Alan Mullaly calms fears reassuring cash on hand, Don LeClair retires.
10-10-08:
Relative calm has come to what has become “Hell Week” for Ford and GM stocks. We have reported daily on the historic collapses of auto stocks. For the last five days, Ford has been hit all time lows along with the rest of the stock market in its worst week of decline in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.
Ford (F) however sunk to a new historic low at $1.99. It was an interesting ride today however as the stock price rallied earlier this morning to as high as $2.55 but also as low as $1.88 - another history making low. It cannot be glossed over however that Ford Motor Company has lost over 45% of its value this week alone. General Motors (GM) was lucky enough to close slightly up today at $4.89
The good news today is that the sell at any price mentality seems to have calmed somewhat. The DOW index closed down only 126 points or 1.5%. Compared to the 500 +/- point daily drops all this week it is a welcome nod.
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Where it will head next week at the opening bell is hard to predict even for Wall Street pundits. Though many on the Street are starting to suggest that there are hints of a bottom in sight. Ford CEO Alan Mullaly said today that while the company’s stock has been decimated this week, that they have enough cash on hand to get through the tough spot. In addition Ford released sales figures that show their performance in China is up about 7% in the first 3 quarters of the year. Any good news at a time like this is gold.
In the middle of all the drama, Ford also announced that Don LeClair their long time career financial guru and current CFO will retire effective November 1st. He will stay on just long enough to bring his replacement Lewis Booth up to speed.
"Lewis' global experience, track record and many years of leadership in Ford's finance operations make him the ideal CFO," Alan Mulally said. "He has proven success integrating Ford of Europe into a profitable, lean and highly efficient operation. We now are turning to Lewis to apply his extensive operational and financial experience to work even closer with our operating teams around the world as we accelerate the transition to our One Ford vision and, in the process, transforming Ford into a lean global enterprise and returning the company to sustainable profitability."
