duetsch said. "That home bias is strong here in Flint and in Michigan."
Delore Salsbury Hurley, financial consultant with Hilliard Lyons in Grand Blanc, said she advises people who rely on a company pension not to purchase stock with that company.
If the company sinks, "you don't want to be in a situation where you're suffering losses in monies outside of your pension," she said.
GM announced last month it would close four truck and sport utility vehicle plants -- sparing those in the Flint area -- and would boost production of several existing car models.
The company's future remains uncertain.
Source: http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/business/index.ssf/2008/07/alltimelow_stock_prices_for_gm.html
Douglas Smith (left), a retired General Motors worker for 42 and a half years, drinks a cup of coffee while his wife Priscilla unloads a dishwasher Wednesday afternoon at their home in Swartz Creek. Smith's investment portfolio contains about one-third GM stock, which hit a 50-year low recently. "Heck, I never thought GM would be in the shape that it's in," said Smith. "You live on what you made and what you saved. You wonder if it's enough. You worry if it's enough."
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Open: 10.46
High: 10.46
Low: 9.46
Real Time: http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:GM
All-time-low stock prices for GM hits home for investors
by Kristin Longley | The Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- After nearly 43 years with the company, it was loyalty that convinced Douglas Smith to hold on to his General Motors stock, even when signs pointed to the contrary.
But after GM shares dropped earlier this week to a 50-year low, Smith and other local retirees are concerned about the company's future --and their nest eggs.
Shares on Monday hit $9.92, tying their lowest point since Sept. 13, 1954, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes.
The stock later rebounded to close Wednesday at $10.33, still low for shares that have traded as high as $43.20 in the past year.
Smith doesn't rely on his 2,500 shares for supplemental income -- he diversified long ago and his savvy wife is good with finances, he says -- but it bothers him to know his investment is down about $80,000. He might need that money some day.
"It hurts -- heck, I'm not rich," he said. "But it's a decision I made a long time ago and I'm sticking with it."
In a county where General Motors still reigns as the largest employer, any GM change ripples throughout the community. At its peak, the company employed 82,000 workers here.
And many people still carry GM stock, along with the deeply imbedded belief that the company will rebound.
"I still have faith," Smith said. "I hate to see it this low, but they may come back. Maybe not to their glory days, but you have to hope for the best."
People tend to invest in companies that are familiar to them, said Ken Duetsch, an executive at Citizens Bank. Duetsch and his colleagues began recommending years ago that local GM shareholders sell out of the stock, but many people wouldn't hear of it, he said.
"There's an emotional attachment to stock such as GM that runs deep," Duetsch said. "That home bias is strong here in Flint and in Michigan."
Delore Salsbury Hurley, financial consultant with Hilliard Lyons in Grand Blanc, said she advises people who rely on a company pension not to purchase stock with that company.
If the company sinks, "you don't want to be in a situation where you're suffering losses in monies outside of your pension," she said.
GM announced last month it would close four truck and sport utility vehicle plants -- sparing those in the Flint area -- and would boost production of several existing car models.
The company's future remains uncertain.
Source: http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/business/index.ssf/2008/07/alltimelow_stock_prices_for_gm.html
Douglas Smith (left), a retired General Motors worker for 42 and a half years, drinks a cup of coffee while his wife Priscilla unloads a dishwasher Wednesday afternoon at their home in Swartz Creek. Smith's investment portfolio contains about one-third GM stock, which hit a 50-year low recently. "Heck, I never thought GM would be in the shape that it's in," said Smith. "You live on what you made and what you saved. You wonder if it's enough. You worry if it's enough."
