Your Homework This Weekend

It will be one of the biggest global "initial" public offerings ever.  Something so exciting for the bankers and execs who worked on it that they called it  "Project Dawn."  It's also something that many stock market pros think is a political stunt in a market where investors aren't salivating for IPOs, timed to put shares on the market just as Democrats campaign for November votes.  "GM, from bankruptcy under to Bush to IPO under Obama!"

The IPO is also a way for the U.S. and Canadian governments, the United Auto Workers retiree trust fund and others sell their shares to the public.  So, your mission with one of the last warm weekends of August:

Read GM's filing.  Many of us grew up around GM, GM cars, movies about GM workers, a GM consciousness.  Over the last two years, the ins and outs of the company -- and a healthy debate over whether it should be saved -- was all over the press.  You know enough about what this company does and how it does it to be the judge of what it offers investors.  Load it up, pick a section, see what passes your smell test, and what doesn't.  Put your catches and your comments in the box at the bottom. -- Collin Campbell

A few of our favorites so far (with links to the subject heading):

(Risk Factors)  "(The United States Treasury), a selling stockholder, is a federal agency, and your ability to bring a claim against it under the federal securities laws may be limited."

(Business)  "Our top priority for research is to continue to develop and advance our alternative propulsion strategy."  Combine that with this under (Risk Factors)  "In some cases, the technologies that we plan to employ, such as hydrogen fuel cells and advanced battery technology, are not yet commercially practical."

(Risk Factors)  "Our business plan contemplates that we restructure our operations in various European countries ... We cannot assure you that any of our contemplated restructurings will be completed or achieve the desired results, and if we cannot successfully complete such restructurings, we may choose to, or the directors of the relevant entity may be compelled to, or creditors may force us to, seek relief for our various European operations under applicable local bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency, or similar laws, where we may lose control over the outcome of the restructuring process due to the appointment of a local receiver, trustee, or administrator (or similar official) or otherwise and which could result in a liquidation and us losing all or a substantial part of our interest in the business. "