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To: Jim McMannis who wrote (201838)	5/12/2009 12:48:25 PM
From: Cal Amari	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

I have not owned a Ford, but an old roommate who owned an Escort GT complained about the car requiring a new transmission every 30K miles. No joke. After two new trannies he traded the car in on a Honda and has stayed with imports ever since.

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (201838)	5/12/2009 12:59:20 PM
From: John Koligman	Respond to of 306849

Toyota and Honda will be the biggest winners IMO. I would not buy a Ford over a Honda product in today's market. The others are also MUCH stronger financially. Folks here are lauding Ford but they are in hock up to their eyeballs, the CEO having essentially put the company up as collateral for the billions they received several years ago. They are coming out with new products, like a new Taurus that looks okay, but their best products seem to always be reserved for the European market. Some of those will come over the pond soon, but the Japanese aren't sitting still... Ford had a 24B cash hoard in 2000, but their CEO Jac Nasser, bent on world domination, bought spiffy brands like Range Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Volvo, all of which had crappy quality products and outdated plants that sucked up billions of Ford dollars before they finally sold the brands to India's Tata Motors. They are still looking at unloading Volvo.... Regards, John

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (201838)	5/12/2009 1:20:55 PM
From: John Koligman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Looks like Ford is also issuing shares to raise cash... Regards, John Ford Seeks Cash in a Share Sale By BLOOMBERG NEWS Published: May 11, 2009 The Ford Motor Company said it would issue 300 million shares of common stock and use at least some of the money for a union-run medical trust. Proceeds from the sale, which would raise more than $1.8 billion based on Monday’s closing price, will go to general corporate purposes including the union fund, Ford said in a statement. Ford had 2.8 billion shares outstanding as of May 1, so the new stock would amount to an 11 percent increase. Ford’s share price of $6.08 on Monday has more than tripled since March 4, when the automaker announced a plan that pared debt by $9.9 billion. G.M. has lost 35 percent of its market value in that time. By adding cash to the balance sheet, Ford is seeking to forestall a need for a government rescue even if auto sales remain stalled. G.M. is being propped up with $15.4 billion in low-cost loans, and Chrysler is in bankruptcy. The Ford issue will be priced on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg data. Ford said it expected to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to buy as much as 45 million shares of common stock. Ford said Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley were acting as joint managers of the offering. By selling shares, Ford can use cash instead of stock to make payments to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association, which will take on the automaker’s future obligations for retiree medical bills.