The biggest blame here is how Daimler wrecked Chrysler.

 

There probably aren't enough people that remember Fiat in this country for that to be a + or -. Chrysler's full size and sports offerings are OK. They, like the other domestics, desperately need cars in the Accord/Civic class that are looked on favorably by the buying public. I think the hope is that Fiat will provide a good portfolio of smaller vehicles. I'm not sure that the Fiats have what it will take.

 

Fiat has a range of modern small Neon and smaller sized chassis. That's great now that gas is $4/gallon.

oh wait...

 

While I agree that the investors/bond holders are not always "fat cats that can take the hit," I have to disagree with the statement that it is "foolish and fraudulent" to expect investors to take a hit. The key point being they are investors and should know, just like any investment, there are no guarantees; i.e., "buyer beware". Especially, having invested in Chrysler which is pretty much "junk" anyways.

According to the CNN article the large banks which had secure loans were willing to reduce their debt. It was supposedly only the smaller investors (who were likely not fully secured anyway), who forced this bankruptcy. Assuming CNN is correct, the same investors that forced the bankruptcy are going to have the debt owed to them discharged in bankruptcy. That means, they are going to get nada, zero, zip, not the "highest percentage" in a settlement. They missed the opportunity for a settlement, and they should have followed the lead of the larger institutions. Oh well...

There is something to what you say though about the corporation and union making bad decisions, I'm sure there are smaller investors out there that want to see Chrysler fail just out of spite for the bad decisions that have been made. The mentality being, "I've already lost alot on this investment, why cut my losses now when I can force the people who caused me to lose alot on this investment to go down with the ship."

 

Hmmm a UAW owned car company I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Will they finally get it that you can't just keep pushing up costs without an increase in features, quality and building a product people want to buy or will this cause the new Chrysler to die another death with a lot of the taxpayers money in another year or 2?

 

I was thinking the same thing, kinda defeats the point of a union when the union becomes the management.

 

since oil is a finite resource, basic supply and demand says it will not stay at the current price

 

Yes, but as a market, I don't expect people to remember much beyond five years in the past.

 

Nope! There is such a thing as senior debt that gets paid first in a bankruptcy and it is the share holders; Cerberus, Daimler, and the taxpayers that get nada. Any concessions made by the big banks are because the government is twisting arms because of the TARP funding.

Don't get fooled by the flowery talk out of Washington, this should be treated as a normal bankruptcy so that contracts are honored.

 

The level of government involvement with Chrysler and GM is frightening. It scares me when I read headlines in the news that say things like "Obama administration official confirms Chrysler bankruptcy." There goes capitalism...