Ford stock is up to $8.50 today; it was $1.50 in November

[proud2BlibKansan]

and $7.50 on Friday.

The economy is indeed getting better. Lots of other stocks are up too :bounce:

[liberal N proud]

1. Wish I would have followed my gut

I wanted to put about $1000 in Ford when it was that cheap. Then things looked really bad for all three Detroit companies.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. I did

:)

And I am loving this. My $1500 is now $8500. :woohoo:

[NNN0LHI]

9. You have more intestinal fortitude than I do

I admire your grittiness.

Wish I had done the same.

Don

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. It was gutsy

and I was told not to buy it. So it was really kind of lucky.

[NNN0LHI]

12. My mother bought a few thousand shares at a buck and a half and sold it at $5

The person who takes care of her investments advised against buying it.

Damn right it was gutsy.

Wish I had used one of my credit cards to get about 5000 shares when Ford was at $1.06 a share. I could have paid off the card, my house and be on a nice vacation somewhere by now. But I didn't.

Edit: For the record I do not recommend investing in the stock market using a credit card.

Don

[rockymountaindem]

2. Too bad I'm only making any money now

Last year I had no income (grad student) and now I'm looking at picking up about 15k this year but I've missed the big jump. Bummer dudes. On the other hand, my parents' investments are looking way better than the months of gut-wrenching disgust we've all had lately, so that's a much more important thing.

Still, if I'd had these 10 g's to sink into Ford (or BofA) five months ago, I'd be a happy man.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. GM is way down - 75 cents

I am thinking of buying that stock if it is available. Last time I called it was still in bankruptcy and you couldn't buy any stock.

[abumbyanyothername]

6. The current GM common

will be entirely (or almost entirely) wiped out. The new GM equity will be held by the USGOV, the UAW and the current GM bondholders. In about 9 months or so, the new GM will be floated in a public offering.

At least that's the last I heard.

[Crabby Appleton]

8. basically correct, the old common will be canceled at the end

of the BK and does not represent equity in the new GM. Motors Liquidation Company MTLQQ will trade on the pinksheets until the effective date of the Plan of Reorganization - then it will be canceled.

[yodoobo]

14. You can still buy it.

But its certain to go all the way to zero as the company is liquidated.

Remember the original GM is still in bankruptcy and is being liquidated. They changed the name to "Liquidation Motors". There is no survival planned for the original GM.

The "new" GM was the recipient of most of the performing assets. It is owned mostly by the government with a minority stake by the UAW. No stock has been issued yet. It is at the moment, essentially a private company owned by the public.

Do yourself a favor. Stay away from the current GM stock. Its essentially a sucker play. When the new company issues stock it may or may not be a good buy. We'll have to wait and see when that happens.

[cbdo2007]

5. You haven't missed out on anything, there's still plenty of UP to go.

As everything continues to improve we'll see most stocks get back to levels they were a year ago. Go to Google Finance and the stock screener and pull in everything's current price. Then it's 52 week high. Pick out some of the better, more stable companies from the list and you'll see some great returns in the coming 1-2 years. Then things should level off again.

[rockymountaindem]

7. I hope you're right. Sadly I'm not all that knowledgeable about investing

I did have a good feeling about Ford though because it was so damn beat up and yet everybody was saying that they weren't in nearly as bad of shape as GM and Chrysler, whose prices were equally low. So, I thought that one would do better. If I'm going to make any future investments I'll consult with a good friend of mine who always picks pretty well.

On the other hand, a few years ago I took the money I'd saved up from a summer job and put it in a little mutual fund that did quite well (until recently, of course). That was the first financial move I'd ever made on my own and I felt pretty good about it. Maybe I'll try again... except now I'm dealing with serious money. I've got like $5000 to invest! Someone call Warren Buffet B-)

[cbdo2007]

16. Here's a good book to get started....

The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelly (and no I'm not him)

http://www.amazon.com/Neatest-Little-Guide-Market-Investing/dp/0452289211/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249328441&sr=8-1

Better yet, look for it at your local library for free.

Just the Proshares Ultra 30 that he recommends to "double the dow" is up 30% in the past month alone (symbol: DDM)

Good luck and have fun

[closeupready]

10. Good buy - were I to have had some cash lying around back then,

I would have also purchased Goldman when it was at $50 or so per share. :)

[Political Heretic]

13. Stock is not an indicator of economic health. Not a "leading" indicator. Not any indicator.

It's an indicator of how rich people and rich corporations are doing. That's it.

During the 1990's so-called economic "boom" - real wages for median income Americans flatlined and real wages for the working class declined. Soaring stock prices didn't indicate that or "lead" somewhere different.

The overwhelming majority of all stock - over 80% - is owned by the top-bracket income earners of the country. When we give "stock" so much power, and look only to the stock market as though somehow it "is" the economy - we fall completely into the trap of associating the well being of the rich with well being in general.

During the last recession, when stocks began to rise again, everyone cheered. And what followed as largely a jobless "recovery" for middle class and working class America. Jobs that were recovered tended to pay less, and so we continued to see the further decoupling of wages from productivity. These are not good indicators at all, even if we emerge from "crisis."

Poverty continues to rise or flatline - even small sporadic "dips" never bring poverty below the point when it first began its long, consistent rise starting in the late 1970s and entering full swing in the 1980s throughout the era of total corporate dominance of the last quarter to half-century.

While unemployment is continuing to increase - not flatline or decrease - and is now over twelve percent in my state, a mind boggling 15% in Michigan and pushing 10% nationwide, its simply obscene to be posting stock gains and talking about how things are "looking up."

[OHdem10]

15. Looks as Wall Street may be on the Mend. Cannot say the same

for Mainstreet. Jobs Jobs Jobs.

E-Mail the talking heads and explain to them that they
cannot have it both ways. If Wall Street is mending
then the Obama Plan worked. He put his capital on the line
to stop the collapse. He, Bernanke and Geitner must have
done something right.

Now, I call on his advisors. Sommers, Volker, et.al. focus
on bringing more hope to Mainstreet.

Pundits, If you are going to say Wall Street is on the Mend
you cannot say Obama failed. It has been not to smart
to think he could turn the GOP Failure around on a dime.