Bet the Jockey or the Horse?

May 4, 2005 3:54pm by

Wall Street is all a twitter over 87 year old billionaire Kirk Kerkorian’s $31 tender bid for GM.
I’m not looking to only be known as a contrarian, but I find much of today’s chatter on this to be a bad
joke:

· Tracinda is a 3.9% GM holder; Unless they backed up the truck
on Monday, that has not been a wining trade; I suspect Kerkorian is buried in
the position (just my guess). Indeed, any purchaser since January 2004 is way
under water; Hardly the so-called Smart Money its been described as;

· What did Kerkorian do in the 1980s? (Begins with a G) This smells
suspiciously similar to me;

· Kerkorian is no spring chicken – is he planning to oversee a 5 year turnaround
plan?

· Unlocking value? GM has an absurd debt to equity ratio (Over $200B in Long term debt) . How much value is
there to be unlocked?

· If you really want to build a position, you quietly
accumulate shares — you do not scream out I’M A BUYER @ $31!

I can understand the appeal of betting on the jockey – but not when he is
riding on a 3 legged horse.

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  1. The Nattering Naybob commented on May 4

    Barry,

    I made the comment in today’s Market Soapbox…. If Kerkorian is sucessful, GM is getting parted out…. no pun intended.

    The Nattering One

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