I would have gone with Major Investor Liquidity Fuck-Up. But I suppose MILF's already taken. Anyway, The Detroit Free Press is waking-up and smelling the coffee, and JPMorgan (the investment bank, not the Gong Show judge) is brewing-up some sobering news. "Analysts at JPMorgan painted a bleak picture for Detroit’s automakers today, suggesting General Motors Corp. might need to raise $10 billion, Ford Motor Co. could be forced to sell Volvo and Chrysler LLC may have few if any options by late next year." Few options as in "The company could face a 'major liquidity event' by the second half of 2009 — and its options for raising capital are limited." Is a MLE the same as Chapter 11? While we await clarification from TTAC's Best and Brightest, I reckon JP's timeline is a bit optimistic. Their overall outlook, however, isn't. "The analysts note that a bankruptcy filing at any major U.S. automaker would be catastrophic for the broader industry, resulting in widely lower vehicle prices and dealing a severe setback to auto parts suppliers." (It's that middle bit that's got Toyota worried.) Oh wait! Maybe not "They sharply widened their loss estimates for both Ford and GM for the next two years, but still expect both companies to return to profitability by 2010." Gotta love that year!
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MLE = ELE
What means “widely lower vehicle prices?”
Does not compute.
I think “widely lower vehicle prices” would only extend as far as the Detroit 2.801. As for the rest of the automobile industry selling vehicles in the United States and North America, I suspect that prices could remain static.
Here’s why I think that.
Would YOU buy a car – meant to be held for 2 to 5 years – as the 2nd biggest investment / correction money waster you have after buying a house, from a BANKRUPTED company which some judge could suddenly call “BS” on and demand Chapter 7 closure? Bang, goes your $2.99 gas and your warrantee and your parts supply and your resale value…
Well, in order to get buyers / sorry – suckers, to buy, the BK company would be absolutely FORCED to drop their drawers / whoops I mean prices.
In the meanwhile, anyone with 3 brain cells to rub together is off looking for a car that is built by a solid company which is 99.9999% sure to be around a little longer than next frickin’ week, and hence, Toyondaisanaru make out like bandits.
MLE=BKE
Major liquidity event? Sounds like something I had this morning after eating bad leftovers for breakfast.
MLE = Tango Uniform, methinks.
Isn’t Ford trying to sell (dump, give away) Volvo right now? I seem to recall reading something along those lines in AN about 6 months ago.
I guess Ford isn’t talking because the car isn’t selling, no one seems interested in buying the whole tamale, either.
It appears that Ford has run out of buyers for more than just full sized pickups and suv’s.
If you’re worried about your Google hits, you should know that MLE is already in common use in NBA coverage.
MLE = Mid-Level Exception – Teams that are over the salary cap can spend about $5 million/year to sign players to their rosters.