The White House on G.M.

Regardless of your politics, this is worth watching.

G.M., Jobs and the Bailout

With G.M. stock climbing eight percent in early trading today, it's easy to forget that the main purpose of the government bailout was to preserve jobs in the midst of the Great Recession.

Michael J. de la Merced and Bill Vlasic of The New York Times report:

On Wednesday, the nonprofit Center for Automotive Research released a study saying that government aid to G.M. and Chrysler saved more than 1.1 million jobs in 2009 and 314,000 jobs this year — the highest figure yet reported.

General Motors' High Powered I.P.O.

With common shares priced at $33 each, G.M. will set a record for the largest initial public offering in American corporate history.

Michael J. de la Merced of The New York Times reports:

G.M. will return to the stock markets on Thursday, a year and a half after it filed for a quick government-sponsored bankruptcy to shed billions of dollars in debt and reshape its business.

The stock sale will also halve the Treasury Department’s stake to about 26 percent, speeding up the Obama administration’s effort to remove itself from G.M. That has also been a important goal for the company, which has long wanted to regain private ownership and shed the “Government Motors” label.

G.M. will sell 549.7 million common shares at $33 apiece, raising $18.1 billion by taking advantage of an overallotment option to cash in on bigger-than-expected demand. It will also sell 92 million preferred shares at $50 each, raising $4.6 billion.