GM IPO rips the little guy off again . . .

This has me absolutely infuriated.

First we bailed out the banks using our tax dollars . . . past, present and future. It is widely known those funds for the most part have been hoarded, used for profit bolstering, capitalization and generally putting more money in the pockets already full.

Then they bailed out the automotive secotor using our tax dollars . . . past, present and future. Sure they were claimed to be loans but who knows when those funds will be returned to us . . . the rightful owners.

Now that GM is working its way back to a position of strength, they're getting ready for their stock to return to public trading.

When I think of public, I think of folks such as you and I . . . the poor schleps who toil away daily to scrape enough dough to take the significant other out on the town once-in-a-while, maybe the odd vacation or some such nonsense so as to forget about the fact we're pretty much treadmill bound for the rest of our days unless we can somehow get in on the action to which the rich folk are privy.

No such friggin' luck!

When GM goes public in a few weeks, here's the drill . . . only those who are the richest of the rich will have the opportunity to get in on shares of the 'new' GM.

The little guy appears to be losing out on the General Motors initial public offering. Trading shops like E*Trade(ETFC_), TD Ameritrade (TD_) and Charles Schwab (SCHW_) aren't getting access to the GM public offering, expected to occur next week. Despite 35 underwriters and at least 365 million shares, there isn't enough to distribute to online brokers that cater to small, retail investors.

What's the big deal, you ask . . . according to the Washington Post

. . . being left out of the initial public offering can mean being left out of some big profits: Shares of newly public companies sometimes jump 10 percent or more on the first day of trading, handing easy money to those lucky enough to get access at the offering price.

So, we bail out their asses and when its time to maybe reap the rewards of being so damn giving they respond by kicking us in ours.

I think in the spirit of the frustration you are feeling, I will share something I have been pondering for some time.
A song, that came out quite a number of years ago now; almost enough to be considered a classic (if its not already). The song it seems, to me, has a much deeper meaning than it is givin credit for. Paraphrasing, of course, to make a point.

I think Billy Idol said it best, when he said:

~There is nothin' fair in this world
There is nothin' safe in this world
And there's nothin' sure in this world
And there's nothin' pure in this world
So if there's nothin' left in this world?.......


**Start again.** ~

I gave up on GM when they killed off Pontiac. I'm not alone, am I?

One of the more "interesting" brands with a tad of a rebel history, they finally got it close to it's true spirit with a decent manager for once (Bob Lutz), got to where they started getting rid of the B.S. cars that didn't belong (G5 and that minivan wannabe turd) and putting some good looking and exciting ones into production (Solstice and G8) and once things looked like they were finally going in the right direction? Scrambling back from the edge and into a successful recovery? What was it all for? All down the toilet, since it was easier to give up and quit.

At least the brand died out saving some of the best for last.

That's when I said, you know what... As much as I liked the cars... You stopped making the ones that had some originality. Cadillac's are a bit too pricey, and Cadillac Lite *cough* oh I mean Buick - is too soft. Chevy just doesn't do it for me. If I'm going to buy a car that looks and drives like everything else, may as well go with a Honda. (May be years down the road until I replace my current car considering this economy, but I'll remember that.)

Let's not forget all of the "little guys (me included)" who owned GM stock prior to the Government takeover. Those original shares were all converted to "Motor Liquidators Corp" or some crap like that... making them all but worthless. While GM came out smelling like a rose off of the back of the taxpayers, shareholders were left holding the bag.