5.17.2007

Things I called:

I called, in June, that Dirk would be voted the NBA league MVP. Last week he was named league MVP. Too bad he's sitting at home, playing solitaire, watching his buddy Steve Nash have all the fun getting body checked into the middle of next week by Robert Horry.

Actually, Dirk is probably walking down some Brazilian beach somewhere, saying to every topless girl he can find, "you know what they say about big feet..."

Whatever. Paper Dirk.

I also called, a month ago, that Chrysler would go to the private equity fund, leaving out the other bidders for the company. The fund, Cerbersus, also owns the local CBS affiliate here in Utah. I called that assets would get overhauled, and then sold to make a quick, huge profit. The managers are stating that they are not planning any layoffs, and are going to try to get things worked out with the UAW. As part of the purchase, the new owners had to agree to take on the 7-9 BILLION dollars in debt responsibility that is the AUW pension fund. The union has managed to create a "30 And Out" program, where a worker can work for 30 years, then retire under full benefits. Now the UAW has more people on the pension side than actual workers. Something is going to have to give there, mark my words.

3 comments:

Scott Hinrichs said...

I learned in grad school that the proper corporate terminology for this kind of debt is "leverage." $7-9 billion (with a B) of leverage must mean that these guys have one massive lever. I can already hear the sounds of bones crunching.

But this is all brought to you by greed and laziness. The UAW was greedy and the car company board members were lazy enough to cave in to UAW desires. For decades board members slacked on their duty. Now many will pay the consequenses.

That One Guy said...

which is why the UAW folks endorsed another group as the buyer, but hen switched over to Cerbersus when the writing appeared on the wall, wanting to "make nice"...

not sure it will work.

UAW folks should be VERY nervous right now. It's about time, frankly. They should have been smacked down decades ago. They've made their bed.

OneHungMan said...

Chant for wherever Dork plays next year..."OVER_RATED!"