Bondholder furious over GM bankruptcy

R.I.S.K. this is something she should have understood. There are no safe bets (safe bets dont = $$) I am less than sympathetic to any of these voices. I am not feelng the pull of heart strings just because their horse didnt come in first. This is what one must expect if you are speculating.

I felt for this GM shareholder.... until she bought Michelle Obama into her conversation.... Listen Michelle has nothing to do with you financial situation.... and Michelle did not say 'she had never felt proud of America'..... she said 'she had never felt AS proud' big difference... so now you have no felling... at least from me about your lost... I just hate 'haters'!

Stop complaining. The Stock Market is a dangerous place. You are gambling. Its a risk that you took. Nobody made you invest in GM. So what that you teach school. Its not relavant. You invested and it did not pay off.

To Ms. June, if you happen to read this, I saw your live interview with John Roberts. I can't say I felt much sympathy for you. Yes, I understand that you have lost a lot of money. And yes I understand that you have a right to be upset. But you came off as feeling "entitled"; as though your situation was something special. I thought you were going to start crying on the air. Listen, pretty much EVERYBODY is hurting in this economy, one way or the other, with few exceptions. At least you still have a job, possibly with benefits and a roof over your head. Many can't even say that! It may be wrong that you have lost so much money(I'm not disputing that), but here's the reality: you made an investment choice where nobody put a gun to your head and made you do it. It's a free enterprise, capitalistic system. Sometimes you win; sometimes you lose! You're a young woman; pick yourself up, dust yourself off AND KEEP MOVING. Adapt! And BTW, your comment about Michelle Obama was waaaay over the top.

Umm...diversify? You put all your eggs in one basket and something bad happens like this, what do you expect?

RISK is what you take whether you're investing in stock or bonds.

Beside, GM lost over $80B in the last four years – the handwriting was on the wall.

First, during the Bill Clinton era it was MCI, Enron and now GM. Invest in yourself, TRUST no others. The government ONLY reallocates resources. Take your resources OFF the table and invest in family and yourself, people you can TRUST with your wallet.

To bring Michelle Obama's comment, taken out of context no less, kills anything I may have felt for this person.

Poor But Not Stupid but it best: 'There are no safe bets '
You risked your money on something, you lost.

My investments all lost lots of money too. We all lost. But I'm not crying on TV about it, looking to be saved or reimbursed. Stocks are a gamble, get over it.

I agre with FL450, accept for the comment obout M. Obama, there are no sacred cows here, and her huband was behind the orchestration of the details. Quit treating the Obama's with kid gloves, they opted to get into the arena, now they must fend off the blows!!

She purchased the bonds six years ago ... GM had already started to lose a lot of their market share to many of the other car companies at that point. It doesn't seem like a smart decision to invest $70k in a declining company...

Gotta Love the Obama solution,,, dump crap loads of pretend $ into a dying company, force them to accept your solutions give the majority to your own self (government), rip off the common folks who helped build this company, then give the Union Thugs majority stake...

This president is the worst thing that could ever have happened to this country. He is not for this country , he is for himself.

May someone connect with a Shoe to His forehead

First of all, this lady did not buy common stock. She bought bonds, which are supposed to be backed by the assets of the company. In a normal bankruptcy, bondholders have first claim to a company's assets. Except that in GM's case (just like Chrysler), Obama stepped in and decided unilateraly to shut out the bondholders (disparaging them as speculators looking for a handout), and to give GM (and Chrysler's) assets to the United Auto Workers and to keep some for the Federal Government. Obama is acting above the law. Hopefully, a bankruptcy judge who respects the law will overturn this unlawful seizing of bondholder property.

Stop whining Debra. Only an idiot would sink 70 grand into something as risky as the stock market or a single investment. You gambled for the big bucks and you lost. Next time, you'd better diversify where you are investing your funds and put them in safer places if you don't want to lose big.

I feel very sorry for June. I lost money with GM bonds also, but what really has ruined the retirement savings for my wife and myself is that my stock broker talked me into buying Fannie Mae and Sallie Mae BECAUSE THEY WERE QUASI-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCES THAT WERE SAFE!

Fannie Mae and Sallie Mae are still in business paying their executives multi-million dollar salaries and we little people are left with nothing for our investment.

Like the other posters have said, nothing is safe. The treasury department cannot get anyone to buy treasury bonds because no one trusts our government any more. Treasury secretary Geithner is in China right now trying to get them to buy US treasury bonds which the Chinese have no confidence in also.

I'm hurting too. No one comes to my Tuesday night weekly meetings to join my Quixstar team anymore. That is the best triangle company and they truly believe in me and my team making ourselves and their company millions. Anyone want to sample my sugar free drinks? You have to buy my cd's first.

June,
You took a risk and it didn't pay off for you. No use crying over it now. Just move on and choose companies more wisely in the future if you decide to gamble on the stock market again. Even six years ago GM shouldn't have been seen as a good bet. You live and learn. Now, just hope that the bondholders get something out of this, unlike those in the Chrysler fiasco.

This woman's plight would not exist if she had heard of one word: Diversification. She's a school teacher that probably makes 35K a year and she has 70K invested in one type of investment vehicle and one company. This is totally unsound investing. If she wanted a safe investment, she should've invested in US securities or FDIC insured CD's. Even then, she should've invested portions into different vehicles. While the loss of an investment is troubling, it is part of risk. If you don't understand this concept, then don't invest.

Someone call the Dingbat Waaaambulance.
You invested poorly, and you lost.
Next time try a mutual fund or CD.

People like this should just stick with FDIC insured CDs.
"Being for the people" doesn't mean being a nanny for a naive investor.
And the Michelle Obama comment betrays her politics.

The Stock Market is really only legalized gambling. People forget that until they lose.

Poor but not stupid...maybe you should have said Poor and ignorant. How were GM bonds speculative? You're poor because you want to leach off of others. This woman invested in an American company, and the new President stole from her, plan and simple. He steals from the common person and gives billions to his buddies on Wall Street and the unions. Obama = reverse Robin Hood, steal from the poor and give to the rich.

Who told this woman she should put all her eggs in one basket in this manner? If you have 7 mil to play with, sure, put 70G in GM, but if it's every dime you have, spread it around... because things like this can happen. Her broker should get his picture and name in the paper right next to "told a schoolteacher to put her whole nest egg in GM bonds" for giving her this advice. : ) S

Too bad, investment are risky ventures. Next time put your money in your mattress.

Are you serious? You 'invested' the money, there's absolutely no guarantee you'll make more than what you invested. Shows you she doesn't know anything about investing in the first place! This is ridiculous. If she has any idea how the stock value has declined, she should understand that with or without the bailout and the bankruptcy filing, her stake is pretty much worthless. Don't blame the wrong thing.

Since the tax payers owns 60 percent of GM now, I guess we tax payers should get a really great deal at the dealerships huh. NOT.

If GWB administration had brokered this deal, you would be getting a lot more sympathy from the Obama-bots. Remember, drink your Kool-aid and repeat, "Obama does no wrong"

The stock market and bonds are a gamble and there is no guarantee. A lot of people 4-6 years ago saw something not looking right with GM or other auto companies but thought they were still a safe bet. That is the risk you take when you are trying to make money thru an investment. If you can't afford to invest that high amount of money, then you shouldn't be in this arena!

I agree with the first few messages that I read. Those of us that are in the market have to accept risk. If June didn't understand this, she is just plain stupid. She is s a school teacher so you need to assume she understood what she was doing. It also sounds like she put all or most all of her eggs in one basket, now thats STUPID!!!

Look, people, she invested in BONDS, not stocks. She should have been guaranteed a modest return on her investment. Bonds are supposed to be safe investments, stocks investments are at-risk. GM, as enabled by the federal government, changed the rules late in the game and basically wiped her and people like her out. She has every right to be outraged.

Boo-hoo, you gambled with your money and lost. Investing in a company is no different than playing at a casino. Besides, GM has been doing poorly for years why would you put soo many eggs in one weak basket...is that the administrations fault too?

I feel your pain however – as others have commented, investing can be risky. We've all lost but what's done is done and now you need to move forward. There's nothing you can do except take the loss. Hopefully you did not have all your 'eggs in one basket'. The key word for market investors is 'diversification'. You might want to consider finding a professional Financial Advisor to assist you going forward.

If you can't afford to gamble the money – don't put it on the table.

Why in the world would you invest so much money in one equity? Have you ever heard of diversity? No one feels sorry for you. You made a huge mistake, and its no ones fault but your own.

Just for the record, Vonnie, what Michelle Obama said was, "for the first time in my adult life, I'm really proud of my country." Your version, i.e. "never felt AS proud" may have passed Michelle Obama's lips at some later time, but only in damage control.

But I agree it's got nothing to do with this bondholder's losses. I just don't like your revision of history.

Actually the Great Barry's wife did say she wasn't proud of her country, but like her messia husband CHANGED her mind once she realized what she said.
Stupid liberals need to learn how to read past a headline.
The ObamaNation has no love for this country, well at least the country which was founded on the US constitution. This is a perfect example of a Thug Union prick president ripping off the people who helped build that company. Giving benefits back to the Union.
Someone needs to wake these stupid Hussein Obama supporters up before the jerk off ruins even their wasted lives.
You don't have sympathy Vonnie for Haters ?? Why not,,, love your Jim Jones president too much ?? His wife too important in her $500 shoes serving the poor ??
Wake up

Wow- to the people who say- "she knew the risks of speculating"; "the Stock Market is a dangerous place". HELLO!!!!!!! These are people who invested in BONDS; FIXED INCOME; LOW RISK INVESETMENTS: – NOT THE VOLITLE RISK TAKING STOCK MARKET!!

These BONDHOLDERS were GIVEN NO CHOICE but to bend over and that it in the rear! They were offered WORTHLESS STOCK for their FIXED BOND INVESTMENTS.

If we are now going to say there is NO DIFFERENCE in investing in high rated BONDS than in speculative stock- then our nations entire capital investment market is WORTHLESS!

Dear Ms. June, I hope you read the comments on this page. You think you are the first person to lose money on the stock market? This whole interview is as ridiculous as I have seen. I join the sentiment of the other comments – you risked your life savings on the stock market and lost. Period. Blame your own faith in their management and sitting around waiting for Obama and the taxpayers to do you a personal favor and bail YOU out. Ridiculous.

Sorry, but that is why investing is no sure thing. Who do I contact for the huge drop in my 401(k)? I was screwed by a different company, but I understood the rish I took when I invested. She's lucky she's getting anything for her money. GM could have gone Chapter 7 (doubt the government would let that happen but it *is* a possibility) and she would end up with absolutely nothing. If I were her, I would pray that in 10 years her $200 worth of stock is worth something.

I feel sympathy for anyone losing that amount of money, however, there are countless folks like myself who have seen drops in value of much, much more than that in our funds and stocks the last few years. As others have said, no one forced her to invest in GM. She bought them 6 years ago assuming it was a save bet? Is she kidding? When I bought my first car in 1985, I knew then that GM was on the downslide, based on the cars they were selling then. For the most part, their cars that followed have been the same or worse. Just look at their market share over those years, dropping like a rock each and every year. I would say she didn't do her research if she assumed GM was a safe bet. There are very few safe bets in the market, she knows that now. Sorry.

Speculate?... Risk?..... Investing in bonds of GM 6 years ago... is not speculating?... it was in theory a sound investment netting probably a low risk 6-7% yield.... this is what we define as risky greedy speculating?... Open a finance text book sometime.

If you are a school teacher, you should have known better. You should have read the ENTIRE booklet, and then you shouldve gone to individuals that couldhave given you a proper perspective on investing YOU LIFE SAVINGS.

This chick is just flat out dumb...she didnt see this coming....the stock was dropping at an alarming rate over the pasted five yr...she just bought one stock with 70000 without diversifying...she is to blame..now she is coming on tv blaming the administration for her stupidity...hey i had stock in the company as well i work for the company...i got out of that stock 2 yrs ago...i took my loses and ran..she should have done the same...

Some investments are good and some aren't. You have the freedom in this country to make your own choices in investments. You certainly saw this coming for a number of months. You were happy the government was involved until it affected you personally. Then it sounds like you want to blame them. You can't have it both ways. We all need to take responsibility for our own decisions.

Come on. You're a teacher. You are supposed to know that the stock market is a where you place your bets and hopefully get out when it's right. No Garrantee and you lost. I'd have a bit of sympathy for you if you didn't act so entitled. There are so many worse off. btw, Michelle said what?? oh boy.

Well welcome to socalism.

I can't believe any investor with 2 brain cells would put more than 10% (and that's being VERY aggressive, I think 5% is too much) of their investments into one company. If that's the case she should still have $630,000 in other investments, in which case she's no 'average joe' that she's making herself out to be.

So which is it? Dumb investor? Or rich gal who took a hit on one investment that's a tiny fraction of her portfolio?

Betting on black jack in Vegas is a more honest gamble than putting money into the stock market now.

This is exhibit 'A' as to why you don't invest everything you have into a single investment vehicle. It also shows that the bankruptcy process works – bondholders are supposed to be less exposed than stockholders, and that is exactly what happened. They are also supposed to end up with control of the company in the event of a bankruptcy. That's exactly what happened. This woman at least ended up with something, the original stockholders will be completely wiped out.

She's complaining about something that she should have been aware of all along – this is what it means to hold corporate debt.

And the $200 equity stake is likely a lot more than she'd have ended up with if GM had to liquidate.

I'll bet no single UAW worker has lost that much. Weren't those bonds certified and guaranteed? How can our government not honor the contracts on those bonds. I guess the same way they can drop charges on the black panthers who were at the voting poll with blackjacks. We they people have no voice in this government!

Bet on a house bet on GM stock, you don't always win. If $70,000 is that critical for she should have been more diversified. And what was she thinking in the first place GM? Even 6 years ago they were not do that great

Yeah, I agree about the RISK part. There's no such thing as a totally safe investment. I do feel sorry for her though, losing a sum of money like that. It's so hard to believe that GM could have been so neglegent (or stupid) as to allow the situation to slip away from them like this. They have all these analysts and marketing specialists on the payroll and either they didn't do their job or management wouldn't listen to them. Nobody wins no matter how this turns out.

Pathetic whiner. If her investment had doubled in value would she be saying that her profit is too much, let me give some back. Absolutely not. Sure hope that she is not teaching a course on taking responsibility for yourself or the economics of investing your money.

Here's an idea for those unwilling to handle market risk. Cap your returns on good years at 3% – regardless of what the real return on your investment is. The difference gets put away to hand back to you on years when returns are negative so you don't loose money. Oh, wait! That's the same return as a CD!

The comments are very interesting. I did not realize she was previously a stockholder. It was my impression that she was a bondholder. It is my understanding that stocks and bonds are very different instruments.

Thus, this situation is more like having $70,000 in your savings, CD’s, or government bonds. This is not a question of having lost money in GM stock. This is more like your bank informing you that your $70,000 in CD’s has vaporized.

This woman has a poor understanding of the system in which she dumped her money.

GM owes her nothing just because she "thought it was safe."

I have no sympathy whatsoever for her.

People need to realize that the Obama administration is selling out pension funds and private individuals like Debra for his buddies at the UAW with these bankruptcy deals being forced by his administration. You thought Obama was a good "union" guy. Too bad it wasn't your union and your retirement that he chose to defend.

Why is it that so many people who invest there money think they should get more. It's a gamble and if you gamble some times you do not win,

And stop blaming this President and his wife it is not there fault, The president is doing his best to right the mistakes of the past with out all complaining.

The market seems pretty happy with this development, as the reorganization will finally eliminate much of the uncertainty and risk:

Dow 8,704.23 +203.90(+2.40%)

She has no one to blame but herself. I guess she never heard the old saying "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

To Vonnie: regarding what Michelle Obama said, you are in error. Michelle Obama did in fact say she'd never felt proud of her country. She didn't have the qualifying word 'as' in her sentence. Here is her quote:
“People in this country are ready for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and … for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

Charlie.

There is more to this. The Bondholders have certain rights to assets during bankruptcy. They are being forced by the government to take very undesireable terms. In the meanwhile, the UAW is making out like bandits compared to the bondholders. The bondholders have a reason to be upset. Like it or not rules are rules and right now they don't seem to matter.

you are all missing the point. the government shouldn't be the ones cutting the deal in the first place. we pump billions of $'s into a company that ultimatly goes bankrupt anyway. why is chapter 11 protection/reorg ok for the airlines but not the auto industry? GM and Chrysler should have been allowed/forced into chapter 11 6 months ago, would have saved the country billions and both companies would have come out stronger.

Don't invest in anything that the government, especially this Jim Jones President's government touches. No one will win with this loser at the reigns except for perhaps the Chinese who already own a majority stake in this government

This article has me really confused. Not because of the issues, but because Debra June can't form a complete sentence and have it escape her lips in a coherent fashion. Talk about rambling, broken, illogical and, what appears to be, out of context responses. Maybe she's already lost her mind as a result of the bankruptcy. Listen closely to the questions next time Debra so we all have the benefit of understanding what the hell you're talking about. Either that, or just be quiet, thank you.

Yes, let's blame GM, President Obama's task force and comments made by Michelle Obama. They are all to blame for this horrible predicament that you are in. You are in no way responsible for decisions that you made. You were not given enough reliable information about investing that $70,000 of your hard earned money. I say let's all send her $5.00 until she recoups her losses. Poor unfortunate soul. seriously? Take a ticket and stand in line lady.

I'm furious she's furious.

Bond holders are always furious, because they are trying to bypass the bankruptcy process and get more than they are entitled to. That won't happen here, as GM's process is under a magnifying glass.

She's really furious at herself, for investing in a company that hadn't turned a decent profit in a very long time. That is literally throwing money away. Shouldn't she have been more diversified than to spend $70k on just one company?

GM executives borrowed against GM assets and then pocketed all $173 billion dollars. They robbed GM and got away with it. This all started in 1980 when Reagen stopped SEC and anti trust enforcement.

All of the assets of these executive should be confiscated and sold to pay of these debts.

BTW, GM is not the only company to do this. Almost all corporations have been doing this for over 20 years. Over 20 trillion dollars has gone into the pockets of rich people, by stealing corporate assets.

This is what happens when republicans stop financial regulatory enforce.

Don't for AIG executive still get to keep their 20 billion in bonuses. The senate NEVER passed a law taxing these at 99%!

I find it incredible that this woman is out there complaining about how "unfair" it is that her investment was wiped out and that somehow she deserves something simply because she doesn't have a lot of money! Well, lady, that's why you don't invest all your saving in the bonds of a company that hasn't turned out a decent product in decades. If your savings are so important, don't invest them in the risk-laden stock market, where companies go belly-up every day of the week. I've been duped in the market before, too, but I'm not screaming that someone OWES me something. PLEASE. WTF.

No sympathy. Why an individual would put so much of her savings in one company's bonds is beyond comprehension and just plain silly. She was looking for a high yield (junk rating) and got burned.

Next time she should divirsify using a bond fund instead.

Investing is very simple.

Rule #1: Diversify
Rule #2: Don't forget Rule #1

Ms. June.. Please stop belly aching about your situation it makes you look pathetic. There are millions of people in the last several months that has lost their life savings, job, cars and homes. How about the works at GM who are taking a pay cut or getting laid off? Do you think it is fair for them? It sucks for everyone just not you. I guess your not a Economics teacher because their is no safe place in the stock market for you money. You are a weak person. Also, how does Michelle Obama fit into this again?????

actually Jeff, you rocket scientist you, The stock market isn't legalized gambling, unless your just betting on something. The stock market is made of free market company's who want to borrow $ to increase their businesses.... See that's why you liberal baby killers shouldn't vote, speak or really even be Americans

I feel sorry for you, but no more sorry than millions of other americans that have lost more than $70,000 on their homes, or that have lost their jobs and can't afford their mortgage and bills or those that have also lost in the stock market. Your whole perspective in this situation is flawed. You felt you had entitlled for a safe investment in the stock market, well there is no such thing. People that invested in Sun when it was $100+ have lost more than you, and i can name many other companies that were thought to be safe bets go that way. You should have diversified your $, for this exact reason. Don't blame Obama.

You being a school teacher has no bearing on anything. I'm tired of people using the fact that their school teachers, firefighters, police officers, as an excuse to be treated differently than any other hard working american. You chose that profession probably 'cuz you couldn't be a doctor, engineer or another type of profession that didn't match your skills or passion. No one put a gun to your head to be a teacher, and no one put a gun to your head to make this investment.

Moreover, you bringing Michelle Obama into this conversation was what did it for me. I was feeling sorry for you (though I didn't agree with your perspective of what investment is), but when you invoked michelle's name, all pity went out the window and thought you got just what you deserve.

Like someone else said earlier, you're still young, so keep sobbing and get back in teh game again. Here's a positive side to this story. You can invest another $200 in GM, and you can double your stake in the company, instead of putting in another $70K.

Ms. June,
I believe you are not being completely truthful. The fact that a school teacher could have $70,000 to invest in a company is suspect in itself.
Even if you did, why would you think that amount of $$ in a car company is a "safe" investment? I don't believe that you are that completely naive and/or incompetent. I am going to assume there is a 2nd if not 3rd income in your family behind this investment. However, if this were revealed on air, you would present a far less sympathetic figure.

This deal is rotten. I would expect GM would enter into an agreement that would allow stake holders to recoup much more. However investment is a R.I.S.K and Debra you undertook that risk. You lost. If your $70,000.00 bond gave you a 50% or 100% return you would be smiling cause your risk paid off. In this case it did not, so you would have to accept the returns which is not much in your case. I myself took a big risk in November 2008. I invested $600,000.00 in the stock market, the value has increased 350% as of 6/1/09. I am smilling because it paid off. If the market went south I would have to accept the consequenses. First Lady Michelle Obama has nothing to do with your investment choice. Accept the consequenses and move on.

Here is the Michelle Obama quote for reference...

“What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback and let me tell you something, For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I have seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues. It has made me proud.”............................ Michelle Obama

So as if her statement matters at all in this instance which I doubt it appears that she had not been really proud of America in her adult lifetime so perhaps just proud...
I have to say I am not sure I see how she fits into this at all anyway.

I'm confused from listening to her. She "wasn't going to take the deal"??? Did she have a choice?? If so, then what is she whining about???

I agree with previous comments. This situation can not be blamed on President Obama or his wife.

Private investors (individually) NEVER have a say.

If $70K is so much money for her, she should blame whomever encouraged her to invest so much into one entity. Don't financial gurus always preach DIVERSITY???

Sounds to me like she's got sour grapes over a poor decision. So do murderers, but they too have to face their consequences. Suck it up, honey.

Obama and his administration are in businesses that the US Government should not be in. He's a dictator with too much power to force our auto industry into bankruptcy! He told them, you take our money and you do it our way! His entire administration are crooks and they don't represent the American Working Family. When will our eyes open and realize Obama is destroying our country and the world is watching and waiting to react to our struggles. As for the GM bankruptcy, shame on making it part of the deal to have all stockholders loose their investment. Take away the names and players, if any company tried to present the case GM presented (we've been losing money and need over $50 billion from you to survive through bankruptcy) no one in their right mind would listen long enough to even consider it. Not only did Obama listen, he offered more! GM's stockholders lost all their investment, more than 120,000 workers will lose their job (nice stimulus package), and if Americans weren't buying GM and Chrysler cars before, what makes you think we're going to trust them now. We're not! Americans were choosing to buy Foreign automobiles and trucks because of quality, price, warranty, and resale values. American made cars and trucks are nice, but not for the money they're charging or the quality of them.

GM, Ford, and Chrysler have adjusted to the hard times with smart business sense and decision making strategies and they would have figured this out as well. Lee Iacocca pulled Chrysler our of bankruptcy without government ownership or selling the company and someone would have stepped up to do the same if Obama didn't demand the government take over operations. Who does Obama think he is that he's the best man for the Auto industry, banking, insurance, healthcare, etc. A dictator would believe such ideas, not a president. As for his stimulus package to help America, it's not working. In fact, so far to date, all his 'planning' hasn't worked one bit!

Ms June, if you were knowledgeable enough to get in when it was so good then you should have been savvy enough to get out before GM got to this point. Investments are not a guarantee. What goes up must come down. Millions of folks have lost in theire retirement and investments it is not pleasant but we have to accept it.

Economics. Risk. Capitalism. It would behoove you to understand the fundamental principles of these concepts before throwing $70K of your hard-earned money on the line. Not to say your situation doesn't stink – it certainly does, and I'm sorry that you lost that much money. But you need to understand there is no guarantee in your investment. If you want financial security, you're better off buying government bonds or burying your money in a coffee can in the back yard.

I can't believe you would buy this in the first place ! Whoever told you to do this is your big issue.

Toyota or Honda would have been much smarter.

Gm is so money hungry look into Richard Wagner's money and his pension and medical benie's I'll bet he doesn't have to worry at all!!

I'm sorry this happened to a teacher I hope you don't teach investing!

I concur with everyone's statements. I didn't see the interview but from reading the transcript I could tell that this was simply a way for her to take a cheap shot at the President and First Lady. Who in their right minds would keep their money invested in the auto dealerships with everything that is going on right now. I'm sorry, lady, but you need to suck it up and go back to class Investing 101. Unfortunately, this error in judgement has cost you dearly. Just don't expect anyone else to give a crap.

Blame yourself! MANAGEMENT is Beholden to the stockholders! That's what the incompetent losers at the top always say. If you can't be bothered to look after your investment and pound on management for being a bunch of overpaid screwups, then you don't DESERVE to have $70,000.00 sitting around doing diddley.

Investing in the stock market is no guarantee of riches just as buying a house doesn't mean it will appreciate in value. You took a risk. Sometimes your risk pays off handsomely and sometimes it doesn't. Luckily you're getting a few bucks back; if the government didn't step in and provide stopgap financing to GM, the company would've been liquidating rather than going through bankruptcy.

When this unfortunate woman bought her GM bonds, she overlooked two factors.

First, even back then, GM paper was considered "upper medium grade", NOT AAA by a long shot. She bought them, at least in part, because she got a better return than on government, government agency, or AAA corporates (at the time) like GE, IBM and others.

Second, if $70,000 represents such an enormous portion of her portfolio, she ought not to have been so undiversified. In fact, any fiduciary would have pointed out the undue concentration.

Greed and fear, greed and fear.......you just can't buy a $5 bill for $4, can you?

In a bankruptcy situation, the bondholders are supposed to be FIRST in line to get the assets of the company - land, machinery, etc. Obama has stepped in and put them farther back in the line to protect his union buddies. It's not fair. It's unjust, and I too am outraged by it. GM deserves to go under and the bondholders are getting shafted by Obama. That's change I don't believe in.

I'm sorry for your situation but join the club. We're all hurting right now and losing lots of money, but the only person responsible for your investing is YOU. As a schoolteacher to whom $70,000 is a huge amount of money, you have no business making that kind of investment. You were not diversified and way out of your element. Did someone put a gun to your head and force you to buy those bonds? I didn't think so. So instead of blaming the task force, the President, Michelle, or anyone else, perhaps you should assign blame to the person you see in the mirror every day. And don't tell me this investment was safe. GM wasn't exactly in good shape six years ago.

Mary,

She didn't invest in the stock market. She invested in bonds of a highly rated company, which is incredibly less risky and is SUPPOSE to come with certain guarantees, even in bankruptcy.

Typically when you own debt in a company, as this woman does, you are in line ahead of stock holders, union workers, and employees when default/foreclosure/bankruptcy occurs. What the Obama administration is doing with the GM and Chrysler "structured bankruptcies, is horribly distorting the original deal these bond holders entered into. That is why she and others are so angry.

When you buy stock, you are correct, you are guaranteed nothing, but that isn't the case for buying debt .... until now

Sad story but...I don't think Ms. June understands the stock market. Her $70,000 investment didn't payoff. If that was too big of a loss she should have sold sooner and cut her losses. 140 shares is better than the nothing it could have been.

Bob Camp claims that this process is under a magnifying glass.... Obviously Bob Camp knows how this government works....
Too bad their magnifying glass was made by The Unions, and touched by this president.
They will see any mistakes, or greed,,, or course it will probably come afterward, once the Jim Jones president see this CNN poll and CHANGES HIS MIND AGAIN.

Never put all your eggs in one basket. who was advising her? I would be a little miffed at that person. The rest is a risk-investment.
A lot of people are way worse off.

Michelle Obama's statement, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country". http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/02/michelle-obama.html

People are hurting everywhere. Frustration and pain are not singular experiences. Why attack?

I wish June the best in her attempt to recover from the loss.

It could have been worse, a chapter 7 liquidation where you would get absolutely nothing. That was the other option since GM would never have survived a C11 on it's own, unless it had the foresight to do it 2 years ago.

I saw this teacher on CNN this morning. What a moron!! She's blaming Obama for letting her down when he's trying to save a whole industry with thousands of jobs. She only lost $70K and may get some of it in stock, but others have lost much more. You made a bad investment Debra, get over it and grow up!

I do sympathize with her. Bonds are IOU's in which the company promises a percentage in exchange for borrowing from investors. They are not equivalent to stock, which is linked to the company's performance. She should have been protected in this case – at least have gotten her original $70,000. GM should have been required to pay back people they borrowed from via bonds.

This is why financial advisors will tell you to diversify your portfolio. My wife is a school teacher as well, and I can tell you that we'd never spend $70,000 on any single thing unless it was a house!

Ms. June:
Besides all of the other comments about market risk and investing, you need to keep in mind that your $70k did not up and vanish.
It has been used to fund bloated union salaries, health benefits, and retirements. This process has been in the works for decades, and the bill has finally come due....you, as an investor, are helping pick up the tab. Rest assured that many current and former GM employees have lived very comfortably at your expense.
Should you wish to add further insult to injury, go out and buy a new GM vehicle. It will depreciate about $5k when you drive it off the dealer's lot, and will be worth pennies on the dollar once it is out of warranty.
Finally, good luck deciding which Presidential administration to blame for the GM failure. Even though this has been festering for decades, I'm sure it is most convenient for you to blame Obama.

"The Stock Market is a dangerous place" – agreed. However, Ms. June wasn't in the GM stock market. She's a BOND holder. In other words, she lent GM money, with the expectation GM would pay her back – with interest. Still a "R.I.S.K.", true, but GM had to go bankrupt in order to default on its debts for this risk to be realized. This young woman was trying to invest prudently and conservatively (the "tough love" advice from FL450 is right on, though).

Bob Camp claims that this process is under a magnifying glass.... Obviously Bob Camp knows how this government works....
Too bad their magnifying glass was made by The Unions, and touched by this president.
They will see any mistakes, or greed,,, of course it will probably come afterward, once the Jim Jones president see this CNN poll and CHANGES HIS MIND AGAIN.

How is it that UAW came out ahead of where they were before?

How is it that of the 789 cancelled Chrysler dealers, only one contributed to Obama? Statistically, how is this possible?

How is it that preferred debt/bond holders got no say in the deal they were to get?

How is it that a dealer cancelled is likely to have their entire networth cancelled – about $10,000,000 each?

How is it that a cancelled dealer helps GM or Chrysler drive more revenue? Aren't they the ones that create revenue?

Socialism? Really Obama?

I think there's bigger issues out there than GM being bankrupt....two main ones.
The first is that when a small stockholder follows a broker's recommendation that GM is a good buy and pays great dividends, everyone's happy. All you hear or know is that here's this great company that's been around for 100 years. The problem is that when things get sticky, you never hear from that stockbroker/bond dealer about that, and they never come back to you and recommend that you save some of that money and sell before it hits bottom......all they care about is their commission, not your future.
The second thing is that if we, the American people are financing 70-80% of this deal, we shoud get 70-80% of the net result......not pennies on the dollar. If the government is "investing" our/my money, I expect them to fulfill their fiduciary duties too.....where is the accountability on that?
Bob Stern

And its unbelievable how many people commenting on here don't understand the difference between investing in debt and investing in equity.

As one commenter already said ... open up a finance book before you go bashing this lady's investment strategies.

You see the government is just paying back all the people that supported Obama . UNIONS got the pay back when they have caused the company to go under anyway ... Bond holders get screwed UNIONS get passed the tax payor but.... I just wonder when I will get my car???? ALL tax payors should feel screwed again....

what a lame interview, if you invest you can lose it, deal with it...I am so sick of the bailout culture with all these whining ninnies!!

This woman obviously didn't pay attention when she was in school, maybe she should teach her students some finance skills.

What is most amazing in all the comments is that only two (2)
of the writers seem to understand the difference between stocks and bonds and their claim on the assets of the corporation. The rest of you please study before you spout !!

While you were getting taken the president was flying to Manhattan for "date night" with his wife.

I find it very disturbing that someone as simple minded as you is
teaching the children of this nation. Have you ever heard of diversification? I feel this individual had no business putting this much money into a single fund such as GM. This is typical of
people thinking they no how to invest and then crying when they get burned. She needs to take responsability for her own actions and
quit playing the victim.

THESE WERE BONDS !!!!! NOT STOCKS!!!!!! DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN KNOW THAT THEY ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INVESTMENTS?? WHY ARE MOST PEOPLE CLAIMING SHE INVESTED IN THE STOCK MARKET?!?! SHE BOUGHT LOW RISK – FIXED INCOME BONDS!!! AND was offered WORTHLESS STOCK IN EXCHANGE FOR GM'S FIXED DEBT OBLIGATION.

This is synonomous with a home owner going to the bank and saying, "Uh sorry, I spent too much money on my daughters wedding and I can pay anymore mortgage payments; but I can give you my 1960 Mickey Mantle card- it's almost in mint condition"! AND THE BANK HAS NO CHOICE TO TAKE THE DEAL!

BONDHOLDERS IN GM WERE SCREWED! As most Americans dealing with the corrupt capital market of our country.

Stupid person puts a lot of money in high yield bonds instead of low yield government bonds. Now she wants a bailout.

Why is it that when people get in the stock market and bet on a losing horse they think they were ripped off. Certainly the GM management was not paying attention like they should have but can she tell me how this is anyone else's fault other than the management at GM and quite frankly the investors themselves. The government cannot possibly negotiate with all the stockholders and must invest there time in the largest stakeholders which does not include the individual investors. The Obama's are not the reason for her problem and I am sure that Michelle is still proud of the way her husband is trying to reverse this perverse economy and war that our wonderful ex president has left him and us with. She is obviously a naive investor who thinks the government should take care of her and her problems, can you say socialism. Sorry June you bet on a loser and should have gotten out when the writing was on the wall not complain after the fact and expect someone else to pick up the pieces for you.

Rule 1) It doesn't matter how big a company is....there is a certain amount of risk in the market place, and all of the risks need to be understood by anyone who invests in the market.

Rule 2) Don't invest more than you can afford to loose. Period.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for this person. She obviously did not understand the risk she was taking and has now paid the price for that.

Maybe part of the problem is her math. She said that her 140 shares wouldn't even be worth $200 if the stock came back a $10 a share. I'm not sure how she came to that figure, unless I'm misreading what she said...

I'm sorry Ms. June. You seem like a nice person but that is capitalism. If you did not want to assume the risk you could have invested this money in your bank for a savings account that would be covered by the FDIC (up $100,000) and not assumed the risk. Your money would also be completely secure.

Instead you opted to purchase a corporate bond that carries higher risk and therefore offers a higher return. I don't mean this in a bad way but you were driven by "greed" and saw the dollar signs of a higher return on GM stock. Unfortunately the company failed (as sometimes happened) and you were wiped out.

I will not call my Senator or any other elected official to "pay" the small bond holders for your losses so an already bloated deal with GM can become even larger. That money will not come from thin air. It will come from your millions of fellow citizens through further tax hikes. That makes a painfully bad situation even worse and punishes those who are even less at fault in this situation then you.

You have my sympathy and my well wishes Ms. June. I truly hope you bounce back from this... good luck!

bankruptcy law states that bond holders have priority over common share holders and pretty much everyone else.

people loan money to companies like gm by buying bonds. they accept lower returns and purchase bonds (as opposed to purchasing common stock) because they have have the "legal" priority in case there is ever a bankruptcy....this makes there investment far less risky (allegedly).

our president in his wisdom about what is "fair" took (stole) the property of the bondholders and gave it to the union.....

let's hope that no companies in the future need outside investors...they may be hard pressed to find any now that we all know that our government disregards bankruptcy law whenever it's convenient .

Come on LADY! You INVESTED money and took a RISK! Did you expect that some imaginary force would guarantee your 70K? If you wanted a risk free investment you could have put the money in an FDIC insured CD, but you were too GREEDY for that, weren't you!? You wanted higher return prospects, well fine, but you have to recognize the risk. Perhaps next time you will think twice before investing in an unsecured bond perhaps.

As has been said just put another $200 and wait... perhaps your investment will double after all.

Enough with blaming Obama and the administration. I guess he is responsible in 5 months for what the criminal Bush did in 8 years. Perhaps you would rather throw billions more of our tax dollars away because you took a risky investment and lost. Stop your wining. I am not even in the financial sector, just a common person with some investments. Even I was smart enough to see the writing on the wall years ago and protect my money. You made a bad move lady, move on, get over it, and take responsibility.

They took money from her? That's like saying somebody took my vote from me. I have a feeling years ago when Bush/Cheney wanted to let Wall Street run Social Sec and Medicare she thought that was a good idea too.

Are all of these commenters really this clueless?

She didn't buy *STOCKS.* She is a BONDHOLDER. In the event of bankruptcy, she has first claim on the company's assets.

The government intervened and illegally overturned this very basic tenet! It is beyond belief that they could get away from this.

I simply can not imagine a judge is going to let this stand.

Wow! I wish I had $70K to invest in corporate bonds.

If I did, corporate bonds is one of the last places it would go unless it were perhaps 10-20% of my cash and I could afford to lose it.

Hmm 7 years ago when GM was at all time high? And didn't she know about all those legacy costs for retirees? Sounds like a whiny conservative who wants a bailout.

I love how people are so willing to ride the wave when it makes them money, but they cry foul when they are the victims of their own greed.

You invested in the stock market and lost – grow up, and suck it up. It's like going to Vegas; only gamble what you can afford to lose. If $70k was more than you were willing to drop at the craps table, then you should have been investing in secure investments.

I do have 100% empathy for the teacher and I also hold GM bonds but we all have to wake up and start taking responsibilty for our own actions. GMAC bonds were always rated "junk status". It's called "greed"–you bought them because the yield was higher which has always meant more risk.

Blame yourself along with whomever you else you want to add. As a stockbroker for 30 years all people want the higher yield and then have someone "tell" them it is safe. They are called "yield" junkies. It is always about the money & trust no one.

My wife is a school teacher and they are some hard working professional, and under appreciated profession. I am sorry about her lost.

Obama just screwed Americians that held bonds and you Liberals don't feel sorry for her because she quota Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama did say she is finally proud to be an American when her husband became President. It always amazes me that liberals thing they can rewrite or tell a lie long enough and people will start to beleive them. Obama screwed this up big time. Now i'm proud to say that. Keep beleiving in Obama and we all will get screwed.

Stop whining. I was slightly smarter than you—I had my 401K in diversified stock funds… and I’ve lost about $250,000. At one point it had lost half its value, but it is slowly creeping back up. And I’m really close to what I thought was retirement age. There are lots of us in the same boat. And it is not Michelle Obama’s fault that you chose a lousy investment.

She's a teacher, but she never heard about not putting all your eggs into one basket? Anyone who's ever done well in the market knows you do not invest all your money into one stock or bond. You spread the risk. Even the Wall Street brown noses on MSNBC and CNN and the WSJ knew that, for all their idiotic suggestions and flagwaving. NOT sorry, lady. You'd have done better to take your cash, put it on black at the roulette table in Vegas and seen what happened to it, considering the times we're in; at least you'd have gotten some free drinks and maybe a night's stay in the Presidential Suite.

Why do people who invest money never treat as a gambling situation that can lose money just as easily as it can make money ? I never heard of the people leaving the casino (with less money than they brought in) complain this badly !!! Don't get me wrong, I feel badly about people losing their hard earned money ... but we can't let emotions cloud the facts ... Bonds/Stocks are some magical money tree .. it's full of RISK !!! Also, who advised this lady on making and keeping such a significant investment with an American Automaker ???

awwwwwwwwwwww....what a sad story...this woman has $70,000 to basically blow and people are losing their houses...don't feel sorry for her AT ALL

Stupid teacher if you ask me.
First of all, who is going to put all his savings in one investment!
Secondly, even 6 years ago it was already commonly known that GM was a conservative company that didn’t have any new development going on as an answer for their gas drinking cars.
And lastly, she now expects that Obama is going to bail her out personally with my tax money? Come on teacher! I hope you do a better job at school!!!

Reading these comments it's painfully obvious the majority of readers are uneducated. The woman did not "invest in the stock market". She purchased BONDS. There is a HUGE difference. Obama has come in and screwed the common person for the UAW. There is no other way to put it. Those are the FACTS.

Six years ago? She invested 70K in GM after an almost 2 decade slide with no end in sight? No sympathy for you, honey.

Most of you are missing the point. The Obama administration is stealing the business away from the rightful owners....the shareholders and bondholders.

This is truly scary! I cannot believe the number of people posting here that don't understand what took place and, in turn, are blaming her for a "risky investments in the stock market". These are BONDS were talking about! The foundation that was eroded at her expense is unheard of. Why are so many of you quick to criticize on something you know nothing about and then dismiss her for a flippant remark about Michele at the end (which she most likely meant to for a connection, if given time)?

A lot of you don't know the difference between bonds and stocks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYY73RO_egw

Here's Michelle Obama's speech. Don't worry though, you can be assured that they aren't her words, just those of a liberal speechwriter. And she doesn't say "As" proud. She at least doesn't have to read of a teleprompter all the time.

More we can blame on Barney Frank and Chris Dodd... Every time Obama opens his mouth I feel like more $$$ is coming out of my wallet.... I am glad everyone is happy... I want a better change than this.

Debra, investing in the stock market is a risk. If you can not afford to lose it don't invest in the stock market! No one forced you to put your money in GM. Obama and the government have nothing to do with your problem. GM screwed up! If you want to be angry at GM's former CEO and the corporation that anger is well placed, but the government/Obama had/has nothing to do with it. GM has been failing for years.

Do you think other individual taxpayers, some who do not even have $70,000 in disposable income to invest ought to have to bail you out just because YOU made an investment in the stock market that didn't work out so well. Get real! If you can't take the heat don't play with fire.

Ms. June I fell your pain and I'm sorry for everyone's loss, but I don't THINK a decision YOU (not President Obama) made six years ago is cause for the blame game. As a teacher, I hope this type of THINKING is not what you are teaching your students. We are accountable for our own actions, not others. I hope everything works out for you as well as others in this recession.

I am empathetic as I am also a GM Bondholder. I have fllowed all the details, visited my congressmans office in Washington. You best hope of recovery is in bankruptcy court. Everything thus far has been done in secret with non-creditors best interest in mind. Now the laws governing bankruptcy take over. The oviginal offer of 225 shares with the 1:100 reverse split was withdrawn as only 15% of the bondholders approved. THe second offer only 54% approved. Under bankruptcy law for a plan to be approved its needs 2/3 of the creditor value and 50% of the individual creditors. THe GM bankruptcy will complex and long, but you don't lose out. THe market forces understand this. The value of your bonds increased nearly 20% in value today alone, and almost 100% in the last month. The taxpayers who voted for Obama will be paying billions to settle the mess. Remember 80% of those bonds are instituational owned and they NEVER lose out as with have seem with AIG, and the financial sector. You will get a free rid on their coat tails and get the same deal since you are the same credit class. IF you don't want to take the chance I think you can get $8,400 for the $70,000 at the market price at 11 AM today. When it comes out what was done by GM and the Task Force you may have had tickets to the lawsuit lotto and it will fund your entire retirement. Good luch, I'm in your corner.

I'm sorry, but its hard to have sympathy for a person that sunk so much of their nest egg into GM. GM has been struggling for quite a while so it would appear shes either been getting bad advice or simply mismanged the family money. Investments have their risks and you chose very poorly. To feel you now have the right to point fingers at anyone but yourself is typical of the new blameless society. Heck, you as a teacher are helping raise an entire generation of kids that have been taught that nothing is their fault. You can add this to your next lesson plan.

Numerous posts have already pointed out that any kind of investment involves an element of risk. I'm not sure how you could be so "shocked" at GM moving into bankruptcy when it's been in the news as a real possibility for weeks. And, as others have pointed out, GMs been losing BIG money for years and that was information available to the public and to which you as a bondholder should've been aware of. Were you this upset when this type of thing happened to the workers at United, or is it really just about you?

There are always two sides to every story. FIrst, one comment was right, bonds are supposed to be guaranteed by the assets of the company. What Obama has done is break that guarantee in favor of the Union. Is anyone suprised that a Democrat would do that?

On the other hand, if I were living on a school teachers' salary and had invested more than a years wages in some bonds, I would watch that investment like a hawk. She had plenty of chances, 6 years worth, to get out, perhaps with a penalty but still get out. She didn't do it.

You would think a school teacher would know a little bit about doing her homework.

If this woman could not see two decades ago that GM was a very bad investment with a myopic 'what me worry' attitude, then she is well, as blind as a bat, and being as blind as a bat she made and maintained a losing investment – thats what happens when you hold onto a clear loser.

I havent got one millimeter of sympathy for her. She's an idiot, and like an idiot, she shot herself in the foot, and wallet.

Regarding all the complaints about "rules" and about bond holders "rights," bond holders get wiped out all time, since they are guaranteed nothing more than "higher-priority" than some of the other creditors in the hierachy of creditors. Were these subordinated bonds? If so, she's even lower in the chain. This is not "theft" of corporate assets, this is called STUPID investment fallout. A bond is nothing more than a loan – and in this case, a loan to BAD company.

As a bond holder, didn't she have the option to SELL them?

News flash, the "safe" American icons are not exempt from going bankrupt. Resting on one's laurels and becoming fat & lazy does not ensure future sucess. Just look at GE...

The only bonds that are still "safe" happen to be the ones issued by the US government. Even that guarantee may be in jeopardy. Investors be warned and informed. Snooze you lose.

She says that as a bond holder she had no say...what do you call the pressure the bond holders have been putting on companies to make more money, more money, more money?

Bond holders like her have had all the say...it's all about the dollar for them. This is what has driven jobs overseas, squeezing every little cent out of every part possible, all in the name of profit for bond holders.

She didn't mind in the past when American jobs were lost to underbidders overseas. Now she's complaining that there is no one to defend the "common people". Ha! Maybe the bond holders need a "union"! I call that irony!

Wow. So now this is an anti-Obama – Barack and Michelle – thing. NOT ONE GM EXECUTIVE was invoked or castigated! Tells me she was just a typical bondholder: just give me a dividend, an ROI, and I'll bury my head in the sand, stay blind to the abuses, the greed, the tyranny. Now she got burned. Time we all said "Death to the Corporation". That paradigm is killing this country. And on a side note, let us all note that ONE MORE TIME, Michael Moore is vindicated. He skewered GM management, warned us about their practices and what they was doing to the American People in, what, 1989? (Whether it's about GM, 9/11, Iraq, healthcare, you name it, this guy has been trying to wake the masses, and he gets largely shot down as a fanatic, conspiracy theorist, etc., when in fact, he's been spot on).

Do you people even read?
Claude and other business people are saying the same thing.
The bonds she and others bought are NOT COMMON STOCKS.
They are suppose to be the first debtors paid in chapter 11.
If the Gov. can change these rules when they choose we are all screwed!
The debtors will no longer invest in any thing and credit will dry up worse than now. This will effect you unless you are going to be a cash user only.
No new businesses will open and the mom and pop business that are the back bones of America will disappear and you will be buying everything from China via Walmart.

But you all voted for Mr. OBAMA.

Even six years ago the writting was on the wall, GM was only interested in making SUV's and to hell with small economical cars, or new hybrid units. Did GM directors think it would last forever, it happened in 73 and 78. No none wanted American cars due to the gas guzzling motors. This is the price you pay for following the idiots of GM management.

You should have seen the fork in the road back then, I did. But I did see the fork we are presently on. I have lost, but as all tell you, its legal gambling when you play the stocks and bond game.

Its gone, lost, get up and start walking again. Learn from your errors.

People, a bond is different than a stock. Therefore, the risk involved is much much lower. Yes, there is still risk, but bonds are not traded on the stock market (as stated by a previous poster). I feel like I am reading the transcript from a Jay Leno Jaywalking segment.

A bond is like a reverse loan (given by the person to the institution instead of vice versa). It is a legally binding contract that has a par value ($70k), a coupon rate (the interest due at the end of the contracted period) and a maturity (when the money is due to be paid back with interest). Yes, there is some risk that the company will go under (hence ratings agencies such as Moody's and others), but with all the money being given to these companies that are "too big to fail," I agree that the people who hold the bonds are getting the very short end of the stick. If this administration (and it is not all the President when it comes to decisions like these...) uses the precedent it set by giving away far more money than we as a country had in an effort to save these companies – and their higher-ups – from their own actions/choices, why is it that the 'normal people' don't receive any of the benefits? Were they not the ones who pay the taxes in the first place?

I recently heard political talking heads discuss the value of money. I am biased because I live in the midwest, but I truly wish that people who make these major decisions about how to spend all this money we don't have would take a lesson from the middle of the country. We don't have as many people (so the big-wigs tend not to care much about us) but we also have financially responsible families and communities. Absolute power in the hands of a select few will not lead to a successful republic in America because the power is not theirs to choose to expand. The power is from those 'normal people' who choose to give up certain rights/duties/freedoms/choices to those in power. Power for the government comes from people, not from the politicians.

One last point... free market economics works well, but we in the USA have never had a true free market system. Unfortunately, the more government gets involved, the less opportunities are available for self-motivated, self-sufficient people to succeed because they are given more and more responsibility to pay for those who do not succeed,

Do you people not know the difference between being a bondholder and a shareholder? They are two very different things! The people who bought bonds agreed to accept lower rates of return on their investments in exchange for the less risky status of being secured creditors of GM.

Before the current administration began to try to dictate the terms of auto maker bankruptcies, being a secured creditor meant something. And the security normally associated with being a bondholder is what led lots of ordinary individual investors, small pension funds, etc. to buy bonds from GM and Chrysler when they went to the public, instead of the government, to try to raise the money they needed to keep operating.

Now the government is putting pressure on these bondholders to give up their lawful place at the front of the line of creditors of GM and Chrysler so that these two companies, that were failing even before the current economic crisis, will have one more shot at survival, and so that the administration won't lose face with its union voting base.

To add insult to injury, when Chrysler bondholders attempted to assert the protections that the law provides to bondholders, the President resorted to publicly calling them "greedy" and stated that he does not "stand with them." So to make this clear, the President does not stand with individuals who are attempting nothing more than to assert those rights that they are entitled to under the law. I hope all of those individuals who the President has announced that he "does not stand with" remember that statement four years from now, and refuse to stand with him then.

If MS June invested more than 5% of her assets into one companies bond–especially a company that's been declining for nearly 30 years–she shouldn't be investing at all.

It's too bad as she probably did more researched before buying her last car than she did before her unfortunate investment.

It's stories like this that make me glad I invested my entire nest-egg in Beanie Babies. Sure the money is gone, but it sure is hard not to be happy with so much cuteness around the house.

I agree with June, she invested in corporate bonds, not the stock mkt., she was right to believe that it would be technically "safe". I think that the Government didn't have any business taking control of GM.

Now, how did this end up with Obama to blame?
Get real, if you have $70K to invest, learn to diversify, or maybe Obama is to blame for not teaching investors at large this golden rule that has been around since Biblical times.
Shame on you Obama for not being our financial advisors the past 2000 years.

I don't get it. What does she expect would happen to her investment if the company she invested in goes bankrupt? Next time, don't make a bad investment. Many of us have lost similar amounts in 401k value, but that's the nature of investment is our perverse system.

I'm sorry the lady lost her money, it is a shame when Americans invest in something that they think is safe and then loose everything. Those that said it was a gamble were right, it is, however, saving and investing was a way of life that was intended to give a comfortable income for people later in life. I have always bought chevy's but I'll never own another one. I sure hope some of you out there are paying close attention to what the government is doing. What happened to this lady will happen to others again and again. The government is attempting to take over key industries and we've still got another 3 1/2 years for Obama's socialization project to completely socialize the country. As a Rebublican I would hope that all Republicans will refuse to buy a General Motors vehicle. Maybe by completely breaking General Motors we can send a message to the government that BIG government is not something we want.

While it may be true that investments necessarily come with a degree of risk, and no one has the right to feel entitled to a certain amount of returns, the fact that the federal government has gone in and virtually mandated the bankruptcy arrangements for a private company should be cause for concern. FL450 said that this our economy is a "free enterprise, capitalistic system," yet, it would seem that creditors have been completely shut out of the entire process. In the Chrysler bankruptcy, the Obama administration blatantly violated bankruptcy law when they circumvented the secured creditors to pay off the Union. Obama then had the nerve to call the holdout creditors, who simply wanted what they were entitled to *by law,* greedy. You guys are missing the point. It's not about the amount of money that Debra June did or didn't receive. It's about the fact that private investors who bought a share in GM now have no share in its bankruptcy proceedings. It's about the Obama administration's dangerously cavalier attitude toward established legal processes designed to protect property and contracts in what is supposed to be a free market society.

All I have to say for this women is why would you put so many of your eggs in one basket. While bonds are considered a fairly safe investment, there are still many different types of risks that you should have considered and done your homework. If you wanted a completely safe investment that had no risk of default then you should have gone with US treasuries. I feel no sorrow for anyone in this market that lost big on dumb gambles. If you were actively watching the markets and understood risks then you would have invested your money into many different sectors of the economy and you would only be down 20 or 30 % based on your investment strategy. No one should feel sorry for anyone who doesn't diversify their holdings. Anything is possible in the global market place. Everyone needs to be aware of this and think before they invest their nestegg into a sure thing.

Apparently, the majority of you are idiots. So, let's start with the definition of the word bond:

Generally, a bond is a promise to repay the principal along with interest (coupons) on a specified date (maturity). (source: investorwords.com)

Ok, got that? Good. You know what other word has a similar definition? LOAN.

You see, there's not a lot of risk to being a bondholder as opposed to a shareholder. (On the same token, there's not a lot of reward since all you get is interest on the bond, but that's another point.) The bond's principal is pretty much required to be repaid, even if bankruptcy is declared. This was a special case because it was unilaterally decided that anyone that held a bond was looking for a government handout. Add to this the fact that she, along with other smaller bondholders like her, weren't even represented at all during the negotiations, and basically, she got robbed.

So, I guess the moral of the story is: don't get lumped up into a batch of other people that are earning the government's ire. Good luck trying to figure out if you're in that batch or not before it's too late.

I always enjoy reading the comments of the reactionary right-wing, especially those who are claiming "Obama" ripped off the GM bondholders. Really? In what way?

Let's just speculate that the government did not intervene and GM had gone bankrupt in March. Who would be left to buy up GM's assets? Not Chrysler or Ford since they're struggling too. Are any of you right-wing economists in the market for a SUV factory or automobile assembly robots? There are no automakers anywhere in the world who would have bought GM's assets at any amount resembling their actual worth.

Also, don't forget this right-wing financial geniuses, the Chapter 7 filing of GM would have touched off a cascade of financial system shocks much more devastating than AIG and unemployment would now be hovering around 17-20% and the Dow would now be hovering below 5000 because Chrysler and Ford along with their thousands of supplier companies and dealerships would have collapsed as well. Of course, then you would all be whining about "why didn't Obama save the auto industry".

And to "NOT AGAIN", you are truly ignorant and apparently unable to use Google or Yahoo search. MCI and Enron both happened on G. W. Bush's watch. Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay were both big Republican campaign contributors, including to Bush's 2000 campaign, not Democratic contributors. But, being a reactionary right-winger, you're not one to let a few pesky facts get in the way of your argument.

"Investing for Dummies" type books always begin with the warning to "diversify your portfolio and select a risk level you are comfortable with". If you want a low-risk portfolio, invest in Treasury Bond or guaranteed Municipal Bonds or FDIC insured CDs and live with the lower returns. The second lesson in these books is always "never invest more in stocks and bonds than you can afford to lose". Perhaps Ms. June should have done her own due diligence by occasionally consulting Standard and Poors' website or one of the other bond rating companies to see how they had GM rated and then adjusted her portfolio accordingly just like millions of other Americans do. It's unfortunate Ms. June didn't bother to pick up an investment book or watch a few cable news shows on the market and investing, then she wouldn't be in her self-inflicted mess.

BTW, if one reads in what asset class the "investment gurus" on TV park the overwhelming majority of their portfolios, it's invested in Treasury Bonds and Municipal Bonds not in the stock market. Food for thought for all you would-be Warren Buffetts out there.

Vonnie . . Haters? Liars? The correct comment Mrs. Obama said was

"for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

Beyond belief someone would correct someone when they them selves are wrong. "AS" was not part of her comment. For myself I have ALWAYS been proud of my country. And yes President Obama and his administration screwed this up big time. Government Motors is dead. What's next, Health Care.

Umm...people, you're missing a very key element here...June didn't invest in the stock market...she bought bonds. In our laws, bondholders are supposed to be reimbursed from the proceeds of a bankruptcy FIRST. They aren't supposed to take a back seat to the unions, the stockholders, or even the government. I'm no lawyer, so I may be misinformed, but from my perspective as a "Joe Average" investor, the way the bondholders have been treated by our government in this "deal" is illegal, and should not be allowed by the bankruptcy courts. If we Americans allow the Obama administration to have free-rein in the way the financial and automobile industries are restructured, who's next? Those of you who accept these actions will deserve the chains this government is putting on us and our future generations. Write your congressment to stop these actions...not because June lost her money, but because they are wrong, and they are illegal.

Gee, who ever thought speculation carried risk?

Especially as well as US auto makers have been doing the past quarter century?

I can see why it's Obama's fault though, since GM went hat in hand begging for help. It certainly isn't GM's fault, not a bit.

A bondholder has secured rights. Chairman Obeyme is going to end up with egg on his face as the company drags the economy down from the lawsuits that are generated from his poor decision making.
To paraphrase our fearless leader-
"Only government can make it worse than if it were left alone."

Gary, did you not realize we elected a new President? Sounds like you are talking about Bush...and remember, this GM collapse started during the Republican/Bush/Cheney administration. It takes a long time to harvest from a single seed and this seed was planted within the last 8 years.

I am really tired of you cranky old white men complaining about Obama, get over it! She invested when a Republican was President...that was her fault. She was probably dumb enough to vote Republican or not vote at all.

To everyone claiming that owning bonds (rather than equity) makes this woman's situation different: – If the U.S. government had not stepped in with tens of billions in aid, GM would have defaulted a long time ago on all of these "safe" bonds and this woman (and the other bondholders) would be getting even less. The U.S. government probably deserves to have even greater than 60% ownership of GM considering how much money its given in the bailout.

The union, however, should be left with nothing. They bled GM dry and now they want the government to step in and pay for GM's obligations. Why should the taxpayer have to insure GM's ridiculously bloated contract with the union? The union made their deal with GM, and if GM can't pay, then that should be the end of it. If the world were fair, the union would receive nothing.

This invenstor has a right to be angry. She bought bonds. In the event of a bankruptcy, a company's debt holders are supposed to be reimbursed first, ahead of shareholders and the union.

Obama chose to override the bankruptcy laws and move the unions ahead of the bondholders (obviously thinking of 2012 when he will be reliant upon unions to foolishy re-elect him). This was wrong and he shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

The bondholders should be made whole first and if there is anything left, the let the shareholders fight over the scaps That is the way bankrupcty works. FIRST LIQUIDATE THE COMPANY TO PAY BACK THE HOLDERS OF THE COMPANY'S DEBT, then divide whatever is left between the shareholders / unions.

Obama has set a dangerous precedent by overriding common sense bankruptcy laws and he should be voted out of office in 2012 for doing this to GM bondholders.

It boggles the mind how many here are so quick to judge and call her stupid, yet they OBVIOUSLY have no clue of the basic differences between a stock (equity) and a bond (debt ).

She is the victim of ignorance and probably bad investment advice. This isn't uncommon among educators I might add. Most have little or no real world experience or the common sense that comes along with it. When you've been in academics your entire life, you tend to have a VERY different idealistic view of the world and seriously lack the pragmatic wisdom that comes from living outside of education. They play an extremely important role in our society, but there should be controls in place to ensure a well rounded educator.

To REALLY simplify the issue, she let GM borrow all of her money without anything to secure repayment of interest or principal.

CNN and its viewers never fail to dissappoint.
This very same story during the Bush administration would have brought "Burn Cheney and the rest of those business loving republicans" bile from the CNN lemmings.
I am absolutely stunned to see this new group of Obama-fanatics all of a sudden professing passion and undying faith in pure capitalism as they seek to hide the ugliness of the ill-concieved and investor-hating Obama actions that are all about targeting the Michigan block of delegates.
And if its OK for Michele to hate her country unless we vote her husband in, why isn't it OK for someone else to say they hate thier country when the government mandates a rip-off of the little guy? Come on folks – at least try not to be so transparent.

And people want the government to take control of health care!?!?! Imagine what will happen if...when the government controls health care. This is only the beginning.

Please, I would feel sorry for this lady if she didn't whine that her gambling didn't work out. Hello, investing in a public company involves RISK, including the possibility of loosing all of your investment. That's why you do not gamble with money you can not afford to loose.

I bough a rental house for $291,000. It went up to about $350k, then the market crashed. I could sell it now for $200k. Am I happy about that, no, but I am not complaining. I gambled in real estate, but I gambled knowing that if that market could crash so I made sure I had the resources to absorb the loss or ride it out.

And what, Obama is at fault? Why, because he won't have me the taxpayer bail you out because you made a poor investement? (He's already done plenty of that anyway). Take responsibility for your own actions. You put all your eggs in one basket, gambling $70,000 on one company. The company failed, you lost your money. I'm feel bad for people this happened too, but you have no one to blame but yourself.

- John

Please try to understand the difference between a bond and a stock. Both have risk but at vastly different levels (at least theoretically). Stock is ownership and if the business goes bankrupt you have nothing if the liablities exceed the assets. Bonds are a liablitiy of the company and are secured by the assets. Bonds get paid interest while stock can benefit by an increase in market value and dividends, if any. The GM bondholders should get first claim in bankruptcy before the unions and before the government. This is where Obama and his crew are rewarding the wrong people and hurting the others. This is not the role government should take although, unfortunately, it may be just the beginning.

I can't believe the number of people on here who don't know the difference between stocks and bonds, it's probably says more about why we all are in this financial mess than anything else. Just think where American jobs (your jobs) would be if the people with spare money decide to stop lending.

She put it in during the Bush administration, so it must be Bush's fault

Bonds are a necessary part of an investment plan. If you hold them to maturity you get your money back and you've had the income benefit. The only real risk with bonds is if the issuer goes bankrupt as in this case.

If welfare recipients feel that they'll never work hard or long enough to save 70k towards their retirement, then they'll never know what it's like to have a savings and then taken away from you. but if the gov took something away from them, they'd be the first one to complaint. Let me teach you a little empathy, just imagine that the Gov took away the money from your drugs and alcohol fund. Now it hits home doesn't it?

I like the teacher analogy this lady used when mentioning Michelle Obama. Has nothing to do with hatred. She has no hatred towards Obama for a non-fictional comment that Michele Obama made. Oh yeah, I forgot, the truth somehow equals hatred. That comment, however worded by Michelle Obama is still a disgusting comment.

Listening to the comments definitely widened my opinion. I agree that speculation is a risky business. You gambled and lost. Why do you think casinos make so much money. Because most gamblers lose. Quit whing.

What most people do not seem to grasp is that with investment comes risk. Yes, bondholders are supossed to hold a "secured" position when a company liquidates, however, so are parts suppliers and the like. In the case of GM, everyone is going to take a hit. June should be happy that money is the only hit she will take. Some of those suppliers etc provided goods and services for which they will never be reimbursed. June at least has some hope of recovering some of her capital in the stock swap. As for those who insist on blaming the President, tell me, what would your answer have been? These are extraordinary times, if the rest of the economy was solid and the car companies were an isolated issue, we could probably have handled it alot differently. With the entire economy on the brink, could we really have justified allowing the total destruction of those companies and the massive amount of unemployment, across the spectrum of everything to suppliers, transport companies etc. that would have come with it? No matter what solution had been reached, someone, somewhere would have been unhappy, very unhappy.

It appears that this country can no longer stand hearing someone upset about their problems because they are met with attack after attack, especially if they happen to mention the Obamas and then the vitriol spikes to even greater heights. If no one is allowed to make comments anymore about anything because they are told to stop whining or that they shouldn't have been so stupid in the first place – then what is the change that was supposed to have arrived with this new President? Why is is so hard to show empathy to her situation along with all the other GM workers who have been led on a fantasy trip of staving off bankruptcy when that appears to have been the government's plan all along? I also feel sorry for people who are caught in the credit crunch through no fault of their own, also for people who are being foreclosed because of job loss, and I don't feel I have to blame it all on them for being caught in a world wide credit problem. Why are we in such a state that no longer can we just feel sorry for someone without having to ridicule them to make ourselves feel somehow superior? What kind of atmosphere are we self perpetuating where it appears the more outspoken, rude, or downright vicious blog posters get the most webspace?

BOO-HOO!!! Go cry on somebody elses shoulder. Just because you invest in a company doesn't entitle you to returns...it's a little thing called risk. Perhaps you should have invested in a solid company like Toyota or Honda instead of the poorly managed GM.

Well, at least she earned interest over those six years. A 30-year GM bond issued in 2003 has a coupon of 8.375%. She has earned almost $35,000 with this investment but lost the prinicpal. It's a risk she took. If she got bad advice, sue your broker.

Im sorry... but right off the bat something doesnt add up.
The bondholder deal was that every person/enity would receive 225 shares of stock for every $1000 that was owed to them by GM...

Yet this woman goes on CNN and say that she was only going to receive 2 shares of stock for every $1000.... That is nowhere near close to correct. The true number of shares she would have received was 15,750, not 140 or whatever she said.
Each share would have a value of around $4.44.... not $500 as she asserted. And who in their right mind would buy a share of a GM at $500?
Why did the person doing the interview call her out on her faulty math?

Ok,

So in reading this, no one has any sympathy for the bondholders. The general concensus is that they took the risk and lost....so there.

Ok, I accept that, we all have lost money. But, then why are we bailing out homeowners who took out mortgages they knew were risky? Come on guys, when you can barely afford an interest onnly or low interest VARIABLE mortgage, you know you are taking a risk that the market will stay strong and the interest rates will drop. They took a risk and lost, and we are making them whole in many situations. Yet, they do not seem to be getting the same response. Hmmmm.

These bond holders held 90% of the debt of the company. They would have done better if the company just liquidated the assets. At that point they would have gotten at least 20% (for which this bondholder would have gotten $14000).

Maybe Obama will treat this like Chrysler and screw over the bond holders and end up giving the makority share to the unions (who backed Obama financilaly in his election).

Ok guys... She was a bond holder, not a stock holder. As a stock holder, you are open to a great amount of risk. In the event of a bankruptcy, bond holders are the first to receive compensation. The risk level is lower and the rates of return are lower. Essentially, what GM did to bond holders was it convinced them to give up their secure status in exchange for a promise of stockholdings in a new GM. Apparently, the stock swap was not equivalent ($200 doesn't equal $70,000). The bond holders should have just held out and let GM completely dissolve instead of becoming this "new company." At least then they would have gotten more cents on the dollar back. This is a sweet-heart deal to keep the unions in work while investors, who have provided the capital for this company to run for the last century, are being left out to dry.

Why would you put all your eggs in one nest... thats stupid.. stocks arent a sure thing.. so dont go crying on tv who cares... and what does michelle haveto do with this... and you stupid republicans in here have something negative to always say if it wasnt for the obama admin and treasury dep gm would have went out of business its not obamas fault that the economy is bad it was bad wen he got into office he is just trying to clear it up and help troulbled companies.. we haveto spend to get out of it.. and we are in this situaation because of republicans no taxes no raising taxes well how in the world are you to pay for the false war and all thes other prorams and pay down debt without taxes we cant pay down anything raise the taxes so we can move on its a new age republicans are dead think with your wallets dems bring people up repubs bring us down and a women derserves the righ to chose... new rule if it doesnt effect your life shut up

Some of you people are absolute geniuses.

Definition of a bond-In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals.

This was not a stock, it was a contract. She gave GM $70,000 and in turn they owed her $70,000 plus interest at its maturation date. She was a creditor not a stock holder. This is the government essentially saying this contract you signed is void because we want to own 60% of GM so you can take half of 1 percent of your bonds in worthless stock.

This is exactly what happens when the government gets involved in big business. Obama and his crew are destroying the ideas of capitalism and what has built this country. Ever since FDR we have been sliding further towards socialism and we are almost there now. The bondholders should be outraged. It seems outrageous that the Unions continue to dictate and dominate tbig business. Are country was great when we protected all individuals rights, once again we sacrifice the "Forgotten Man" (see Sumner), for special interest groups. Bail outs are not sustaninable let capitalism work the way its supposed to and leave businesses alone to tand or fall by themselves.

It is her own fault, I don't feel sorry for her a bit. She said she thought GM was safe, nothing is safe, she might as well spent 70K on lottery tickets. No sympthy here.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong .. But if GM had entered bankruptcy last year (due to lack of government aid), wouldn't all stock and bonds be reduced to $0 value ? I just don't see ANY government agency could be blamed for this ? Don't people understand that it would have been MUCH WORSE if GM had been left alone to fail by themselves last year ?

Honestly, american cars (besides hot-rod dream cars) have not inspired me for a long time in regards to design, reliability (had bad experiences), fuel consumption, and resale value. And don't get me started on the customer service ... I just a patriotic as the next guy, but something about throwing money into a shaky product ...

I also totally agree with FL450 .. and it seems June wasn't carefully weighing her chances before the fact. PLUS not paying attention to exactly what it was that Michelle Obama said when her husband was running for President. Looks to me like she is wanting someone to blame rather than admitting her own poor choice. Stuff happens and people like June usually don't own up to their responsibilities.. and always want to blame "the other guy". Suck it up and be happy you have a job!

Nobody had to lose any money during the downturn other than thru just plain lazy money management. While most people saw their portfolios drop 36 to 42 percent, mine rose 3.3% with lower risk than any of you faced with your silly 6% "low risk" crap. And, "diversity". Do any of you even have a remote clue as to what that really is??? NOT! What you all lost is your own fault!

Very sorry – but Oh Well! I lost money, too; but not w/GM.
Stop whining and get over it. The economy is in big trouble and everyone is hurting. You are no different than anyone else. At least
you're young enough where you have the time to start over. The people
that are in real trouble are the retirees and close to retirement. There is no chance for them. I hope teh government has plans to take care of them.

Ignorant investors like this women are an embarrassment to our country, If you buy bonds is a company you must be prepared to take on the risk that the company might fail. Failure to diversify is simply stupid.

Unsecured bondholders fall in front of common shareholders but BEHIND all secured debt. Anyone who doesn't know this and has not looked at GM's secured debt should never have made the purchase unless it was an outright gamble. No one blames the government when you lose at the gaming tables in Vegas.

GM is bankrupt, finished, kaput. They invested in a company that has gone belly up. Even if GM had gone the standard bankruptcy path, the majority of these bond holders would have gotten cents on the dollar. They keep acting like they would get most of their money back. But that's assuming someone would buy all of GM's assets and at prices that could pay off existing debts. And that would never happen.

Of course, the bondholders don't mention that in a standard bankruptcy, GM could be released from all of it's pension, retiree medical, and car warranty requirements. That's what they really want as that would get GM enough money so they can pay off the bondholders (along with sales of assets). But of course this means screwing over every GM Car Owner and every former GM employee. SO what the bondholders really want is for everyone else to be screwed by the bankruptcy while they get their money.

SO while I do feel sorry for the little people, the small bondholders who have lost money, their desire to get their money back at the expense of so many others is rather self-serving and greedy. And, any investment broker will tell you to DIVERSIFY. You should never, ever, have more that 5% of your net worth in one companies stock. And if you did have most of your money in GM, then sorry, you lose.

Hey Gary, congratulation on posting the stupidest comment in the thread. "The stock market is made of free market company’s who want to borrow $ to increase their businesses". No, that's not what the stock market is, you uneducated moron. The stock market is made up of individuals and companies betting that the performance of a company will be better (or worse) than it was in the past. PERIOD.

Companies borrow money through the bond market or commercial paper or bank loans not the stock market. Idiot.

See that’s why you bigoted right wing illiterate hick morons shouldn’t vote, speak or really even be Americans.

Reading some of the comments on here makes me realize that we truly do have a lot of ignorant people in this country. Here's a hint guys, before posting stupid comments about bond investing, please do some research. Investing in bonds is not the same as investing in stock, even though some bonds may be purchased with a conversion option. Companies issue bonds all the time. Those bonds are secured by the assets of the company so, in the event a company files bankruptcy, the bondholders are paid before any other creditor. This means the bondholder is never at risk of losing his or her intitial investment. The only "risk" involved with bonds is the premium or discount associated with the interest rate and even that is not really a risk. Make no mistake about it, your buddy Obama destroyed the risk free nature of the bond market and turned it into the risky venture some of you idiots believe it to be.

Carl, you are wrong. There are other claims that come first such as salaries and wages, taxes, etc. The loan the government provided recently also has a higher priority. The problem with GM is/was that there liabilities exceeded their assets as they have not been profitable for a while and unwilling or unable (gotta love the unions) to make painful cuts.

Why myself, and many others, fail to feel "compassion" for someone such as this woman, is because its called "THE STOCK MARKET"

there's no real logical way EVERYONE who invests can make money, in fact, it requires that MOST lose money (kind of like Vegas or a Pyramid Scheme).

Whether GM went bankrupt or not, did she not notice she lost ALL her money...just like everyone else in America?

I'm confused why SHE is more important that anyone else who just lost all their money? (does she not realize EVERYONE else lost money too?)

I'm amazed at how many people in this forum don't understand the difference between playing the stock market and investing in bonds.

For all of the people who say they do not feel bad for the GM bondholders, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

This has less to do with the bondholders as individuals than what our government stepped in and did TO THEM. Buying bonds is not the same as buying stocks. You are a preferred debt holder who should be paid back first in a case like this but our government stepped in LIKE A DICTATORSHIP, and forced the companies hand into dealing with corp's and unions before taking care of the bond and preferred stockholders, which BY LAW, should have been taken care of first.

She was entitled to get a fair shake from the bankruptcy, not all her money back, but she was supposed to be negotiated with first, not last or 4th.

There is risk in everything and she should have known that, but she shouldn't have been screwed by our government's policies more than was required by law. It's like they went a little extra on the middle-class individual bondholders.

And stop with the race card... all she said was she was wondering whether Michelle Obama would be proud of how our country/government is handling this situation since it affects the middle and working class people of this country.

Let me get this argument framed right: The government funds GM for six months to delay bankruptcy. Therefore, bondholders are entitled to have the government indemnify their risk? If the government had stayed out of it, the bondholders would have had nothing six months sooner. I'm not getting the argument.
The government insures (some) banks and S&L's, not corporate bonds. This bondholder wants a disproportionate share of voice in deciding how this financial mess should be worked out, and wants the federal government and Michelle Obama to provide that amplification. Good luck with this line of thought...

It hurts when your investment bet goes wrong. It hurts more when your taxes goes to save unions and investment goes under!! Welcome to the world of democrats with Big Union Leader President Obama!! We all voted him in(for the record, I didn't). Worst is we will repeat same mistake in 4 years!! just like we did with president bush!!

"Wow- to the people who say- “she knew the risks of speculating”; “the Stock Market is a dangerous place”. HELLO!!!!!!! These are people who invested in BONDS; FIXED INCOME; LOW RISK INVESETMENTS: – NOT THE VOLITLE RISK TAKING STOCK MARKET!!"

BOND_LameBond, if you actually believe that bonds are non-volatile and low risk when a company is losing market share and bleeding money for years then you're as ignorant as anyone else who feels sorry for her. I'm not up on GM's bond rating over the last few years, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was good simply because the economy was doing well and they'd been around forever. Doesn't change the fact that the company hasn't been strong in a long time, so I don't feel sorry for anyone who didn't have the good sense to do the research themselves and come to an informed investment decision. Maybe she got taken by someone who told her it was a safe investment, but it was still her laziness and ignorance that let it happen to her. Everyone feels entitled to easy money with no risk in the securities markets, but if you really want to protect yourself, you minimize your risk by at least doing your own research before hand. Don't count on other people to decide what to do with your money.

Don't any of you know the difference between investing in BONDS versus investing in STOCK? You are all railing on her and telling her how risky the stock market is. She is a bondholder, not a stockholder – BIG DIFFERENCE! She has a right to be angry and I hope the bankruptcy judge that gets this case reverses the ruling. Obama and his advisors are a complete joke. They are ruining this economy.

June, you are part of the new deal, you are misinformed, all bondholders are part of it.

Bondholders do not have any "guarantee" rights to get their money back. Do banks have a "guarantee" to get their money back when they loan you money? NO – there's something called BANKRUPTCY.

The reason for the bankruptcy is becauses THERE IS NO MONEY TO PAY BONDHOLDERS BACK. What would you have the government do? Pay back all of the bondholders with taxpayer money? It suddenly feels different when you realize that someone has to come up with the money to pay off the bondholders, right? The government deserves to have the majority ownership for "loaning" GM billions of dollars. The goverment is the biggest "bondholder" of all – and they are also only getting shares of GM stock

ALL OF GM'S EXISTING STOCKHOLDERS WILL BE WIPED OUT COMPLETELY. So this woman is in better shape that the stockholders.

I was both unfortunate and fortunate that in 1986 I bought my first car a new (my only new car) a Pontiac Acadian (Chevette). I owned it for 5 years put (120 KM or 75K miles it), buy that time it had been reasonably reliable but was getting long in the tooth. I then moved onto my first Japanese car a Dodge Colt (Mitsubushie) then Toyota Tercel and now am on my 4th Honda a Accord. The Honda's in particular have been great cars, very reliable and economical. Never again will I buy a GM unfortunately, sorry to see the workers lose there jobs.

Sure, this lady didn't diversify. She put all her eggs in one basket and took on the risk voluntarily. Hey, I put some money in GM stock in 2003 and got the hell out in 2005 after losing 30%. You didn't see me crying on TV about it. So I don't sympathize with her loss.

However, where I do sympathize with her is the fact that Obama arbitrarily voided contract law in order to steal from bondholders and give some of the loot to the UAW. This is a very dangerous slippery slope to go down, and if we the people don't stop our government from going that way, America is toast. Free enterprise cannot function without the rule of contract law.

I used to think anybody could do a better job than George W. Bush, but Obama is worse in every way, except for the rhetoric.

I'm surprised and encouraged by the responses to this video. The general consensus is usually to pity the individual, vilify the corporation and the stock market, and expect the government to take care of things. It's nice to see people expecting a little responsibility and accountability from the every day American and blaming the government for throwing away billions of dollars on failed companies. I think you people may finally be waking up!

I agree that the lady should have understood the risk and gotten out long ago, as it has been apparent for at least a couple of years now that GM was eventually toast. However, she is completely correct that the Obama administration in their socialization of GM and Chrysler has assisted in robbing bondholders blind. In the eyes of Obama, anybody who actually possesses an investment such as corporate bonds is obviously among the "wealthy elite" and therefore not worthy of any consideration. And nobody with half a brain will ever extend a penny of credit to either of these companies again. But it's a moot point, because Obama and company are just going to take our tax money and give it to them to keep two dead business and the UAW afloat.

And Vonnie, the reference to Michelle Obama's statement was not only appropriate but brilliant. And the word "AS" was never part of the original statement – go back and listen to the tape. The only "hating" going on here is on the part of the Obamas and their party who hate anybody that doesn't buy into their socialist vision for America.

IDIOT.........HA. GM STARTED LOOSING MONEY ALONG TIME AGO. NEXT TIME STUDY UP TEACH....AND BOY THEY SURE SAW YOU COMING.....IDIOT....

If you put a big chunk of your savings into a single company, then you deserve to lose all of it.

I don't think it's GM's fault she put that much money in this. Investing in compmanies is a gamble...she lost. Sucks...but that's life.

I feel bad that she didn't do her dilligence or get some outside advice before investing her 70K. Come on!...Investing 70K with a destroyer of capital like GM? Especially with all of the information out there about this organization. GM is a classic example of management lack of intestinal fortitude to deal with reality. My aunt is 91, never had education past high school and would never throw her money into a black hole like that. And since when are the Obamas underwriting your investments? Again – I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but you've got to THINK.

'mary Bryant June 1st, 2009 10:58 am ET
Stop complaining. The Stock Market is a dangerous place. You are gambling. Its a risk that you took. Nobody made you invest in GM. So what that you teach school. Its not relavant. You invested and it did not pay off.'
Excuse me mary 'Nobody made you invest in GM' Who do you think took over GM. I was made to!

There are a lot of people lost money in the stock market too and the gov't is not going to give them back the money. If the gov't is doing something or her, then the gov't should doing something for other people too. Also, why did she even listen to the promise that politicans make???

Someone who has burned buying a 2000 Montana Van and 1990 Caprice Classic from GM I have no sympathy for this woman. Investing $70,000 of bonds into GM over the past 5 years is the height of stupidedly. It was clear GM's marketshare was dropping like a stone (and losses mounting) even with them dumping their junk over the past few years. The US and Canadian governments should not be throwing good money after bad trying to salvage this "sinkhole" of a company.

She did not purchase stock, she bought bonds. This was supposed to be a low risk investment, almost as safe as a bank account. If the bankruptcy was allowed to take place properly she would have lost nothing. What happened is the government got involved and threw out the law. Bond holders are to be paid first, instead those that were supposed to be paid last are now in front of the line.

All those here saying she took risk and now has to deal with it are idiots. She took no risk, the government broke the law and basically gave her money to others. I hope everyone that is bashing her for taking risk have their bank accounts taken away and the FDIC refuse to reimburse them and instead give it to others, that is what has happened here and I hope it happens to those who are bashing her.

My heart goes out to all that lost but especially those that are the LITTLE PEOPLE! When obama ran off wagoner you should have known something was up! Wagoner did not want to do the chaper 7 or 13 (which ever they are going). Why do you think he was run off?
What about the tax payer...30 billion is what we've given them...good job obama! Also GM has 3 massive plants over seas. HOW MUCH OF OUR TAX DOLLARS HAS GONE THERE? Our plants close but you don't hear anything about over seas!
Hmmmm...coincidence or what? More to come friends, just wait!

It is so apparent how stupid the general public is, they have no understanding of investments, they have no understanding of when an investor is ripped off, and only focus their small minds on little issues, like a comment about Michelle Obama. The big picture is this woman had an investment and that investment was arbitrarily crammed down by the administration decision makers. It is only the first step towards a socialist economy, and the government's small but steady steps to take over private enterprise. What's frightening is, there are so many that follow this ideology because they do not know what it is to work hard, save money, make investments to live the American Dream. They just want to have the government take care of their lazy asses until they go to their grave.

Lesson to be learned for all other Investors. DON't BELIEVE the HYPE your BROKER tells YOU.

Even CORPORATE BONDS are SUSPECT ! ... June even if you had a Professional Managing your $ you still would have lost 40-50% of your money.

Wonder if an Americans left to loan the new GM company $. If they did this to June what will they do to the US Govt. Screw them when they go on vacation..

We should make Wagoner give back ALL the bonuses he ever earned with this company since 1999. This just didn't happen overnight June.

This also shows that we need to invest more money in educating teachers.

The point people are missing is that the Government is basically changing a law that has stripped this woman of her right (as given by existing bankruptcy laws) to at least have a chance to reclaim her money. Now she's powerless.

The blame should be with GM. And without government's plan, I doubt Debra would have gotten much more given the huge negative net worth of GM today. Had Obama's plan provided for more money for people like Debra, someone else would had to be screwed–the basis principle of hard budget constraints.

Who are we to say that Debra should be on top of the list? And the list is very long–we are already seeing dealers, workers, GM retirees, etc. weaping on TV screens on a daily basis.

Re mentioning Obama's children : it almost seems like if Debra were teaching Michelle's children, the kids would be hostages of June's personal situation. Or did I misunderstood the logic?

Wow.... I cannot believe the crass, self-righteous tone of almost everyone commenting on this story. You should be ashamed of yourselves for being so vicious with someone who lost years of their labor. Also, I would caution anyone that is not viewing the aggressive policies currently underway without skepticism.

While I sympathize with the bondholders, we need to remind them that it was their collective greed that forced this situation. The majority of the financial issues that GM tried to resolve was rejected by the bondholders because they were too greedy to accept a settlement which forced this circumstance. And then they want to whine about their losses??? They gambled, thinking that GM was willing to continue negotiations and lost. It's time to get over it and shut up.

Everyone is going to feel the pain in all of these situations. The market is the market. If you don't or cannot afford to lose it, don't invest it. That rule has never changed.

Pretty shocking how few people on this page understand the difference between Bonds and Stocks.

i understand why one might be ignorant of how bankruptcy has traditionally worked out. But the short and skinny is, the President's team has recently decided that the old rules are one of those things they want to put their "change" stamp on.

Hopefully, enough people will file court cases after the fact to force this case to the supreme court on a "separation of powers" brief. Since it's been pretty clear that the president's task force has unlawfully influenced the Judicial branch in this activity (specifically forcing a judge to hurry up and release his opinion in the case of Chry. corp )

Yes, she could have diversified more. However, the President still changed the rules of the game , still rewarded his primary campaign contributers (unions) from those regions, and in many respects crossed several important boundaries that were designed to prevent corruption and unbounded power.

The best place for this argument to occur is in the courts.

Bottom Line is if you own Bonds you are to be the first to be paid off in the event the company goes belly up . That is the rule first to be paid out period . That right was taken away by the US government.

This puts the wohole Bond market at risk for Corperations , Municiple bond market ....etc

I hope a Bankruptcy Judge straps a pair on and recognizes the rights of bondholders everywhere as this will undoubtly set a dangerous presidence.

GE bonds ....worthless ! Would the US government do this to Buffet ?

Can't believe this is happening in the US , maybe Venesuela perhaps. bondholders everywhere prepare to bend over !

I agree that she shouldn't have put all her money in one place.

But what about the intervening 7 years???? GM has been in decline; and (I pesume) these bonds are traded - she should have had plenty of opportunity to sell them before GM hit bottom. that would have mitigated the damage.

And yes, being a school teacher is irrelevant

My 401k has gone down a LOT more than $70,000 - but I understood it was a risk, and bonds are a risk too.

If this were a local company she loaned money too and it went bust; she'd get nothing at all. ZERO. Because it's GM, and because the government has taken an interest, she's at least getting some stock. Maybe it's worthless. or next-to-worthless. Maybe it'll be worth something someday. But she's certainly no worse off than if she'd invested in a local company.

Join the crowd at having lost money. Bonds are not as speculative as stocks (normally), but they are NOT guaranteed. The advantage is the interest rate may be locked in and you know how much interest you should make–assuming the company can pay.

If you thought you were guaranteed a return of your principal you were wrong. That's the sad-but-true reality of it all.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. She has no right to complain... that is what investment risk is all about. If she didn't want to lose all of her money at once she should have spread her investments around. She deserves what she got for not understanding all of the risks involved. Narrow investing is like buying really expensive lottery tickets.

Watch this those that lose their money will blame this president even knowing this economic was already in the tank when he took office.

What is the comment with regard to being a "common person" and not "a corporation"? You are a teacher for Christ's sake, a person with a so-called education. What makes you believe that corporations always have money? Why do you think corporations have lay-offs and go out of business? IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE BROKE YOU MORON!

All Americans have learned the lyrics to the song too well...

"poor, poor pitiful me. poor, poor pitiful me."

In reading the previous comments on this article, I find it amazing how many folks don't know the difference between investing in common stock and investing in bonds.

Doh!

Bonds are not speculative, they legally have a first call on all assets. That's why they have lower returns than the more speculative stocks. Certainly they come before the unions.

The government has created a seriously flawed precedent here for anyone looking to invest in ( the safety ) of US denominated bonds in the future.

So, I guess this is a result of Obama change? Now a school teacher has been a participant in carnal behavior without having left schoolhouse...and the president was not even in the same room! "...I did not have sex with that woman!...." What a pick for President!

GM and the other auto companies knew 20 to 30 years ago that they should be making better and more efficient vehicles. However, they were greedy and focused on gas guzzlers that they made more money off of.
They took a chance and ignored the future of energy such as oil

Luke, you are quite a genius too. Bonds carry risks just like stocks. If a company goes bankrupt and is unable to repay the bond holders, then that is the risk that goes with a higher yield – you can *lose* money, a lot of money. If you want "riskless" return on your money, then buy US Treasuries (presumably).

I can't help but feel there's a bit more to Debra's story. It would be very admirable of a woman on a schoolteacher's salary to save $70,000 to invest, but surely someone with that sort of discapline would know better than to put all her eggs in one basket and directly invest in one corporation's bonds. Something tells me she, and perhaps her husband, aren't quite as "mainstreet America" as this report lets on.

If she bought into GM bonds when she thought the proposition was low-risk, that doesn't answer the question of why she didn't she sell her bonds when it became obvious the company was becoming unstable.

Nevertheless, I feel for her, as I lost a smaller bit of money investing in GM, too, but I have the objectivity to realize that I assume that my bad investments are my own fault, and certainly not the fault of the sitting president. In fact, if it wasn't for the Obama administration's assistance, GM would have gone bankrupt and lost this woman's money a little sooner!

June, when she's over her misplaced anger, needs to learn basic investing guidelines. Stocks are owning a piece of a company. Bonds are making a loan to a company in exchange for interest. Either way, the underlying strength of the company is in play. And therein lies risk. GM?.. strength?.. even 6 years ago while Toyota and Honda were eating their lunch? As so many others pointed out, risk is managed by diversification and also one thing I didn't see mentioned – dollar cost averaging. Don't put all you have into 1 thing and don't invest in anything all at 1 time. It's your responsibility to manage your money. Fail that and it's no one's fault but your own. Gary, reread the Comment Policy.

Get used to it America.........You'll take what Obama gives you and you'll like it.......remember, this is how the left "fixes" problems – nobody gets more, they just take away from those who have anything so that everyone has nothing.....equality, liberal style

Your mistake was that you small enough to fail. Everyone knows that only the pigs on Wall St who steal from the people get bailed out.
How stupid all these comments are about being aware of the risks involved with the market. AIG, Citgroup, the others knew about the risks too. Except they knew one thing that you did not. The government would bail them out!

Bad things can happen to investments. It's not a 100% win proposition. Period. That's the whole point of having a diversified investment portfolio, to mitigate those risks. To put all your 75000 eggs in one basket is foolhardy to say the least.

I appreciate the differentiation about stocks and bonds, but when you're talking bankruptcy it's a whole new ballgame. The judge has the final say on all contracts no matter what – yes? I'm not a bankruptcy lawyer, but it sounds like nothing is taken off the table. But I can see the point of the union getting the priority over bondholders. Still, at the end of the day, GM has been sick for a LONG time.

RISK, that is what we all are taking. Unless her original investment was 70,00 dollars, she has not lost 70,000 dollars.

Don't blame Obama for GM's demise. Blame GM Managment, GM workers, UAW etc. But Obama is not responsible. By the way, what kind of fool would invest in GM anyways? They haven't made any decent cars since... umm... 1960s?

This is ridiculous. For all of you saying it was a bad investment, keep in mind that they *changed the rules* when the Gov't negotiated the bankruptcy terms. If this had been a normal bankruptcy then her investment would have taken a far less (if any) hit because she (and other bond holders) would have gotten first dibs. But that was taken away from them WITHOUT THEIR INPUT OR CONSENT!!!! It's the equivalent if you had lent someone money and then were told by someone else that the party you lent to didn't have to give it back but rather they could give something far less valuable back instead. And you had no choice but to take it.

Bonds vs stock... learn about them before posting here please.

GM bonds haven't been investment grade for a while, have they? Did she think the government would make her whole?

Oh, please – let the stupid get what they deserve.

Your money went to overpaid union employees and their retirees. UAW did this to you.

The choice here was simple.

1 of two things could have happend. Either

1) GM bondholders get all of GMs assets and LITERALLY MILLIONS of people lose their jobs, THEIR PENSION BASED retirements, and the bondholders get more but not full and everybody else gets pennies on the dollar. The company is forced to sell is real assetts in order to pay the bondholders. That means selling the very facilities and equipment that makes their product. Basically a few people keep lots of money and everybody else gets totally shafted.

Or

2) The major debt holders are given a stake in the new company, the company sheds half the jobs it otherwise would have, keeps its property (you know the things it uses to make its product), and a larger number of people are happy.

It hurts, but occassionally goverment really does have to be utilitarian about things and do what is best for the most people. The other option is an aristocracy that lives in fear of its neighbors.

Investing in GM 6 years ago was foolish for anyone. Their stock had been falling for around 4 years at that point and was going to continue to do so because of rising oil costs while they were still building gas guzzling crap.

And as a teacher on a limited income, why would you put $70,000 in one investment? That's incredibly foolish.

I'm tired of the media glorifying and seeking empathy for individuals that have made bad financial decisions like it wasn't their fault. Granted, we all need better financial education as a society but to exonerate people for making bad investments will not improve anything.

So we are supposed to feel sorry for this "regular person" who lost $70k by investing in GM bonds. Um, I'm a regular person too, and I don't have $70K to invest in bonds or anything else, and I'm guessing most other "regular people" don't either. How is it that a teacher manages to have that much money to invest in anything? I mean, they're always complaining about how they don't get paid enough, that they're just scraping by, yet she has $70k to invest, and because she "assumed" GM was safe, we're supposed to feel sorry for her?

For those of you out there that say "it's a risk you took and it didn't pay off" get a clue. This goes beyond unserstood risk. What happened behind closed doors was near criminal. To strike a deal with the same leadership that got GM in this mess in the first place was irresponsible.

I voted for Obama...and I regret it. He is no different than any OTHER politician...just speaks better than most. He is striking deals left and right with OUR money...DO YOU GET THAT? OUR MONEY!

I mean...how can anyone offer so much money to a poorly run company AND let those same leaders in that company keep their flippin jobs...Obama is probably more guilty of "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine". He WILL NOT be re-elected...he has burned too many bridges with common voters like me and he will not get my vote again...PERIOD!

I say let these companies fail...this is America...where free enterprise and capitalism have helped us grow from the beginning. It is rediculous that GM will get 30B more dollars while openly stating they will get rid of 20K jobs...what's the point of the money? They're in bankruptcy...so they plan on hoarding the cash...paying the big investors...what? There is no oversight by Obama's cronies...and as long as there isn't...his raping us of our tax dollars will continue...we'll never see it back for better use (i.e. teacher salaries, healthcare for children, disaster relief...etc).

I have to agree with the rest of the postings. Your bonds are not guaranteed. You made an investment and there are risks associated with that. Whether you are in a bond or a stock, there are risks. While no one wants to see people lose money like that … it happens. It is the market. GM bondholders unite? What about “I held stocks between 2007-2009 unite”? “I owned a home between 2006-2009 unite” … give me a break? I’m sorry, why would YOU have say again in how they proceed?

To all the posters talking about bonds as "secure" investments. S&P rated GM bonds as BBB in 2002 when Ms. June made her purchase. These bonds were not investment grade when she made her purchase. This was a classic ill-informed investment.

If you are not sure about your investment decisions, seek professional help.

All of you idiots are saying she took the risk and now has to pay. Well that is what should happen but once the government used taxpayer money to bail out some people and not others equally it is wrong. All debt holders should have been given the same money per dollar owed. 60%/1$ for unions and .002%/1$ regular investors is wrong. Especially since I and everyone else is paying. If you want to be capitalist then let thing fail that are run poorly. Yes, unions are the death of capitalism. Long live Obama and his socialistic society.

It is the fault of not only the shareholders like this that expected to get 6,8, or 10% return every year on their investments, but also the unions that demanded outrageous pay and benefits that have forced Detroit to cut costs by producing inferior products that can not compete with foreign markets. Sorry for your luck, but finally after 42 years I wised up and sold my Trailblazer for a RAV 4 and couldn't be happier... My Silverado is next...

too many jumped on these bonds thinking it was a firm 6-7% annual return for ever!......yes initially they were getting that....but how can they realize that a company with a bad business model like GM's which for the last ten years has been loosing money....could ever sustain that type of return......bonds are LOW risk perhaps....but not without risk.....

did they ever read the GM perspectus showing these operating losses......where have they been the last two years?????? Again.....proper split between bonds/stocks etc...always pays off.......

I am so tired of us as a country looking for another handout! If you can't afford to lose it, don't invest it! I worry about what you are teaching the children you teach – just cry till the government gives you money? i am embarassed to say you are from my country. stop acting like you are stupid, go to work and save your money!!!

Those of you attacking this lady should learn the meaning of "bond" first.

I personally make it a point not to buy stocks of poorly run companies that make inferior products, but that's just me.

You people are unbelievable and unfortunately, quite ignorant. You don't feel sorry for her? The stock marekt is a dangerouse place? Do you even know what the stock marekt it?

"She feels entiteled?" – well under the rule of law, she is. She wasn't in the stock market, that would be equity. She was in the bond market, which is debt, secured debt at that. Bond holders accept a lower rate of return in exchange for collaterl.

If a company doesn't service their debt they go bankrupt and the debt holders are entitled to the proceeds of the dissolution of that company's assets.

But along comes are new Marxist-like regime and the rule of law no longer applys. Votes are more important than law and a favored voting group as in the UAW gets far more consideration when normal people who have a legal right that is getting trampled. Wake up people.

We've all made bad decisions. You made a $70,000 investment a few years ago and it went sour...deal with it. If every investment decision resulted in a gain, well, we'd all be rich. It doesn't always work out the way we want it – stop complaining.

No sympathy at all. You invest in things like this there are risks! I am sorry that she lost money but that is what happens. She should have invested in Toyota. GM should have changed their business model decades ago!

Let's not forget that bond holders are investors making a loan to a corporation with the understanding that they would be treated as lenders in accordance to the law. It's not right and probably unconstitutional to change the rules and bankrupcy laws for GM. If you can change the laws in midstream, no one will buy corporate bonds.

Don't confuse stockholders with bondholders. Stockholders and speculators. Bondholders are lenders. Under our laws, lenders are protected by the bankrupcy laws.

This woman is an idiot. Why one would be so highly leveraged in one company is beyond me? Why don't you find someone to sue? That makes sense.

I lost $1k in Vegas playing Poker and Blackjack. Gov't please bail me out.

I lost $100k in my 401k portfolio YTD 09'. Gov't please bail me out.

I lost $50 in a friendly poker tournament last month. Gov't please bail me out.

I lost $100k on paper for my $550k house purchase from late 07'. Gov't please bail me out.

I lost $650 on a wind storm that damaged my house siding. Gov't please bail me out.

I lost $20 at a raffle and did not get a prize. Gov't please bail me out.

COMEON AMERICA, ARE A GOOD NUMBER OF YOU JUST GOING TO SIT BACK AND DEMAND ENTITLEMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR YOUR DIRECTED MISFORTUNES? SHARPEN UP, RESEARCH, LEARN AND DICTATE YOUR OWN PATH. UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION AND THE RULES BEFORE ACTING. THEN, BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FATE OF YOUR DECISIONS. WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR IS NOT PITTY, IT IS FOR US TO REALIZE THAT YOU ARE LAZY AND CANNOT EFFECTIVELY MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOURSELF AND LIVE WITH THE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR YOUR ACTIONS. I AM NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT "JUNE" HERE.

GO USA!

You are not the only person in history to make a terrible investment. Please learn your lesson, be wise in the future, and try to teach (since you are a teacher) people to diversify their portfolios. That is the safest and wisest decision anyone at any age can make. You deserve no recompense, only because if this investment would have proven lucrative, you would not be writing a check to GM thanking them for your profitability. So why should anyone write you a check. The same should apply to the US gov, they should not be writing checks to failed corporations. I, a taxpayer, do not want to invest in this company.

Just curious, What brand of car does she drive?

I feel for her loses of money. I made poor investments a few years ago and watching your hard earned money disappear in a poorly run company truly hurts. When I made poor investments, I was upset at the people running the company. Executives continued receiving huge bonuses, salaries, and flew around in corporate jets while the company was clearly being run terribly.

After that experience, I vowed to never trust someone else's investment advice and instead due my own research.

I don't understand why she's even mentioning Michelle Obama. Let's see, whether the government stepped in or not, GM was going into bankruptcy. If the government stayed on the side, the rest of the auto makers would steal 90% of GMs market while the bankruptcy drags on for years in courts.

GM needs to get this bankruptcy resolved or the few assets will decrease in value VERY quickly. No one would buy a GM car if they were going to be in bankruptcy courts for 1-2 years. No one would buy the GM, Hummer, Saturn, etc brands near today's value if bankruptcy courts would last 1-2 years.

Sorry for your loss. Speaking from my previous losses, anger and pain tend to blur the view of the best path forward.

When you invest money you take the risk that you will lose part, or all of your investment. Nothing is permanent, no banking institution or business or nation.

You took a chance.

You lost.

Don't take chances with money you cannot afford to lose.

At least you learned a $70,000 lesson, not a $60,000,000,000 lesson like the taxpayers are about to learn.

Thanks UAW! You bastards...

since when did investing become a sure thing?
has it happened since i've lost my money in the stock market?! can someone please direct me to the government bailout department for the sore losers in investments?!

For her to blame Michelle Obama for her speculating in the stock market when the Obama's wasn't even in the White House when she did this was out of line. She took Michelle's comment completely out of context. So everyone is to blame except her, and her poor choice not to diversify, common sense. So if she had gotten rich, and raked in the dough, no one would have ever heard from her. When you take a risk, then you have to be ready to except the consequence of your actions good or bad results. Not blame everyone else.

Matt, come on. If the company went completely belly up what would she have?

For GM bond holders this is ridiculous deal,What the sin they made and what the UAW did?? UAW gettting freely 10% of the company but people who put their hard earned money getting problems. Totally wrong. Even if they made mistake investing into the GM, still the deal is wrong it should have been given more, How come UAW gets to own the company, Those are the ones they made this into BK otherwise it wouln't have been here

Tough toots, welcome to the club.

Luke, while you got the definition of a bond correctly, you forgot to also mention what happens to debt when a company is in bankruptcy.

Creditors generally have two choices: a) sell company's remaining assets and divide proceeds among them; b) make a deal with a new investors to restructure debt in anticipation that the restructuring of the company would pay off at some point.

Option a) would not have yielded much (just look at the size of GM's obligations relative to assets) and would have killed the company. Thousands of employees (including dealers) and majority bond- and stock-holders wanted option b), which is what they got.

So what type of a plan would you have proposed?

Matt's post made alot of sense .... but would bond contracts normally be prioritized before union contracts? Or was this an example of "quick rinse" bankruptcy (e.g. not normal). Thanks.

What does the bond contract read? Is it valid in case of bankruptcy? If not then it is as risky as any other investment and
the best you can do is get in line with the rest of the creditors. It's up to the bankruptcy judge now. The government has always sided with business so whether Obama or McCain it would have been the same results.
In any case blame Congress as well as the Presidents for deregulating banking and making it so easy to commit the fraudulent investments that lead to the debacle. Out with all the incumbents that voted for deregulation in 1999 and allowed it to continue this long. While we've been blinded by terror and fear since 2001, the mob in Wall Street was robbing us blind, all the way to the oversees accounts.

I can't believe this woman is allowed to teach our children. What an idiot!

This is the risk of investment. GM was in trouble for quite a while, and if you weren't on top of it, I can only assume it is only a small hit to your portfolio. By the look of the background in your picture, it doesn't look as though you are too bad off either.
Suck it up and thank your republican friends for deregulating the markets.

"Speculate?… Risk?….. Investing in bonds of GM 6 years ago… is not speculating?… it was in theory a sound investment netting probably a low risk 6-7% yield…. this is what we define as risky greedy speculating?… Open a finance text book sometime."

That is the second dumbest thing I read today. Low risk at 6-7%? Really?

If you want the returns paid on taking risks then you have to take the losses from the risk too.

Vonnie....you are an ignorant moron.

Michelle Obama stated, " For the first time in my adult life I am proud to be an American".

So you're an idiot!! I hate idiots!

Claude Montreal is absolutely correct. One of the few intelligent comments on this thread. The rest of you make me sad for this country.

The "non sympathetic" writers must be either a big part of corporate america or finanacial market entrepreneurs which are thieves themselves anyways. Answer me this hot shots, where did the heaps of profits that the auto insustry had made over the past 70 years go? Not only did they take the profits out of the company to live their life of luxury, they then turned around and claim bankruptsy, forgiving their debts to the hardworking investor. Are you seriously trying to pass on to me that 2 years of tough times can put a business of that size belly up. I went to college too, and I'm not believing that one.
The CEO's, boardmembers and major investors should have buck up for their mistakes. I bet if you added up the major salaries of GM you could repay mom, dad, aunts, uncles and the teacher who lost out a fair sum of money. Not everything, but more than $200. But what am I saying, this email will get lost, nothing will be done, everyone will get screwed (AGAIN) because it's so hard to have your voice heard these days.

Ms. June was invested in the bond market. Some posts are confusing the stock market with the bond market.
Not the same ... a very different instrument.

Bonds have a sustained rate of interest, much less volatility, and don't normally change radically in price. You aren't going to make big bucks in the bond market but you are far less likely to lose what you've invested ... unless of course the management of the company blows it.

Ms. June's loss is not the result of heavy risk taking ... short of the municipal bond, the corporate bond has historically been safe and reliable ... unlike the stock market.

All of us who have invested in safer instruments than equities, are quivering, wondering if we, too, will get shafted. Like her we've done the prudent thing, reducing risk in favor of a smaller but steady return.

What is wrong here is that the national government and all it's wings have failed to see the red lights flashing. I recognized them by about 1985 when mortgages began to be "creative". But a lot of people were pocketing a mess of money for the blind eye.

I grieve for Ms. June. There is no way to make up for this.

Thanks to some of you for my morning laughs. Quite a few people making comments are obviously uneducated or have a mininum of exposure or experience with this matter. I think I even read 3 or 4 comments mentioning this example as the "stock market". Come on, people, there is more than one market. Stocks are stocks, bonds are bonds, and I guess the uninformed are the uninformed. LOL.

Just to point out, the whole deal with GM is not the government breaking their deal with GM bondholders.

Sorry Charlie, but GM went bankrupt. No one has to make your bonds good. The bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the GM company, which after the bankruptcy no longer exists.

What's happening is GM goes to bankruptcy, the government buys the corpse and creates a new company. If anyone else wants to put a competitive bid for the corpse, they are welcome to it. Since GM has more debts then it has assets, and most of those assets are have a very questionable value (commercial real estate in Detroit and other scenic rust belt locations), the bondholders don't really have much of a case that they are getting screwed.

GM was a sure bet.....a sure bet to go under.

Seriously, why on Earth would you invest in a company that loses $$$$ Billions $$$$ every year and think it was a safe bet? And after the writing is on the wall, you still decide to ride the Titanic into the sea thinking its going to surface? Well its gone under now and you're asking for help. Sorry lady, you mad a bad, bad investment and all the lifeboats are full at this point.

I understand that bonds are different that stocks, but when the company is going down the crapper and you are offered a deal, you take the deal!! You don't say "I don't like the deal, I'm going to hold out for a better one" (as the news is reporting ALL usa car manufacturers are going down and are going to be filing banckruptcy in the near future). You made a bet, you put all your eggs into one basket, and you lost. Sorry, you lost a lot of money, but that was your doing.

Bonds for publicly traded companies are not guaranteed to make money and are not risk free. Anyone who states that on this string is ignorant of the facts. NO INVESTMENT IS GUARANTEED unless it is in a federally insured account (ie savings account, CD, govt bond)

Also to the guy who said Sec Geitner is in China trying to get them to buy US bonds "they don't want"... where do you get your news the Drudge report? What a joke!

I am amazed at how many comments condemn this woman for playing the "stock market". She didn't own GM STOCK, she owned BONDS!!! There is a HUGE difference! The number of people on this message board that don't know the difference between stocks and bonds is astonishing. With that kind of ignorance on display, it is no wonder so many people in this country make horrible financial decisions.

The bleeding heart liberal inside me was just killed by the financially conservitive. If you invest you take a risk, even with a savings or checking account (hence FDIC).

We (the american people) own GM, and it will more than likely be run into the ground by politics. And much like Debra June, we have all been shafted out of cash, because the bailout money no longer needs to be paid off.

Posters, please learn the difference between stocks and bonds before using this public forum to flaunt your ignorance.

A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals. A bond is nothing more than a loan to a company. Bonds are usually considered a safe and conservative investment vehicle.

A share of stock means a share of ownership in a corporation. Shares are traded on the stock market and can be volatile and carry significant risk.

No one is commenting on the MASSIVE investment and insurance companies that made horrible derivative investments – and got BAILED OUT by taxpayers. Along come small fry "investors" to get crushed, have normal laws inverted, ............ These are bonds, not stocks and are not being treated by normal bankruptcy procedures. It is true that very basic investment advice was not followed here – diversify. But the consequences for the individual, especially when compared to the elimination of "moral hazard" for the huge players is unconscionable.

Funny how so many people agree with what she said but as soon as you mention Michelle or Barack Obama then she might as well be thrown to the wolves. What mindless sheep you people are. If everyone feels she deserved to lose this money or it was all her fault than everyone one of you should also be against every bank and corp. bailout. Hypocrites.

JEEEEEEEZ!

98% of the people on this board are financially DUMBED DOWN.

LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BONDS and STOCKS.

Analogy: You have a money market account. You invest half in stock market, leave half with the brokerage to earn modest interest.

Stock market: You lose or win as the stock goes down or up.
MM Account: You get a steady x% interest.

Now imagine, one day Obama comes in to the troubled brokerage. Suddenly, with no negotiations, takes over the brokerage. You have a right to your account and maybe even modest interest. Obama says NO, and takes all of your money.

THAT is what has happened to this poor woman and many others!

IT IS NOT ABOUT STOCKS!

JEEEEEEZ!

Reading the comments above in regards to June STATING her case is admirable. All of you people who left negative comments should be ashamed of yourselves. You should be glad that a common person had the chance to be heard on a major network station. This is not the time to be negative and breed hatred. Yes times are rough out there but I feel that all major corporations including, banks, credit card companies, automotive companies OPEC, and yes THE US GOVERNMENT have had a hand in this recession. No one is clean. I guess they have never heard of preventative maintenance. June I hope you resolve your issues with GM. Good Luck

geezus – the lack of knowledge of what a stock is as compared to a bond, and the lack of understanding of how our president is well out of his constitutional role is just astounding... I pray for our country and I pray for each of you that you are not the next one to get trampled in the chase for votes.

-signed – the educated

Sorry, Vonnie. You're are the one that is incorrect concerning Michelle Obama's comment. If you pull up the YouTube that shows Michelle Obama's speech, she does indeed say that she has never been proud of American during her adult life.

The following was posted earlier:

Wow- to the people who say- “she knew the risks of speculating”; “the Stock Market is a dangerous place”. HELLO!!!!!!! These are people who invested in BONDS; FIXED INCOME; LOW RISK INVESETMENTS: – NOT THE VOLITLE RISK TAKING STOCK MARKET!!

These BONDHOLDERS were GIVEN NO CHOICE but to bend over and that it in the rear! They were offered WORTHLESS STOCK for their FIXED BOND INVESTMENTS.

If we are now going to say there is NO DIFFERENCE in investing in high rated BONDS than in speculative stock- then our nations entire capital investment market is WORTHLESS!

My Response:

I will not critique your grammar or inability to spell; this is not the forum. However, I will critique your lack of understanding of fixed income investing: bonds are not "low risk" by nature, their risk varies on a scale (for illustrative purposes) from junk, to speculative, to investment grade. GM has seen its market share progressively and steeply decline over the past TWO DECADES. Further, the company has posted massive losses for the past FOUR YEARS; losses that have cumulatively exceeded 80 BILLION US DOLLARS.

Additionally, bondholders had plenety of choice: they chose to invest in a degrading company, and they chose not to sell the bonds of a company whose worth had been progressively worsening with each year for the past two decades.

As an investor, Mrs. June should be aware of the risk of any investment vehicle in which she places her monies. Further, she should have enough common sense to work to understand the underlying fundamentals of the company within which she chooses to invest.

She invested in a market-traded instrument that she could have traded – that is, one that she COULD HAVE SOLD AT ANY POINT – when she realized, OVER THE YEARS SHE OWNED THE BONDS, that the company: had a credit rating that has been progressively cut, was losing market share, money, and had no profit for years, was growing its debt, having a progressively harder time funding its working capital, and, overall, was poorly managed.

How many of you would invest a large portion of their money in a company with the aformentioned traits?

Mrs. June should face the reality; she made a poor investment choice, chose GM solely by its name, and FAILED, I repeat, FAILED to understand the risks explicit when investing. It is always the same in this country: blame somone else, blame a politician, blame a broker when the blame should really come from one's own finger pointed at one's own face.

WOW! You people really are dumb. Most of you on here could really be on the "Jaywalking All stars". I mean you are probably a product of the no-child left behind philosophy. Look up what "bonds" are. Then post. As most of you don't even know what the S&P 500 are or what the stock market is. Nowhere in the article does it state it was her life savings, it was just one of her investments. i am sure she was diversified, but yes this should have been a low risk investment, that is backed by a companies' assests. She loaned them money, not bought stock and hoped the company would perform well. If you bought goverment bonds and then the government said hey we can't pay out we really need your money, so tough luck, how'd you feel. This is no different. This creates a lot of uncertainty for one of the safest bets out there. Now noone will want to buy bonds. Let alone the 20,000 people that are getting laid off. Guess what happens when the bank loans you money and you go belly-up....the liquidate all of your assets and use that money to pay off the debt you acquired. How nice would it be if the government stepped in and said no, you don't have to liquidate and pay back that money. The banks would stop lending in a heart beat. For the people...you people are sick on the cool-aid.

A lot of interesting comments, but one significant fact forgotten by those who think the government is ripping off the bondholders. The Government is the single biggest creditor to GM, and is expected to sink another US$30B into the company to keep it going until it emerges from Bankruptcy. Therefore, it is protecting its interests and those of the taxpayors as a whole, not a select few that invested in GM in taking the 60% stake. On the other hand, they could just as easily not put any money into the company, and the company declare bankruptcy, and complately liquidate to pay off bondholder (at what would likely be less than 10 cents on the dollar). Doing this would not have satisfied bond holders any more than the current deal, and would have left 10's of thousands of workers out of jobs, and likely prolonged the recession for many more months. Bottom line – the path they took is not the most optimal outcome, but due to years of mismanagement, may have been the only one.

I feel for her, $70,000 is a lot of money, however, as a school teacher she probably has a healthy pension, financed by taxpayers, to fall back on. As a private business person, I invested in 401ks at the advice of "financial professionals" and lost more in value that she did, and that is the basis for my retirement.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of people in all walks of life that feel that they have been screwed by the financial industry due to the economy. Everbbody is at fault, but nobody is at fault. It sucks for everybody.

Thank you for your post Mick.... everytime I read the post of a foaming-at-the-mouth rightwinger, I am reminded of the "a little learning is a dangerous thing" adage.

She made a choice to invest. She expected benefits in return for her investment. She also should have understood, even though the phrase "low-risk" was applied, that she could lose her investment. That's the nature of business. All businesses run the risk of closing down.

Geez. People. What's with all the bashing the victim?

What's happened here is that Obama has, simply, changed the rules. With a wave of his hand. The rules and regulations on which all investors rely, apparently, under Obama, can change. Momentarily. Without warning. Without reason. Without compensation.

All of us (in the U.S.) have learned to look left/right/left when crossing the street, based on the rules that we expect everyone to follow. You think if Obama just willy nilly decides to reverse the flow of traffic there will not be mayhem and destruction? And whose fault will it be? The driver? The pedestrian? Or perhaps the madman that changed the rules willy nilly?

Suppose Ms. June got raped on the beach in broad daylight, in view of police who stood by because their boss told them, for the next few days, let's not enforce the rape laws. You'd say it was her fault for wearing a bikini?

I think, perhaps, if it was your $70,000, you might feel differently.

While it looks like this lady made some foolish mistakes in how she invested I think people are missing the point. Look at your 401K investment options, a fund that is invested in stocks, equities etc are higher risk and pay more return (usually) but are more volatile. Investing in Bonds or Bond funds, government or corporate generally pay lower rates of return but are supposed to be more safe (they are based on company assets not a companies annual profit performance. The US govenrment stepped in and changed the rules after everyone put there money in the game. If anyone has any money invested in Mutual Funds I would be very worried about the precedent this sets even if you are diversified. I don't mind taking a risk with my money but how can you make a decision based on risk tolerance if the rules can be so easily altered after the fact.

When executives are getting paid excessively (ie: 200 times their employee wage average) and have golden parachutes valued at millions; they don't care about their companies, employees, bondholders, or stockholders long-term future.

When unions forget that the end-product must be compressively priced or people won't buy it; they don't care about their companies, employees, bondholders, or stockholders long-term future.

When the government makes it advantageous to buy/sell stocks & bonds every 10 minutes by day traders; they don't care about the long-term future either.

GM, Chrysler, Ford have had problems with "bang for the buck" since the early 1970s. They did not learn from the gas crisis in '79-80 and instead built Hummers and other gas hogs. Their

Toyota, Honda, Kia, etc., have happily watched the US auto industry destroy itself while they were successfully build plants/cars within the USA.

In the past 10 years how many of your friends & family invested in GM cars? You should base your investment choices on your knowledge of real market conditions, etc., not "hopes" presented by some broker who only wants a commission.

The US auto industry has been in a downhill slide for a long time. The GM management knew this and continued to prefer to build unreliable gas hogs without a long-term future.

Ask yourself: why did you invest for long-term gains with a short sighted company?

I lost some too but I diversified as best I could ... remember don't bet if you can't afford to loose

I believe we have alot of uneducated comments on this post. Understanding the difference between Bonds and Common Stock is pretty elementary or so you would expect. The majority of uneducated comments on this post show why this Country is heading down a path I am not sure we can reverse. The Gov't is rewriting the bankruptcy laws as they go and the majority of Americans are blind to what is happening. It is easy to direct the uneducated as they know not what is right from wrong. Hello socialism here we come.

Stupid Piece of Journalism. It is her mistake. CNN just needs some sensationalism. In capitalistic country no one forces you to invest and you are responsible for your acts. You made bad choice. Doesn't matter if you are school teacher, ceo or anything. Out of context to bring Michelle obama too. Wierd news!!!!!!!!!

Is anyone paying attention to this? She invested in BONDS, not stocks. Bonds typically yield a lower rate and are lower risk. As someone said below, "she should have been guaranteed a modest return on her investment." She was going for lower risk. The US Government changed the rules basically took the money. They took it from everyone on this email. Even those of you that are bashing this lady. Don't you understand that? it's like the government is shaking your hand and with the other they are reaching into your wallet and taking whatever they want, and then sharing that but not with you – only those that elected them.

It's simple...whoever invested in GM, whether bonds or equity, should just face reality that they made a bad investment..that is just the way it goes...some win, some lose. It's capitalism..

Move on & try to be a better & wiser investor in the future.....

Why are so many of you so hateful....even the person that "hates the haters"...you people are very mean hearted...Like so many others this person is losing a large sum of money and all you people can say is too bad..wise up...dont be a cry baby....How about the fact that in a bankruptcy her investment is paid back first...not last...it's her legal position and she is much better off if the company just bankrupted....as it is now she has been over-ridden by the government and barely gets anything...thats why you buy the bonds and not common stock you dumb a**'s...but the President is making new rules and this lady would be very unpatriotic if she disagrees....
maybe we should hang her for treason.....

Definition of a Bond Holder
The owner of a bond. In addition to receiving regular interest payments and the return of principal, bondholders are given precedence over stockholders in case of asset liquidation.

From Wikipedia:
Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that stockholders have an equity stake in the company (i.e., they are owners), whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company (i.e., they are lenders). Another difference is that bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed, whereas stocks may be outstanding indefinitely. An exception is a consol bond, which is a perpetuity (i.e., bond with no maturity).

In simple terms, this lady did not buy stock, she lent money to GM, and this loan like any loan requires collateral which in this case is the company’s assets. What OBAMA did was to release the company from its legal obligation to this woman and others. Something no president has any legal right to do.

The fact is the current administration is doing the same thing they accused the Bush administration of doing.

And by the way, Obama may have backed it, but I wish the American people would realize that it is the legislative branch that makes these things happoe3n not the executive. The legislative and the Judicial Branches of our government are out of control and have been for some time, However they are good at the game and keep whatever sitting president on the hot seat and in the public eye.

Please think before you vote next time and if they are incumbent regardless of party vote for the other person, which is the only way you will see any real change.

This flagrant abuse of the law by the Obama administration must be stopped. We've got to get back to the days of due process by George W. and Cheney we enjoyed over the past eight years.....

A school teacher by definition is a small investor who should have been warned not to put so much money in one corporate bond issue. We have owned corporate bonds for years but mostly in bond funds. Individual bonds we have or currently own are government backed municipal bonds etc. Even when New York city filed for bankruptcy, they never missed a bond payment.

Putting all your eggs in one basket is one way to ruin your portfolio and lose your life savings. The higher the yield, the higher the risk.

She should have asked herself 6 years ago, " why are these bonds paying such a high interest rate?" and why does S&P rate them as "Junk"?

http://www.RolloverCenter.com

You invested $70k in bonds from ONE company. If you had a $700k bond portfolio that might be appropriate. As it stands, you made a terrible decision. Live with it.

Weren't the bondholders the same group that were critical of Rick Wagoner for getting into the Chinese market (the only good decision he made) ? Regarding the bondholders not getting first dibs on what was left (which is NOTHING by the way), it's not uncommon for presidents to use their executive power in matters like this. Like Reagan firing traffic controllers in the early eighties, or Nixon putting wage freezes in place in the early seventies.

Who would put their entire nest egg into one stock/bond/etc? I feel badly for her loss as well as anyone's loss in today's economy, but in my opinion, she is the one responsible for her current situation.

All too often people make poor investing decisions. This is another case.

Lessons learned (i hope):
- do your due diligence before investing
- diversify
- don't complain or shift blame for your losses

GM is another example of Obama's Chicago style strong-arm tactics. He learned very well there in the "cradle of Acorn, Alinsky, Ayers" how to do business. "Never let a crisis go to waste" school of business.

GM is another notch on his belt now. What is next? Perhaps the coal industry which he has already said he would bankrupt.

He is a scary guy with a plan, and his supporters better wakeup before we're all slaves to the Federal Government and all our rights are usurped.

Yes, I wonder too if Michelle is now especially proud.

There's a huge difference between normal investment risk and the government coming in and dictating the course of action a company must take.
Also, anyone who thinks the government can run GM efficiently is crazy. That's like putting a sumo wrestler in charge of the weight loss support group. Good grief.

I think her point about Michelle Obama is that the Obamas rode to the White House on the hard working backs of Progressives, minorities and average folk who busted their asses for someone who said he would work for the people - and instead he's turned out to be just another stooge for the corporations. She's right, there is not much to be proud about about in the U.S. government as currently constituted, even less so as it tosses the Constitution into the shredder (again) in order to semi-nationalize GM. There isn't much for the Obamas to be proud about either. Some constitutional law professor he turned out to be. Those Chicago students should demand their tuition back.

If you were going to buy bonds (not stock folks, she didnt buy stock) in automotive, maybe Ford would have been a better bet. Better run car company, not bloated like GM, with some experience.

Ford faced the music a while ago and went "all in" (including mortgaging everything including the Ford logo) and decided to invest in the future. They also did not sell off thier financing arm (GMAC) for a quick profit to prop up thier dying car company. They are not drinking from the Federal trough.

The reason I bring this up is that doing a little bit of research would have saved you a lot of tears now. And believe me, I truly am sorry for your loss. Bonds are supposed to be a solid investment, but the Feds are cutting off the branches to save the tree.

Oh yeah, I'll join the "pile on June" and mention diversity. Eggs...basket...you know.

You people are so ignorant its funny! First of all she has a responsibilty as an investor to know where she is putting her money. However, I think her main complaint is that everyone else is getting bailed out, but the private citizens that put money into GM!
The Unions that completely ran GM into the ground are getting bailed out yet again! With my f'ing money! yet the bond holders have to take it in the butt while these morons get bailed out! Its complete BS. Obama is a tool and he catered to the Unions...totally expected! His administration should have just let the whole thing go in the tank...not picked sides...but what do you expect from a big eared, ugly ass partisan!

Not fair? Lady...you invested money in highly competitive industry... You kept your money in too late...you lose. Sorry.

Risk is one thing. Having the government steal your money is quite another. This makes high taxes look like no big deal.

Why would you put so much of your investment into one thing? Not very smart and now you're going to pay for it.

All I can say is I hope June is not teaching kids her own beliefs of entitlement and blame for her mistakes. She made a bad investment, that's it. GM has been failing since the 1970's, but I guess this teacher didn't study up before making this investment. It's terrible that so many people are loosing money, but this company failed. The investment went bad. Where did she think the cash was coming from to pay her bond? Sorry June, you are just clueless.

The only person she should be furious with is herself.

BOND_LameBond stated BONDS ARE LOW RISK... exactly but they are still a risk. I agree that Obum-a is turning this country into a socialist country, but she should have known it was a risk whether high risk or low risk it is still a risk. What no one seems to realize is that it is the union's fault they are in this condition to begin with. Thanks to the UAW the guy sweeping the floor was making $35 an hour. So now we give controlling intrest to the group responsible for taking down the company. Brilliant!!! Get rid of the unions and pay people reasonable wages and US car makers will flourish. Toyota has no unions and they are profitable. Lets take a lesson from our Japanese friends and bring that capital back to this country.

I am shocked that CNN is portraying this story as highway robbery to GM's stakeholders (both debt and equity). The fact is, this investor did not look closely enough 6 years ago into the Company's horrible balance sheet situation (pension liabilities, billions more in debt), and didn't realize there was a possibility that both the equity AND the debt were very risky (and perhaps lousy) investments into GM.

In a bankruptcy situation, when enterprise value is less than debt outstanding, the bondholders lose. She deserved to lose this investment, this was not an unfair situation.

Many, many, people share your pain, especially those losing their jobs their homes their livlihood, and their investment stakes in America. The unknown is yet to come I fear.

It is obvious there is great dearth of financial market knowledge (including bankrupcty law) in this country among its citizens. Knowing that, the government will be able to get away with anything.

It appears that most folks don't realize that the Obama administration has really sweetened the deal here for the UAW at the cost of the bondholders, like they did for Chrysler. Quid pro quo, I suspect. If the UAW would build American cars for a fare wage/benefits, then the "American" auto industry wouldn't be bankrupt-

Hard to sympathize with someone who invests in corporate bonds. They are risky by nature and when you purchase them you automatically incur that risk. This should serve as a lesson to others...safeguard your nest egg with a little more common sense.

There are some really uninformed posters on this subject that appear to know nothing on this subject. The problem with the government driving this and any other private business activity is that the government changes the rules. The law says that bondholders come before any other groups in the pecking of bankruptcy (secured bondholders first, then unsecured, etc.). That factors in to an investors decision process in choosing stocks vs bonds or other investments. But with Chrysler and GM, the Obama administration decided to ignore bankruptcy law, change the rules screwing people like M. June who relied on them in making decisions, and craft special deals where the union comes before bondholders and stockholders. That's unprecedented and will have profoundly negative effects on the US in the future. It's complex, but I strongly encourage people to see through populist rhetoric when considering teh future of our country.

Mick, your wrong-sided arrogance is an example of why you left winged nuts won't be in power as long as you think. Please take the time to learn what a common stock is and a bond. Also, the difference in the two. Obama is screwing the bond holders in this deal... like it or not.

That's the a way a communist are working, ripp off people with money and assets. Hopefully bankruptcy judge will throw away this deal into junk.

Here's my follow-up comment, and then au revoir...

First: the security so many readers feel they'd have because they bought a bond instead of a stock is almost totally illusory, Finance 101 notwithstanding. In north of 90% of bankruptcies of publicly held companies, the stockholders get zilch and the bond holders get close to zilch. That looks like it'll be the GM story. All those yokels who think they'd be in good shape because they bought bonds can go buy Enron's, WorldCom's, Czarist Russia's, Mussolini's, the last seven defaulted issues of Peru, Brazil, Rapid-American, Germany, etc., etc., etc. ALL of Mike Milken's Drexel Burnham underwritings collapsed, and they were ALL bonds. Duh-h-h-h!

Second, a good thing about buying most securities, CERTAINLY INCLUDING THE GM BONDS, is their liquidity: you can find out every day what you could have sold them for, and in fact their price declined very slowly (but inexorably) for years. To sit year in and year out watching them go from 100 to 95 to 80 to 78 1/2, etc., etc. until FINALLY they collapse, choosing to never at least diversify away with some of the money, and then to assert your victimhood, is just plain stupid.

This is truly a shame. What Obama is doing with these reorganizations is awful. This is just an excuse for liberals to take over private enterprize all in the name of "fixing" the economy. Meanwhile, the Democrats are piling on the debt at a time when the average american family is cutting back and getting back to living within their means. Go ahead – this is a surefire way to lose in 2010 and 2012. The GOP will be back in power before you know it!

I love the response from people that don't understand the stock market. Bonds are suppose to be the least risky investment that is why you get such a low return on your investment. Obama should be ashamed of himself. He is running the country like a socialist govenment and appears to not have any appreciation of a democratic society. He is basically taking our money and giving it to his friends. For the bond holders it would have been better for them to liquidate under Chapter 7 and let the bond holders get what they can get. There is no possible way GM would ever be able to pay back this debt. So what happens 4 or 5 years from now when they are still not able to service the debt to the US?

Please try to pull more blame for this into Obama's lap.

Your stupid shows more and more each day and it's only a matter of time until you have lost SO much dignity and respect in this country of progress that you and your "party of morals" (which in all actuality started this snowball) will be wiped out for good.

So please do keep trying to fling the mud and grasp at those straws.
From this view it's quite entertaining.

Obviously, there's always more than one side to every story. As regards this one, this is exactly why GM should have gone through bankruptcy in the first place, before getting bailout money, so that they could restructure & possibly save some of the value of their company. But instead, as Washington is want to do, it's all done backwards. We throw billions & now their still where they should have been in the first place. I do feel for this teacher losing all her money, but this is always a chancey thing. If GM would have been booming & her money would have tripled, she'd be thrilled. Any time we buy stock we buy it with the hope to make money, but we have to be realistic & realize this is 50/50.

It takes two to make a deal: a corrupt, bloated corporation and a stupid investor............................we have a deal.

I'm sorry for your loss but you broke the first rule for investing: DIVERSIFY. So, quit bitching, lick your financial wounds, don't blame the government and look in the mirror to learn something.

It's not the government, it's not even the corporations: If we AMERICANS stop being so stupid with our money and our votes we can have a different country.

Thank you BOND_lamebond. I think there are very few of us on this blog that understands the difference in bonds versus stock speculation. This country is going to hell in the proverbial "hand-basket" and nobody sems to care, or are too stupid to realize it. The little snowball at the top of the mountain is moving full speed ahead towards every city and town in this country. Better get all of your money out of US companies and buy a case of mason jars and a shovel.

As a former GM bond holder, I got out when the getting was ok – earlier this year, I got $.75 on the dollar and am glad I did. There are times you just have to take a loss and go on.

The people I feel sorry for are the retirees and then the GM workers. Bond holders obviously have enough money to invest. These two groups won't have enough money to live.

We've all suffered through this economic downturn, but it will come back.

Now Paul,
What's really happening here is that Obama is acting like Robin Hood trying to straighten out the mess that was made by "robbin hoods", (those would be the folks you're probably backing from what is being implied). It wasn't Obama who tore up the economy. He voted to stave off an economy-draining, false-reasoned war, that has hurt our economy when very few others would stand up. That along with trickle down economics that few have seen drips of. With ANY administration there is going to be pain to "right this ship". People like Ms June and others of us are going to feel some pain for our country's past pleasure. We are going to get a whole lot done in this country by spending future years blaming...ya think?

All of the people getting on this bondholder and others need to learn a little about the meaning of bonds and secured debt. The reason that these investments are seen as so safe is that in the event of a bankruptcy, these debts are suppsed to be first in line to be paid back. This is written very clearly into bankruptcy law and bond agreements. Should they lose some principle? Yes....but not everything. Bondholders own about 65% of the debt in a normal proceeding they would do no worse than receiving the same value of the restructured company.

This process has been completely turned on its head by the Obama administration who has chosen to pay back the UAW first, the Government 2nd and the bondholders last. This is basically exactly the opposite of how historically and contractually these things are supposed to work. I would be ticked off too. Honestly, I do not know how they are getting away with this.

I feel bad for her but everybody is getting screwed over these days. I've lost 60% value on my condo and now i'm stuck. Why the heck did she invest in an American Car company anyway? Real Estate I can understand but an American Car company?

CNN,

Where's the alternative perspective calling out:

1) She's a bondholder, not a stockholder. That means she loaned the company money as is bound by the terms therein. She doesn't get a voice in restructuring above and beyond those terms.

2) She's a middle aged woman with a masters degree who sank a (presumably) vast share of her personal wealth in an uninsured investment in a historically troubled industry. This is not a case of misrepresented risk or unconscionable investment guidance, it's a case of head-in-sand finger pointing.

I get as mad as the next guy when the average investory gets taken advantage of. Almost as mad as I get when the media stokes misperception and polarization in the name of advertising revenue/market share.

Please... She invested $70K in GM six years ago? And she though that was a good investment given how far behind US auto manufactures had fallen even back then? I'm sorry, but there is such a thing as personal responsibility for bad choices. Any investment has risk, especially a bad investment like this, and trying to blame GM or anyone else is childish. I feel for anyone who loses important retirement money, but grow up and take responsibility for making better investment decisions.

People on this comment board are having a great deal of difficulty understanding what her investment is. She did not have her 70k in the stock market. She did not buy GM stock. She bought bonds.

In buying corporate bonds, you "lend" the company money. This is considered a low risk investment because during bankruptcy, bond holders and other lenders are LEGALLY ENTITLED to get some money back. They are supposed to be able to sell off the company assets (which LEGALLY back the bonds – just like your mortgage is backed by your house, so if you fail to pay, your lender gets to take your ASSET) during bankruptcy to recoup their loss.

But when the government stepped in to handle these auto bankruptcies, it changed the rules. During the Chrysler bankruptcy, the Union got about 50 cents on the dollar for its pensions and other benefits, whereas lenders (bondholders) got only 5 cents on the dollar. LEGALLY that situation should have been reversed. There was no way for a bondholder to predict that the government was essentially going to rob them of their legal right to pursue what they are owed.

In fact, what's happening is very serious for our country. If lenders can't guarantee their priority during bankruptcy it will make it much more difficult for struggling companies to raise the money they need to keep going during difficult times.

What on God's earth does Michelle Obama has to do with this situation she is in!! Please Stop dragging names and proving your stupidity further.
I invested in GM stock and I lost it. Simple.
Debra June is not different from any other investors as in that they invested on 'speculation'.
I understand your pain but stop being bitter to poeple ( read: the current president, his wife) who had nothing to do with this ordeal.
This all started in the last 8 years of free capitalistic " Humvee Culture" run, remember.
PS. I am a centerist who supported Ron Paul in the last primary presidential race.

What does Michelle Obama has anything to do with this? Anyways when she said that she's "saving" money, she obviously have no clue what saving money is about. Saving money is putting you money in a BANK, not a CORPORATION. Usually you get very little for putting it in a bank, but at least you are insured for $100,000. It's her fault for putting money just so she could earn alot more WITHOUT having to do anything for it. That's what's wrong with people these days, they expect more money without having to do anything.

Welcome to Capitalism. The rigged, "free market" capitalism that privileges the rich and their "managers" over the people who make them rich, that is. Always been that way, always will be, because every generation has its majority crop of brainwashed suckers who fall for the establishment's propaganda and take it literally. All the government and corporate boys who robbed America this past decade got out with "theirs" a long time ago, and are now watching everything they ruined crash and burn from inside their gated communities and multiple residences at various and sundry resort-like locations around the world.

quite frankly she had my sympathy cord until she dragged Michelle Obama into her comments. What in the HE-double hockey sticks does the first lady have to do with all this.
Investing of any kind carries risk and unforutnately many of us have placed our eggs in one basket when it comes to investing versus diversifying and been burned as a result.

It could have been a lot more disastorous for the entire nation had the administration not stepped in at all and just let GM fail, which as we all know, is what the prior administration was intending to do. This rescue is more like paradise compared to the alternative of doing nothing.

It's sad that people are losing their hard earned money, but we need to remember that GM didn't fail overnight – it's been years in the making and a variety of events that brought it to the point it is now. From ignoring the fact about building more fuel efficeint vehicles,to reining in costs, the list goes on.

Unfortunately not everyone wins in this, but please stop blaming the government for you losing your money.

IT is easy to call some one stupid, if that persone is not you yourself. Come on guys. The system has been unfair for small people who work hard and try to make little (Very little) extra buck or two. Mind thay you may be so called "smart" in this game, but can always be stupid in some other game. That time, I am sure you will be feeling the same pain as this person.
Anyways, BOA (Bank of Obama) should do fair justice to EACH AND EVERY PERSON. Government cant choose and pick~. Why not spend a few Billions on these small people and keep them in their houses and let them pay their bills in time? Also Have we seen ANY executive(s) being Prosecuted for the mess they have created? Take all the savings of GM's executives for last 6 years... Take that and give it to those who's it is.

I feel the same about this as I do homeowners in foreclosure whining about how the government should help them. You and you alone are responsible for your investments and mortgages and credit cards and interest rates. No one forced you to invest $70,000 in ONE COMPANY (hello – "diversify"!!) just like no one forced all those idiots to take interest only 3-year ARMS and, oh, gee, now my mortgage payment is $3000 and I can't afford it. While even people like me who are in diverse investments like index funds and mutual funds have seen their value drop like a stone, thanks to the greed and incompentence on Wall Street and Washington, we aren't asking for bailouts.

To most of you people criticizing this woman:
Please re-read the post by Claude Montreal on June 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am ET. He summed up the point y'all appear to be missing...

VONNIE get your quotes correct. You may hate haters, but I hate people who lie or are to stupid or lazy to get their facts straight. here is the quote.. which is much closer to the person you criticize than you quoted..

"For the First Time in My Adult Lifetime, I'm Really Proud of My Country"

This is not exactly a good way to put it. So relax Vonnie... you are human and not perfect either as the other poster is also... and not a hater.. so careful of the judment..

Debra June seems to have missed, was that she will be getting stock in the "New GM". I sure hope that the stock price of the "New GM" will eventually be worth more than the stock price of the "Old GM" today.

I lost $70k in a real estate investment also. All I can do is sit on it, rent it out at less than I am paying for it, and hold on. Her stock will rise again. We are all suffering. She should never have invested more than she could afford to lose...and all in one company? If she is that risk adverse it hsould be in T Bills or Certificates of Deposit.

It will come back.

Everyone on here that is saying people are stupid for thinking that bonds carry risk is in fact the people that don't understand what bonds are. The only difference between a bond and a stock is that a bond is a loan to the company and a stock is the purchase of a share of said company. You still take on the risk that the company will not be able to repay your "loan" to them and you also have to fight it out with all of the other creditors for the remaining assets in the case of a bankruptcy. Bankruptcy law does not guarantee that bondholders will get all of their money back just that they have first right to any assets. The point most people are missing is that this ladies share of all GM bonds in probably less than 1/10 of a percent of the total bonds issued by GM and all thise other bondholders have a claim as well. The "mortgage backed securities" that caused the whole economic meltdown were a form of asset backed security which is also a bond. Also Obama is not telling them what they can and can't do in their bankruptcy it is all getting directed by a JUDGE probably appointed by a REPUBLICAN so get off his case. He inherited this mess he didn't create it.

Yeah. I don't feel sorry AT ALL for this lady. We all understand that investing in the market like that is a risk that we take because the possibility of the pay out is more than that of "safe" investments at times. Quit whining and suck it up. Stuff happens and you don't always win. She should try a CD or money-market savings account.

I understand Debra's plight regarding the large sum of money – 70K she stands to lose.. However as with any financial investment in the market, this came with a risk too. Unfortunately GM sunk and with it went Debra's investment. How can she start expecting the Govt to bail her out for her poor choice? How can she place the burden on Obama for her financial investments?

If the Govt's job was to bail out each and every individual in the country, they would have to resort to printing a lot of money which would be worthless anyways? Just can't believe some people !!!

Poor but not stupid, you wrong, you real name is poor and stupid. Hello stupid, the real loss here is how this man and his cronies are dancing on "YOUR" right, rights as an investor, citizen and worker....how would you like it if they took the company you work for and gave it a union. Don't worry, you get everything you want in life by sitting there, your president will take it from other people and give it to you. How funny is your name.

i have no sympathy for the shareholders, especially this one. its a stock market where you deal in risks. what would she have to complain about if GM went under and went out of business? lets just be glad for what we have, and that GM is not going under and they did try to work a deal with the shareholders. but shareholders knowing they take risks with money in stocks that they now are complaining they are getting screwed... think of all the other markets throughout history where people have lots tens of thousands of dollars. it happens!

Like other viewers, I had compassion for her until she brought the First Lady and the President into it. While I understand her anger, she may want to look at GM's balance sheet and last income statement. This company was headed for liquidation last year. It now has a chance to emerge as a leaner and more competitive company, thanks to the Obama Administration.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that during bankruptcy only the lawyers win...everyone else has to get in line.

Sorry for your loss but as eloquently pointed out by FL450 you won't miss any meals and you have many advantages others with fewer resources and no job don't have.

No one has gone unscathed in this economic meltdown. The president has to focus on the big picture and choose the path he and his team feel will best serve the country. Painting yourself as the little guy that isn't cared about reflects the narrowness of your vision on what is happening both nationally and globally. I can understand your frustration and anger but kicking and screaming won't change things. You think the president and his team wanted to do this? This is their last best shot at reforming a core industry that had no hope without government intervention. There will be many casualties because the company ran itself into ruin long before President Obama took over. This is a salvage operation to preserve an industry with thousands of jobs that has been badly mismanaged for decades. Where would we be if they just let the company fail? Some think that should have happened but I'm glad they took action so those who own Chrysler and GM products will still have warranty coverage and the legacy of those brands will have chance to live on. I'd like to see auto factories thriving again in this country with innovative cars that lead rather than follow Japanese and German manufacturers.

I lost quite a bit more than you did in investments but there's nothing to be gained blaming those doing the dirty work that must be done to clean up this mess and get the economy going again. I feel your pain and then some but the path we are on now gives us hope we can work through both our losses and lost dreams. Even the markets seem to think so based on today's positive response to the news.

Blaming Obama for the fall of GM is akin to blaming the Good Samaritan for attempting to help the victim of a robber, a victim that ended up dying anyway. GM management was the robber, folks. Working people who directly or indirectly rely on GM for income are the victims. Obama only tried to help – and with the stimulus money did help GM to avoid a sudden collapse. Those who blame Obama for this are either corporate apologists are right wingers falling for the classic propaganda technique of diversion. – Tony in Spenard, AK

The first rule to investing: "Never invest more than you are willing to lose." Bonds are an investment and there is risk that you will lose money. Why would you ever invest $70,000 in 1 company without understanding that risk?

It seems a lot of readers don't understand the difference between bonds and common stock. Buying high rated bonds offer protection over buying stock–even more so in bankruptcy. I suggest you fully understand what you're talking about before disparaging her. My grandfather bought GM bonds. He worked in a GM factory in the 1920s. He passed away last year leaving me with a $50,000 GM bond. When he bought his bonds they were top rated. The government changed the rules on the bondholders–forcing them to become stockholders and now their bonds are worth pennies on the dollar. A bankruptcy judge, without the government's meddling, would never agree to that. That's what's unfair and why bondholders are justified to be angry. Please understand the real circumstances before ranting. You sound foolish.

This is borderline irresponsible reporting. This woman has no clue when it comes to business and investing. She doesn't seem to think its fair that she lost all of her money investing in a terrible company. What should happen when you invest in a company losing billions of dollars annually, you get all your money back? The article is chock full of unfounded and normative statements, why is CNN bothering to give this (no offense) ignorant woman such a significant platform from which to cry foul (illegitimately)?

What a bunch of mis-guided folks. Forget the lady or her views on Mrs Obama, think about your government side stepping Priority of claims, basically wiping out peoples assets and providing a company with more tax payers money. This is wrong. Socialist I am not, but any other country on this planet would save, its GM's, MircoSofts and Boeings, and we should too, but don't halfass it,do it farily. Do it completely or don't do it at all. By wiping out these people you are doing far more harm to our financial system that they can imagine. Save the billion-airs and save the little guys or you create a bitter system of us vs. them.

What did she say.... "Michelle Obama???" This lady doesn't believe in any type of diversity! She gambled and lost – end of story! Better luck next time – I don't feel sorry for you.

I wish people would quit calling June names like "stupid", "lazy", and "dumb". It's clear she made an unwise investment decision, but that does not merit the personal insults she is getting. She invested too much in one vehicle and clearly did not understand the risks. But, I'll bet she knew this at the time and did the "smart" thing by going to a financial adviser, who is probably really responsible for her debacle.

BTW, many have stated that the bondholders should have been "first in line". This is not at all true The bonds are unsecured debt. They are ahead of the shareholders, but not much else (maybe payables?). I'm sure there's plenty of secured debt in front of them (secured by property, mostly). In all likelihood, a bankruptcy without the government intervention would have meant zero returns.

Who should you be griping about? How about GM management. Want to guess who WON'T be penalized? Chapter 11 is actually a business tool. Kmart came out of Chapter 11 and bought Sears.

Again, lets get rid of the UAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket"... or in very few baskets. Diversifying one's investments is a common sense rule, one seemingly ignored by large numbers of investors. The general public is woefully ignorant about investing, with very unfortunate results. The solution is to take a little extra time and learn about investment options and the marketplace in general.

It is not like I don't have sympathy for Debra June. Losing a pile of cash sucks, regardless of the reason. She did not deserve that at all, but this is not about what one deserves or does not deserve. How can she feel robbed? Nobody owes her anything and there are no guarantees in life. Debra, look on this as a $70,000 investment in your education, one which will quite possibly prevent far larger losses in the future.

"A fool and his (her) money are soon parted" – another relevant addage. There is no reason for anyone to be a fool.

You are all missing the point, stupid, or a little of both. She bought bonds NOT STOCKS. Go google the difference between bonds and stocks before voicing your overly righteous indignation. The government FORCED her to take worthless stocks for her bonds. Just like the BOND holders of Chrysler got the shaft while the Unions, who played a major role in driving the companies into the ground are majority owners.

The ineptitude displayed here is astounding. Way to go.

Well, let's get a few things straight.

1. This situation was created long before Obama came into office, right-wing fanatics. In fact, GWB gave GM enough cash to pass the buck to Obama just last year. So stop with the anti-Obama crying.

2. To those who are talking about the stock market, just stop. These are bonds. Both are investments, but bonds are generally a lower-risk investment.

3. It's estimated that bondholders will get about 10% of their investment after this all plays out. So her $70,000 should be worth about $7,000.

4. An above poster was incorrect. It was estimated that in a full liquidation of GM, bondholders would have received somewhere around 5-7%, so she should come out better in this deal. The institutional investors might get more due to some credit default swaps. I doubt June has any swaps, so she'd get the lower amount.

5. Bondholders have voted and the majority have chosen to take this deal. She wants someone to look out for the "little guy"? It appears that she's whining that she should get special attention over other bondholders because she's not an institutional investor.

Simply put, she made a bad investment and should stop pointing the finger at everyone else.

I am grateful for Luke and others who clarified the difference between bonds and regular stock market investing. Big difference!

I am a very small investor who believes in America. I buy (very small) pieces of solid American companies. And now I wait. I will not lose any sleep. I believe in America. Not the president, but America. Pray for America. There is Hope.

I don't get how is Obama to blame in all this? are we to think that if the government hadn't stepped in her investement would be ok? what is the logic here? Previous administrations allowed this company to get in so much debt and continue with more than dubious practices. By the way the best Hood Robin I know was George W. Bush, it was during his time that the gap between the rich and poor reached the highest margin in the history of the country.

Would you have been complaining if you doubled your money? Human nature to argue about what you lost, would you be on the air if you made money. Very wrong that top Exe. get bonuses when their Corp. is in the toilet. Another company who shows how to take care of the few and forget about the majority. Maybe we all need to start looking at a continous improvement program.

God, lady, you're a teacher, how can you be so stupid? Even little kids know playing the stock market is risky. If these funds were so vital to your future, why didn't you invest in something safer or stuck the money in a savings account? Sounds like you were just like many Madoff investors: greedy, greedy, greedy. And do you know what a huge percentage of the American public don't have, never had, and will never have $70,000? Whining and pouting just highlight your insensitivity and carelessness.

Investing in either stocks or bonds does not guarantee that you're going to make money, or that you're not going to lose money. As someone else said, it's legalized gambling. You take your chances when you put all your money in the middle of the table and wait on the dealer. And as others have said, she should have diversified. Sinking that huge pile of money into one company wasn't particularly bright on her part. If she wants to go after someone, she needs to go after the financial advisor who talked her into doing that.

June, there are millions of people out there who are hurting financially right now. You're probably teaching the children of some of them. More and more families are becoming homeless because they are losing their homes (whether they owned them or were renting) simply because they can't make ends meet. In many cases, having enough to eat is an issue.

I'll feel sorry for this woman when she's in dire straits. For now, all she's doing is whining. I'd like to know. Is she a tenured teacher with what amounts to a job for life (and union-brokered lifetime benefits) with her school district? It'd be nice to have a job like that...

Couple things to think about BOND HOLDERS ARE NOT FIRST, secured debt holders are (the banks that have issued lines of credit and secured loans to GM). GM s bankrupt because the amount of secured debt is greater then the assets they have on hand.

If the bankruptcy went full normal route, she would have gotten less then the equity she will now have. The only reason there is anything to give is because of the government supply of liquidity to the company. Without it, GM would have been forced into liquidation where bondholders like her still would have ended up with nothing.

The UAW (actually the money is for the retiree's benefit fund), had a stake prior to the bondholders. They allowed GM to not pay the final funding amount on time in order to try and help GM continue operations. If the UAW had wanted to force the issue, they could have forced payment at the beginning of this year, forcing the bankruptcy then, and likely still being placed ahead of the bondholders by the judge because of the long term agreement that existed.

Also, if the government didn't allow the equity supply to UAW fund, your own tax dollars would then be used to pay pension/benefits because the trust is insured by the government.

Sounds to me like the educator needs to be educated as to how the stock market & ownership in public corporations work. I cannot stand this sense of entitlement and blaming others. If you don't want to or can't afford to lose any money – DO NOT INVEST IN THE STOCK MARKET!!

Completely misquoting Michelle and investing

This is what Michelle Obama said:

"for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback."

Then she said in another city, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

There is not doubt about it. The American investor has been screwed by this bankruptcy. NO HOPE HERE. The American worker has been screwed with the lay-offs, plant closings and outsourcing. It is a very sad day and even more sad when government can protect these loser corporations and not the ordinary citizen. The government is no different than Bernie Madoff.

I feel for these individual bond investors. Thay made what was supposed to be an informed decision. They were told that the bonds were backed by GM's assets. Then President Obama changed the rules. The reason was political. The Unions have more votes than these private investors. I give Obama credit. He is a very skillfull Chicago politician. Knowing that He has changed the rules should make other people very hesitant about investing in anything, no matter how safe it might seem.

What a big cry-baby! I'm totally embarrased and ashamed she is a US citizen! Here's a tissue to wipe your tears with. Welcome to the wonderful world of RISK! Next time take your money and stick in your mattress and then you won't have to worry about it being worth zilch!

Well put Robert Johnson....These were bonds, not stock...big difference there. When someone buys a bond it is considered safe and less risky, pending it is not a junk bond. This lady has every right to be upset and feel robbed with what has happened. Of course, most Americans that are hard working, pay their bills on time, and live the right way should feel robbed. There are no programs out there for those of us that played our cards right....we have to pay for everyone elses mistakes and suffer the consequences of high taxes, high gas prices, and deadbeats getting let off the hook with our tax money!!!!

INVESTMENTS = RISK

WOW, why can't people understand this, Wall Street, Banks, they are all an investment! I have no sympathy for people who invest, then when something goes wrong, they start crying and want their money back...

"Never put all your eggs in one basket..."

Lady, You invested in bonds which like stocks are investments with no guarantees....investing is like gambling... you throw your money down and hope for the best....it sucks I know...but get over it....you made a bad bet.

Americans really need to take an accounting class.

Rule number one in a bankruptcy is the debtors get paid first. IF THERE IS ANY LEFT, IT GOES TO THE PREFERRED STOCK HOLDERS FIRST. Then the common. Bonds are a liability on the books until paid. They can be pushed to the bottom of the pile.

Obama has done nothing that economics majors who have had lots of accounting classes don't know already. I think all high school students should take a mandatory risk and investment course, and learn what bankruptcy really is.

Also, Honda and Toyota do not pay any taxes for police, fire, or aany local sercvices or schools for the communities they are in. The don't pay a dime for any of that. That's how the government of the US set them up when they first came over here.

GM and CHRYSLER paid billlions in local taxes they are trying to get wiped out, and with bankruptcy they can. This means everyones taxes wlll go up. I learned this in high school civics class.

It's going to take America a little while to figure out this is why a lot of their services they have come to rely on have and will be cut.

Completely misquoting Michelle and investing so many "eggs" in one basket show equivalent levels of intelligence.

GM has't made a profit in 40 years! They destoyed their incredible electric car ( because it was TOO good) and wouldn't let the leaseholders BUY the cars! They pursued the BAD business of making money on replacement parts and servicing their defective vehicles! She did not do her homework ( and she's a teacher!) and her second mistake was never put all your money in one pot. DIVERSIFY! The stock market is NOT a savings account that accrues interest! It is a high risk environment that must be watched closely! I called it! I told everyone that GM was going to go bankrupt a year and a half ago. Everyone who has had a GM car says they are crap! How long can a company produce crap and stay in business. I bought one 20 years ago and my truck stopped in the middle of the road ( defective oil pump) I got NO help from GM and they LOST my engine at the dealership when I was told they were going to investigate it. I replace the engine $6500. and the next week the transmission went out (S-10 pickup) . they bubble gummed it up after a week without a car I got it back only to have the transmission shooting out transmission fluid like Old Faithful. Bubble gummed it up 3 times and then sold it to HyUNDAI ! My family will NEVER buy a GM car again! GOOD RIDDANCE GM!

For those of you who think that CD's and Treasuries are safe, be prepared for the massive federal deficits to trigger high inflation and wipe out the value of those also.

I can't believe most of the people on here. You got robbed deal with it yourself. Love how you guys stick up for each other. And it's a bond you idiots not a stock.

...i took a nap and woke up in a bizzare american version of the DDR (German Democratic Republic, east germany)...

obama, geithner, pelosi, clinton, bush.... they ALL are to blame for the mess we are in.

imho reagan was the last halfway decent president we had, and he was nearly killed...

Hmm, 101-reverse split means stock will be worth $100, so 140 shares is $14,000. If stock goes up to $4, she'll have her money back.

That's not that bad of a loss, for someone who bought bonds in a failing company (sounds like a vulture to me), Even if she didn't intentionally mean to scavenge off of others' livelihoods, she should realize that's what she's asking for.

Just reading the GM bankruptcy article; GM has assets of $82B and liabilities of $173B. If GM were forced into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy instead of Chapter 13, creditors would see roughly 45% of their money depending on the structure of those assets. Yes, more people would be out of work, the ripple effects throughout the economy would be potentially devastating. In the current scenario what we are asking people like June to do is to subsidize the bailout of GM far beyond what is legally required, theirs rights have been trampled on. I do not feel that June should get all her money back, I am not really sympathetic to her as even in bonds there is risk, assets do devalue, but what the government is asking a small group of people to shoulder is unconscionable.

Should have invested the $70,000 in a Folger's coffee can.

People in America are so stupid. Can't even understand the difference between a bond and a stock. No wonder so many of you have lost money in investments. You all should take investing 101! And I agree with the woman. She basically loaned GM $70K and GM paid interest for the money. Imagine if you loaned that kind of money to your relative and they didn't pay you back. You'd be pretty upset.

What has happened to the Values and Integrity of this Country when a fellow American has been swindled by her own government and the sheepeople are berating her for telling you about it. Shame on you!If you would think for yourself and understand what it means to be a bondholder, you would see that she was cheated. But alas, better people that I have tried to educate you on what it means to hold a bond and you have turned a deaf ear.

But beware! For anyone, be them a conservative or liberal, to blindly follow a leader or party is signing away your liberties. This is isn't socialism this is FASCISM. Look it up in the dictionary. At least we know Webster's is impartial.

What kind of fluff is this from CNN? Not sure who is more clueless, Debra or the people who keep saying she invested in stocks. If you do not know the difference, why are you bothering to post? That being said, Debra deserves to lose most of her money because GM bonds have been a risky investment for years.

But the real crime here is how Pres. Obama and his task force of investment bankers are violating the basics of contract law and the US Constitution with these sham bankruptcies. No one should ever invest in a unionized company again, because when times get tough, the government will screw the investor in order to save union jobs and all those campaign dollars.

This woman fails.

"Don't put all your eggs into one basket" is one thing to say. But better stated, "put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket very very carefully."

As my great-grandfather always said, "boy, you better pay attention."

No one is to blame for GM's demise but several generations of
GM management.

How was management able to drive GM into the ground? Look at the posters here who are praising Obama. Poor management is excused and justified time and time. .

The investor's complaint is legitimate. Despite federal law, Obama's administration has structured the bankruptcy to favor unsecured debtors (the union health plan) over secured debtors such as this lady. The goal is to pay off the autoworkers union for its political support.

Worst, he's picked a 31-year-old Harvard grad to be in charge of the new GM. Someone with no real world experience, never started or run a business of his own and who admits himself he knows nothing about the auto industry. But he was a political activist who supported Obama.

America now has two incompetent administrations in a row – Bush and Obama. Wonder if our economy will survive.

This whole thing is a shame. Years ago the auto industry had a major 'buy American' campaign that pretty much included just automobiles. Without other 'American manufacturing' jobs, it soon became apparent, we Americans could no longer afford those American cars.
I'm not certain why our auto industry thought they were indestructable, why they thought we could just keep paying more and more for their product, or why they thought we would want to, when so many other Americans truly were without jobs - yet, the unions kept the line pumped up thinking they were worth more than the rest of us, and kept threatening strikes and the likes - all the while management kept burying their heads deeper and deeper in the sand, while paying themselves more and more -- it was a horrible game of Russian Ruoulette - and now we know who lost - we all lost. Companies that did business with GM have lost, individuals who were invested in Bonds or stock, have lost - but most of all, our country has lost as we are one step deeper into Socialism, or Marxism or Facism - not sure which one would take over a company quite like GM was just taken over.
Wake up America, your job, or your business could be next.

The the bonds she purchase were secured by the actual assets of GM. She should be given her share of the sell of the GM assets. Without an inventory of the assets and a calculation of non-stock debt, we don't know what her true recovery should be.

I think it's awful to bring up Michelle Obama!
It's her husband that cheated all these bond holders. All of you good folks who keep talking about risk and the stock market need to look up the definition of bonds and see what the govement has done here.

How many of you will buy a goverment car when this little travesty is over? Oh, thats right you don't have any money or credit in these 'tough times" maybe a getaway weekend to the big apple will make you feel better...

Is this for real? Two problems with this country of ours – you make a bad choice, you blame the President and his wife. Get a clue, GM has been on the decline for years, any half witted individual invests in companies who make choices for the future – GM didn't.

Second, to Gary and other "Our Republicans Are Better Than You" people, get a clue as well – your King George's policies led us to this financial collapse, so take a load of Obama's shoulder and realize he is trying where George just hid in Crawford, TX for 8 years. Typical Republican propaganda to try and shift the blame from a Republican administration to the new President.

Stop voting for parties, and start voting for brains – the most qualified candidate finally won and now people are jealous because their TEAM didn't win. Maybe you should invest in GM and make King George Jr. look better.

All you financial neophytes, reread Robert Johnson's post. He has nailed it for you. Fin 101.

Bond holers are supposed to be the some of the first paid.

That is why this socialist govt is scary, they are meddling where they have no business meddling.

Have a fun 4, Obama.

I am truly amazed at teh number of people responding to this interview that do not know the difference between a bond and a stock. Any investment has associated risks, but bonds are a totally different type of investment vehicle from stocks. In a free America, the bondholders DO get first shot at the bankrupcy money.
As for teh politics, the President is clearly acting outside the law on this and many other issues. His attorney general, appears to have just approved harassment of poll watchers with the Black Pnather case.
This administration will go down as the most overbearing, corrupt and law breaking one in Americn history. Sorry Obama supporters, all we have to do is watch the facts begin to unfold. That is, if the government does not soon try to control speech and print as well.
Disgusted with the whole thing.

Yeah, a bond is typically supposed to be a safe bet. But then again mortgage-backed securities were a relatively safe bet until the market went nuts with them, saw the $$ start to roll in and lost their minds. If it's not FDIC there's always going to be some way of losing it. With the government involvement I'm sure the chinese are paying close attention at this time to how we treat bondholders, being that with our deficit our country is looking more and more like GM every day.

I can understand the game changes in a bankruptcy and that's the nature of the beast. But you can't be so easy to call a bond gambling. It's not the same as a stock.

I also want to question what kind of interview was this. Why does John play the shoulder to cry on. Why doesn't he ask her as a school teacher wasn't she smart enought to understand the risk. Wasn't she smart enough to understand diversification. What was it that she read 6 years ago that made her think GM was a good investment. I think these interviews that they have been doing on CNN and other stations make things worse by not looking at both sides. Sure she may not be getting a fair shake in deciding how the bankruptcy should be handled but she is hardly an innocent bistander she is an investor.

This woman wants to get sympathy for loosing 70K and she is 'only a school teacher'? What kind of school teacher has 70k laying aroung to invest. Bonds and Stock are a gamble she played she lost.

She's upset the governement didn't save her investment? I guess thats typical of most democrats.

What about those of us who had the smarts NOT to invest in GM – We're the one's losing out – I'm being FORCED to invest in that piece of junk against my will.

GM should have been bankrupt last fall without Billions of taxpayer dollars. Same result, less taxpayer debt.

Well I'm not gonna say I'm happy to hear about someone's misfortune, I'm not that type of person - however like others stated before me....its risk. This is common sense (or at least one would think) - when you invest there are no guarantees. If everything was guaranteed - we'd all be millionaires and no one would bother going to work after they earned enough to invest and build upon.

i can't think of any one in my pool of friends, family or work associates who hasn't lost property value, assets or straight money during these trying times.....join the club....we *ALL* would like to get our losses back, why is this woman special?

I don't feel sorry for her or any other bondholders, you invest, you take the risk, don't cry about it and say it's not fair....

Democrats, Republicans and Independents... or lets just say "Americans" will only go just so far... down the hole with the current administration of economic ignorance, before they wake up and decide that we have made mistakes all along the way! GM made mistakes, Republicans Made Mistakes, Pelosi and the liberals in congress made mistakes, the current administration are making huge mistakes in the name of their agenda...and the People of the United States of America have made the mistake of not getting involved in the Democratic process of voting, that is such a "Huge Responsibility" and "Gift of Freedom", that the men and women of the armed forces have paid for with the sacrifices to themselves and their families! It's time to consider why this is happening to the Greatest Nation in the world and how we will rise to the occasion and reflect the values that have made America Great! When GM and other auto makers trace back where they went wrong, they will probably find that they should have separated themselves from poor business practices of offering credit to those that had poor credit ( if any ), in the name of the dollar, or worse, in the name of "not excluding" folks that had not yet earned the responsibility or gained the knowledge needed to maintain monthly payments. Say what you will...but we are All responsible...and we All need to get involved in voting our pubic officials into office based on their character and convictions!

I may have missed it but did anybody point out that these were UNSECURED bonds? Some bonds are secured by assets, some, like the GM bonds in question, are only secured by faith in the Company (GM in this case). Accordingly, these bonds never would have gotten preferential treatment in bankruptcy. Nothing was taken away or lost by the way this bankruptcy is being handled and, if anything, she will get more via this process than would have been received without the government intervention.

Lesson: Understand what you're buying.

I am amazed at some of the comments I have just read. One person stated that "Bonds are not speculative". WHAT??? Of course they are. In theory they are not generally as speculative as common stock but MANY bond holders lose. If you do not understand a market, DO NOT invest in it. As far as this teachers situation...I feel sorry for any one who has lost their savings, job, etc. I live in Detroit. Do you have any idea how many people here are homeless or are on the verge. A lot of them were making $50K + a year or 2 ago. You were attempting to make a profit off of the privater sector. When things went south you confident that Obama would bail you out. You stated you were excited that the government was stepping in. There are all kinds of lessons here. I hope we all lean some thing.

If you invest in a company that:

Makes products that are not as well reguarded as the competition's Paid more to its employees that the competition

What did you expect?

I know it tough but if you wanted better odds you should have went to vegas. She bet on the stock and lost. if she had won she'd be complaining about getting taxed. All in all it's the nature of the game.

You're a teacher and you invest $70K in GM? Do you live under a rock? Cry me a river. I'm broke and still know about diversifying. Let's blame some people! Because everybody but ourselves are at fault. I'm gonna dump my life savings into baseball cards.

Look people,

Corporate bonds are NOT a risk free investment. Yes, corporate bonds are less risky than stock in the same corporation, but the ultimate risk of a corporate bond depends on the issuer (i.e., the corporation). With corporate bonds, the corporation is effectively saying, "We promise a safe, small return on your investment." GM bonds were never guaranteed by the federal government; they were guaranteed by General Motors. Perhaps its just me, but you don't just invest in a corporate bond based on the yield. One must also consider the longtime viability of the corporation. After all, the corporation is ultimately liable for all promises made to bond holders (and these promises can be broken in bankruptcy court).

If I had lost $70K in GM bonds, I would be furious at the executives at GM not a bankruptcy judge or the federal goverment. How exactly did GM spend that money over the years? Did GM ever have a real expectation of paying off these bonds given the high yield? I would also want to kick myself for not following the investor's mantra (diversify, diversify, diversify).

It's just one more example of the government putting its nose where it does not belong. Name one thing the government does that has ever worked save war. If the government stayed out of it GM would have gone bankrupt months ago and the bondholders would have gotten their fair share in court. Now they are giving the unions 17% when they have been raping the company for 40 years. This is another example of corrupt politicians buying votes this is simply illegal.

This forum has really illustrated why so many people have lost so much money. The level of ignorance is overwhelming. There are actually lots of folks who think bonds are 'safe' or 'protected' or 'very low risk.' and even 'guaranteed' GM bonds have been rated at the junk level for a very long time. That means they pay a higher interest rate but they are more likely to default. GM has no money to pay any interest let alone the pricip[al of these bonds. If evey single GM asset were sold at even decent prices, the first to get paid are secured creditors, i.e., financial insituiton that have liens over specific assets. Bond holders have no collateral. Whatever is left after all secured claims can go to bondholders and whatever is left after that goes to common shareholders.

Obama did't change any rules. That is silly. If the company can somehow survive and make profits in the future everyone will benefit. If it dies and liquidates, bondholders will get nothing. The Govt is trying to see that GM have a decent chance of making it through the restructuring process.

AS STATED BY MANY, DON"T INVEST UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

It's shocking how little most of these poster know about investments. Yes she was stupid (ill advized) to put all of her eggs in one basket. But she wasn't playing in the STOCK market, she had bought BONDS. By definition bonds have a certain position in the bankruptcy hiearchy which is safer then stocks (aka: Shareholders). President Obama has forcefully rearranged the bankruptcy hierarchy in the cases of both Chyrsler and GM, which has resulted in the the bond holders getting less then they were due, and the US Government and the UAW getting more then they were due. What most posters seem to miss is that President Obama, as the lead fund manager for the US Treasure has chosen to invest the tax dollars that US Citizens have entrusted to the US Government in a company has has barely been able to break even, let alone generate a reasonable rate of return on investment for at least the last 20 years - if not longer. The chances of getting this money out are virtually zero. He would have done better to let GM go under and have given that $50-$100B directly to the unemployment compensation account. We'd have more of it left 5 years from now.

Sorry I wasn't as Smart as Mick,,, although you didn't say anything different that I did, just elaborated
You can call me stupid, but I am happy to be where I am. I have learned alot, certainly have more to learn. I know for a fact this President is dangerous for this country. He has allowed The Union to rob private investors.... If you don't think that's what's happened here, your mistaken. I won't say your stupid, just misguided by your Jim Jones complex.
But it's all ok, 2010 will make things clear. None of us independants who voted for Mr Hussein Obama expected him to actually damage our private sector investors hopes like this.
Anything but Dem in 2010

S&P downgraded GM to junk bond status in 2005:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-cuts-gm-bond-rating-to-junk?siteid=mktw&dist=

It's not a huge surprise that the bonds ended up being worthless.

Bonds are usually safer than stocks. But, if a company goes bankrupt, it doesn't really help much. Debt gets wiped. Bonds are debt. Bonds are not money markets.

Bonds are not very risky with a strong company. But GM was not as strong as you were led to believe. Bad call. 100% loss in GM, hopefully you will recoup losses with gains in other investments. My retirement account has lost over $100,000 twice – tech bubble and housing bubble. But since it is all still in the market, it is riding the tsunamis. In a couple of more years the market will recover to the point where I will have as much as if I had just put my money in a bank account for the past 20 years.

I won't be retiring until I'm 75 at the earliest.

O'checklist:

Insurance: check
Housing: check
Wall Street: check
Banking: check
Auto Industry: check

Next up: Healthcare? Is President Mulligan playing Monopoly?

Well before I spend 70k in the markets you got to do your home word it's a risk just like getting up in the morning some days you might not get up and some days the market will crash look at it this way Deb you now own some of the New GM just like every other tax payer.

The U.S. would rather drive Toyota and Nissan's, and are Jealous that middle class auto worker had some benefits that they didn't.
Support your rice rockets.

Remember, people – if you own stock in the company, you bought shares and own a part of the company – if the company fails tough luck!. BUT if you are "bondholder" you "loaned" the company money. THEY STILL OWE HER FOR HER LOAN!! GM wants to pay her back with worthless stock. THAT IS NOT RIGHT!

I can't believe how many people commented on this situation and seem to have no idea about the difference between a stock and a bond. They are not the same thing and have totally different risk profiles. I also can't believe how quickly people forget that GM (while a horribly run company) was making record breaking profits when SUVs were hot (right up till last summer). Also, there is the fact if you are of a certain age, GM was THE company. It was the bluest of blue chip companies. Thus it's bonds would be as safe as a Federal Reserve Note. No question that she should not have put all her eggs in one basket, but if you did not want to deal with your investments, GM bonds made good sense (obviously a mutual bond fund would have been better).

Next, the government is to blame for HER loss. No question about it, if the US (GWB or Obama) did not step in, GM would have filled bancruptcy last year and owed some $160billon with $80billion of assets. This women as a bond holder would have gotten $35,000 back. HOWEVER the impact to the US economy would have been far far worse with hundreds of thousands of people loosing their jobs. So to the woman I say, yes you lost $70,000 but you could have lost a lot more if the US economy collapsed.

I feel bad for her, it's a big loss, and I know how it feels since my mom lost a lost of money on GM too (unfortunately she was more diversified, she owned Citibank, Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns too). It's bad situation and I think more people should have empathy for those that lost large parts of their savings.

did she say "bernie Matloff" and she's a school teacher?!?! seems pretty ignorant in all of her comments

The risk for bonds and stock are the same: you can lose all of your money if the company goes bankrupt. For all those people blaming the government for this, your anger is totally misplaced. If the government hadn't been floating money to GM over the last 6 to 9 months it would have gone into bankruptcy long ago and there wouldn't be as much left to the creditors as there is now. GM made their bed, investors put their money at risk (that's what you do when you invest), and it didn't turn out well. That's what happens everyday, the scale is just a little different this time.

When you make an investment, you take a chance. Sure, its disappointing, but its an investment. If you don't want investment risk, stay with bank accounts or some other guaranteed investment. If you want the higher rate of return then you have to accept the risk that goes with it. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Open up the trash can because Obama isn't just ignoring contract law, he's throwing it away.

I can see now why he likes Sotomayor. Apparently standing legislated law means nothing. Dictated law is all the rage to them, whether it is from the Executive branch or the Judicial. He's looking for an "empathetic" face on the SCOTUS when the bondholders' lawsuits get there. His problem is that it will be a bunch of retirees versus the UAW.

Acutally Vonnie: Michell Obamma said "for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback."

I feel for Debra June. Congress and the Obama Administration have treated GM's financial crisis as if it were a fun summer project for law students. GM is being destroyed under the pretense of rescuing it, leaving its employees, its bondholders, and its customers out in the cold.

Bagholder furious over GM bankruptcy.
Nobody could have seen that coming. I just loaned $70K to my deadbeat cousin who's out of a job, behind on child support, a compulsive gambler and has a bit of a cocain habit. He assured my he'll pay me back when his next gig goes through. What ya'll think my chances are of getting my money back?
Holders of long term US treasury debt will be the next generation of bagholders. If you have savings, don't give them to deadbeats, that's good advice.

First of all, I am sorry she lost her money. It has to hurt.

I have to agree that I have little or no sympathy for the victim mentality. She bought GM in 2003. There was nothing safe about GM in 2003 – GM was consistently losing market share, GM had years with record losses prior to her investing, and GM was the subject of many books and articles about their inflexible/incompetent management in a changing world.

I'm inclined to think she probably bought GM because they were offering a higher return than T-Bonds, and she wanted the extra money. The risk associated with that small incremental income is usually disproportionally great (LOTS more risk for each additional 1%).

Do you think she would be whining on TV if she made 20% return on her "investment?" Would she want to give 14% of that money to charity because it was "too high" a return (based on historical average)?

Answer: No chance.

Moral: Toughen up sweetie. Hope you didn't teach personal finance...

Why is it that the half of you who are defending her are bashing Obama in same breath? I followed the news pretty closely these past few weeks and I believe it was the bondholders who agreed to take the equity swap... Who are these bondholders who approved the swap? I don't know – but it wasn't like the government swooped in and took all her money. Nothing was forced – the bondholder swap was supposed to avoid bankruptcy by relieving GM from a large amount of its debt in return for ownership of the company. (apparently it didn't work)

She should figure out why she didn't have a say in this decision at least for her stake.

I hold a $100k Lehman Bros. bond.

Welcome to the club.

I do not feel sorry for her or anyone else that thinks they should not have filed for bankruptcy years ago. I feel bad for the employees some what. To really spend $70K on a dying compnay and then discuss Michelle Obama? No wonder why this country and economy are in the toilet. We have people who think giving $30 billion as a two month band-aid is going to fix everything. What a joke!

The bankruptcies at GM and Chrysler are not normal and are not following normal rules. In the case of GM, U.S. taxpayers have kicked in $19.7 billion ($64.59 per person [19.7 billion divided by 305 million]), which we're going to lose (Notice how the White House spokesman is no longer talking about U.S. taxpayers getting their money back or even making a profit.) The plan is to kick in another $30 billion, $98.36 per person. By using this postbankruptcy cash, President Obama has both "the carrot and the stick" to dictate the outcome, and not allow the division of assets according to bankruptcy rules. If a normal bankruptcy were allowed to occur, GM obligations would be paid in order of priority and the underfunded pension, as a secured asset, would make its claim against the underfunded pension. Team Obama and his Congressional allies (Senator Levin, etc.) did not want the U.S. Congress to be exposed as a collection of scoundrels who allowed GM to underfund its pension obligations to its autoworker retirees for years – in spite of being warned by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation for years. Instead, Team Obama decided to rework the division of assets to benefit the U.A.W. at the expense of "evil" bondholders whom Obama described as "speculators," such as this teacher who bought bonds in a Fortune 500, Dow Jones component company six years ago. Granted, the financial situation at GM has changed markedly in those years, especially in the last eight months as oil prices went up to $147 per barrel and GM management had not planned on this possibility and did not have sufficient small cars for sale, and our teacher should have gotten out, but cut her some slack. She does not deserve what she is getting from her government merely because she is an ordinary citizen not connected to the U.A.W. voting block or Michigan politicians trying to save their worthless hides.

It is bad enough that U.S. taxpayer funds are being used to prop up 19 poorly-run large banks and poorly-run Fannie Mae and Sallie Mae, instead of nationalizIng these companies and then auctioning off their assets to surviving, i.e. by definition, better-run banks. When the White House decides to spend $49.7 billion of the $700 billion of TARP (7%) to cover for its misdeeds, I cry, "Foul!" Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the vice chairman of TARP is also a counsel with the AFL-CIO, as reported by CNN.

I transferred my 401k to bonds 2 yrs ago, and didn't lose a dime. I also took some out and bought FORD stock because I was paying attention, and have gained instead of many others. Alot of people invest money and just ignore it for years. There are warning signs out there, if you ignore them...you lose.

What a waste of type (I use to be able to say ink but now a days...)! First of stocks are a risk... she took it.., it failed... move on. She said she tried to contact them, sounds like she couldn't now she is trying to blame them. If you didn't know the terms then you don't send the money. What a crock? Blame everyone but yourself... that is the American way though!!!!

I believe the big companies applied risk management and found that they were too big to fail so they took risks they new were foolish. Why, because they new our government wouldn't let them fail. The banking industry, the auto industry, and AIG all knew they were too big to fail so the CEOs and Boards took the risk because the tax payers would take the fall – not them. I understand risk, that's why I'm buying a Ford.

Well, if you wanted a case study for the value of diversification, here you have it.

Debra June made a calculated bet that her GM corporate debt would pay a return, and lost. Join the club. There are plenty of people who've bet in Lehman, Enron, and Worldcom that have lost their shirts as well.

Investing involves risk. Investment without risk is called saving, and that's done with a CD or bank account with a low interest rate and FDIC insurance.

Before you drop $70K in corporate bonds, for God's sake, talk to someone that knows what they're doing.

So it would be better if Obama just let GM go away? Then you would have nothing and all those workers (GM and parts suppliers and dealerships, etc.) would be out of work.

Why did you buy those bonds anyway? Because they were yielding a lot, probably close to 10%. You know why the yield was so good? BECAUSE THEY WERE A RISKY INVESTMENT even 7 years ago. But you were greedy and now like everyone else you want the government to bail you out. You could have sold the bonds at much less of a loss anytime during the 7 years as the RISK you took became more and more apparent, but you didn't. Why? See the answer above. There is no free lunch, high yields reflect risk and you bet and lost. Next time try treasury bonds or FDIC guaranteed CDs.

I feel bad for you but you invested in a corporation, you took a gamble. And you lost. It sucks, but welcome to the big bad world of investing. I lost $250,000 on paper last year and I'm having a bad year income wise, this year, but my shares are up about $100K so I'm only down $150K. Scary numbers but I'm not going to go on CNN and whine about it. You got burned in a capitalist system that is rigged against the little investor) and the answer is... REGULATION

She forgot to
mention one
important thing......

TAX WRITE OFF (for years to come!) OF HER LOSS.....

Six years ago GM was in trouble if I remember correctly. I bought a couple grand of GM bonds because I thought they might be turning things around. I knew the risk, I saw the high coupon and thought it was worth taking it.

I am disappointed that they are entering bankruptcy even though the debt holders agreed to a deal. At this point I don't think it really matters much... I was hoping I could get the stock and at least recover some of my investment.

Some of the comments here are completely rediculous.

BTW – What happened to the BILLIONS of dollars that went into GM, by the bright thinking of the Obama administration, oh yeah, it got vaperized like this ladies.

On a side note, Gold was at $400 an ounce 5 years ago, Man this lady would be sitting with over $150,000 right now...

I have a personal challenge to the GREAT ALL Knowing MICK

You stated this "See that’s why you bigoted right wing illiterate hick morons shouldn’t vote, speak or really even be Americans."

What makes me bigoted? The fact that your name is MIck?
Why am I illiterate? Because I didn't need American Idol's phone number to know who to vote for as President? Because I can't write as good as you? At least I write better than the Majority of Obama supporters
What makes you think I'm Right Wing? The fact that I think stealing from investors is wrong ? The fact that I don't like my dogs, or my children eating Chinese poison thanks to Bill Clinton inviting the Chinese to own us.
Why am I a Moron ? Because I have to spend time fighting against the ObamaNation who is getting a free ride to post on CNN, while probably on their payroll? Ever notice Obama's position change after a CNN poll obviously contadicts him ?? hehe...

The only thing logical about your liberal statement is that I am far from being United to you.... Let the Civil War begin,,,

This should have been handled through normal bankruptcy courts, along with all of the failed financial institutions.

This would have saved the american taxpayer billions of dollars and kept the government out of private enterprise. Instead, we now have GM, "Government Motors."

She should have just gone to a casino and blew it all ... would have had some fun doing it anyways

Note to the BOND GENIUS' on this thread – Bonds ARE more secure than stock, but NOT GM Bonds. They are worthless. There is no money to give the Bondholders, and they are being given common stock, not a buyout. If this June sells her stock for $200 she is as dumb as she was when she made her first investment, so it's not really worth $200 unless she sells. If she sticks it out, and at this point she should, it could be worth thousands IF the bailout works. We the people own that company now as we infused it with our money to keep it out of bankruptcy. I can't like every decision our governement does, but at least they are trying.

My wish? Let GM fail with no buyout, and let union fail. They both had a hand in this collapse. No GM and Ford, Toyota, Honda... etc, gain market share and start making money. They deserve it as they are better companies (well, maybe not Ford).

Also, everybody is talking about the risk that Debra took here, which yes...there is an inherent risk. However, I don't think anybody calculated in the audacity of the POTUS throwing away hundreds of years of contractual law to buddy up to his union cronies as part of that risk. THAT'S the problem here.

Although it has not been confirmed and more details need to be pending since friday, I heard from the radio that a lot of GM dealerships were being shut down accross the country including many profitable and sucessful ones whose exsistance depends and is decided not by the owners of the dealerships, but by GM's appointed arbitrator from the government. The question that comes up based on the statement from the radio is that a lot of the more sucessfull dealerships that are being forced to close were also large contributers to the Republican party or to Republican canidates, not all of them mind you, but a tendency seems to focus more on Republican contributers as being targeted. Again, this has yet to be positively confirmed, and it may have been as of Friday, but I would not be surprised if it turned out to be more than just a coincedence.

It should also be noted that the last time a government ran a car company was when EAST GERMANY was making them in the 1960's to prove that the government could do better than private German and European companys. Never mind that you had to wait two years to get one of these cars or that it, burned more oil than a fire in a landfill full of tires, had leaky windows, thin sheet metal contruction ,easily rusted and ussally had more duct tape on it than metal . I forgot their name, but they quickly went out of bussiness once the Berlin wall came down, seeing that they could not compete with the cars that were available in WEST GERMANY. Go figure -Mike

Its funny how none of you talk about how your country got to this point in the first place? What should any president do? Let GM go bankrupt and leave them high and dry? Resulting in yet more job losses? There have been how many losses in this industry in the last year? Four hundred thousand give or take a few? Lets hear your solutions for change instead of all this constant whining. No one ever has solutions or alternatives to the "problems" they complain about. Just wah wah wah poor me.

You are all so worried about socialsim infiltrating your lives and worried about ME and NOW. Driving around in your trucks and SUV's ignoring the market trends around the world. So self oriented – no one else exists but the USA. Who brought the global economy into recession? Your country and your excessive consumer greed and the last president you all whined about. You hold your government accountable for everything and you take no responsibility for anything as a citizen – ever. Collectively as a country you have been greedy and selfish and narcissistic and now you are paying for it.

Im so sick and tired of America and honestly Im glad its all crashing down around you. You deserve it.

She did NOT buy stock, she bought bonds. She loaned them money, probably at a fixed rate. She was to get the same return, regardless of how well the company did (or did not). Yes, bonds do have risk, and she should have diversified, but that doesn't mean that she has to take a back seat to the union.

The problem here is that the rules were changed unilaterally AFTER she bought those bonds.

In a bankruptcy, bondholders have to get paid first, before any unsecured creditors, like the unions. Even if they followed the rules, she might not get all of her principal back, but she certainly should be paid in full (to the extent the money is there) before the unions get a dime!

Bondholders just loaned money to the company – they knew how much return they would get, and that was it. No opportunity for a "killing" here.

The stockholders knew that they could lose big or win big... so now they lose big.

The unions, on the other hand, have been milking the auto companies over the years for the most they could get, and they did get a LOT! Now the government comes in and bails them out using taxpayer money, and the money of the bondholders. That's what is unfair!

GM and Chrysler should have forced into bankruptcy a LONG time ago, because they -were- insolvent. Anybody who bought their stock in the past few years should have known it was a gamble. The unions should have seen the problem coming, and should have backed off on their demands, seeing that they were killing the goose that was laying the golden eggs they were enjoying.

FIRST priority should be the bondholders, not the unions that helped to create the problem in the first place.

And yes, she has a right to be ashamed of how her government is rewriting the rules of business, after the fact, to acheive a political goal. So much for the rule of law.

What a terrifying goverment under Obama and his radical comrades. This lady did not speculate in stock. She had purchased bonds which do not appreciate in value in correlation to company stock dollar growth. The trade off to having less earnings potential is bondholders recieve better protection if disaster strikes through (until now) guaranteed priority in liquidation. Your Messiah is undermining the entire written law to empower his UAW thugs and his radical socialist agenda.

$70,000 in one American car company. I thought teachers were supposed to be educated. That's been a bad investment since the 70s.

I myself lost $40,000 when it was "safely diversified" in DOW Jones, NASDAQ and International funds. This lady is not special in that she lost a lot of money – we all have! She was just especially foolish to sink it all into GM. Obviously, she believed that old mantra about "GM will always be here."

You've got to be kidding me, Debra. The fact that you "thought it was safe" and didn't see that GM's designs were bass-ackwards when compared to virtually every other major automaker in the industry proves that you never should've invested that money in the first place. If you want to complain when you don't see returns on investments, then put your money into a CD or money market account and make your 3%. We all understand what you're going through. You have one option: go out there, work as hard as you can, and make something of the time you have left. If you're not comfortable with risk, then don't invest.

Who advised Ms. June to purchase corporate bonds? If a broker suggested this without explaining the risk then the broker is at fault. Corporate bonds are not guaranteed by the government. If she had put the money in government I-bonds she would had a lower return, but a guaranteed investment.

OH MY GOD! Do you think she teaches market investments 101 or 1001? Before buying did you or your broker think of looking at GM's long term or even short term business plan? This should have been part of their portfilio. Why am I asking that of an investor when the company exectives didn't bother following these plans. Or maybe they didn't have even a 5 year plan. What a bunch of MR. PATATO HEADS.

Way to go Vonnie!!!! Who is hating who here???? And Vonnie the quote was “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country”.

As these deals see the light if day, it becomes easier to see who put our president into office and who he answers to.

My heart goes out to these people only in that I couldn't imagine what I would do in this situation.

HOWEVER, you can not sit there and argue "unfair" over a bad investment. Any portfolio information will tell you that there is no guarantee that you are going to make money. The only place you are guaranteed a return is in a savings account or a CD where the rate is low and locked.

RISK is the only guarantee when investing in the stock market. It goes up AND it goes down.

Is this lady for real? Hey I'm just a small time investor and I have lost alot more than that. R I S K!! Cry me a bloody river.

Why didn't Roberts ask her what kind of car she drives? I bet she drives a Toyota...

As stated above you made a choice to invest and it didn’t work out we have all been there. But to try to gain sympathy by putting it on Obama as if he was doing this to you as if he is against the people? That is nonsense. The industry is in a difficult situation and I think The administration is doing the best they can in with what they have to work with. And what their job is, is to save the industry and all who work for it and work for connected industries. Your mistake is thinking the "fix" is to save the investors, It is not. Its to save the Auto industry in the US which helps ALL the people in the US who Obama is charged with the protection of. I would just hope as a smart investor you didn’t put all your eggs in the one GM basket if you did I am sorry for your foolishness. I do not know many average people that have that kind of money to drop in one sole investment so I would question your status as average person. Or your since of investment sensibility if you put it all in one place. Maybe you should be looking to your financial advisors for answers. Not the Obama administration.

diversification is how you protect yourself from such happenings. All your eggs in one basket is not a good idea, especially if that basket is something as risky as an american automaker. It's not like they just started having problems with quality or sales...

READING THE MAJORITY OF COMMENTORS ON HERE IS SCARY. IT IS NO WONDER THE US HAS FALLEN BEHIND. PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS.

dude almost everybody who is posting here has no idea what they are talking about. your and the ignorance of the rest of the american public is amazing. take a class on money and banking / investment. stop talking about mutual funds and stocks – these WERE NOT STOCKS. they were coporation asset backed BONDS. this is the next best thing to a guarantee that you will not take a hit like this – the rules governing bankrupcy are supposed to prevent it!!! the real issue here is that the obama task force took bankruptcy law into their own hands and ripped off the common bondholder in another useless attempt to save a dead company and look good on the afternoon news for PEOPLE LIKE YOU TO EAT UP. another great example of his socialistic policies at work.

Gary said it best:
"Gotta Love the Obama solution,,, dump crap loads of pretend $ into a dying company, force them to accept your solutions give the majority to your own self (government), rip off the common folks who helped build this company, then give the Union Thugs majority stake…"

Are they going to interview everyone who has lost money during this recession? Why should I feel sorry for someone who invested in a car company, then lost their investment. Bonds or stock, it does not matter as you always have the possibility of losing your initial investment. It is called risk. If you can't afford to lose it, don't invest in the first place. Also, how did a school teacher manage to get $70k in cash? And why o why would you invest that in one place? There's a sucker born every minute and Debra June is one of them. Stop blaming the four month old administration and own up to the fact that you invested poorly and lost.

everyone wants a buyout. why invest money in a bond and expect 100% principal assurance? next time, buy a treasury bond or put it in an insured bank deposit.

As with any investment, their is risk and rewards.

There are many investors who were banking on the bailout and a recovery to lead them to risches. I took my pension money out of the market and I am earning a meager 3%, but at least what is left of the proniciple is intact.

This stock has been dropping for years. Watch the news or read an Annual Report sometimes!

Folks, simple lets get rid of the UAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Problem solved. However I never inversted with these clowns. That's why now I can sit back and drink che che by the water side. However, we need to get rid of these greedy folks.... Lets start over with a new GM wihtout a union and oh yea, I hate to say it... The money you all put into that stock is goneeeeeeeee. However its not to late to do it right this time.

STOP THE UAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem is that the lady in the interview was not able to get across the main FACTUAL issue that is causing so much consternation amongst bondholders.

All of you invetment neophytes, please pay attention to this one, since your ridiculous rhetoric of "It's the stock market, what did she expect?" just proves that you have NO clue about the central issue at hand.

When she bought the bond, the rules were such that IF the company went bankrupt, the bondholders (of which she is one) would be the FIRST people to be paid back. We can get into detailed explanations of why this rule exists, but to dumb it down for the masses (who are quite dumb), she lent GM money. Therefore, if GM went bankrupt, she was supposed to be in the first group that got paid back from the remaining assets of the company, as opposed to those actual STOCK MARKET INVESTORS who bought GM stocks and bet money that the stock prices would go up.

So, here comes the punchline, mindless masses. Thanks to the actions of Obama's administration, these people are NOT the first ones in line to be repaid, even though that was the rule when she lent GM money in exchange for her bonds. Plain and simple, Obama changed the rules in the middle of the game, and as we all SHOULD know, that is NOT fair.

We could also easily get into a discussion of why Obama and his people did things the way they did, but I'd also have to suggest that while one group (bondholders) are worse off in this "deal", you might want to notice which group is MUCH BETTER off than before this "deal". That's right, the UAW is coming out much farther ahead than they would have under the original laws and rules in effect governing bankruptcies. Surprising? It shouldn't be.

Thank you Robert Johnson for pointing out that most of the people here who have been accusing Debra of being totally inept are themselves totally inept as it seems they do not understand the difference between stocks and bonds. If she had bought them in 2005 or after, I would agree that it was a bad move since in that year the bonds were downgraded to junk status. She bought them in 2003 however when they were still considered investment grade. It does appear that the bond holders are not being given the expected preference in this bankruptcy filing. Having said all that, bonds are still speculative (albeit less than stocks) and it's best not to invest in only one company's bonds.

Bonds are risky people. Maybe not as inherently risky as stocks, but risky nonetheless. That is why there are ratings systems in place for bonds. GM's bonds were cut to junk status years ago, 2005. This woman had plenty of time to get out.
Is her story sad? Yes. Should she have diversified? Yes. Is her story news-worthy? No.

There are a lot of angry and uninformed individuals here making unfair and poor judgement about her case. Investing in Bonds is not the same as investing in stocks.

Seventy thousand in a CD for six years will earn you over $22,000 approximately at 5% which was easily obtainable at that time.

So, she lost approximately $92,000 when she thought she
was going to get rich.

Instead, she got greedy and lost it all.

Constitution

INVESTING is a risk. GM mismanaged their company. My sympathy is not with the shareholders- the shareholders SPECULATED that their shares would rise in value. When a company goes under, those shares are devalued. Doesn't she understand that?

My sympathy is with the thousands (if not millions) who will lose their jobs. But, again, if the company you work for goes out of business, no matter how large that company is, you will probably lose your job.

Tough cookies.

This woman is obviously ignorant about the bond market and probably should not have been investing in it in the first place. GM is a company that has been bankrupt by any meaningful definition of the word for the past year. So she just sits on these bonds and what? Thinks they'll pay up as promised? Does she really think there is a better deal out there now that GM has finally filed for bankruptcy? As of today, GM owes $172 billion and has only $82 Billion in assets. Many of those assets are properties that are going down in value as I write this. Even if the bondholders are first or second in line, they could only get a fraction of their investment back. With this plan, they at least have the chance to recoup something if the stock appreciates over time. It's a lose-lose deal for everyone, but that's what you get with incompetent management.

Welp, some money is better than none if the company had gone under without any gov't assistance.

Stocks always have the disclaimer that "Past performance is not an indication of future performance". If she doesn't understand that there is risk inherent in the stock market, she should not be in there. Also, she should understand diversification. It is nobody's fault that she lost, except for herself.

Hey Debra, the Governator of California wants to know if you would like to invest the rest of your life savings into the State of California bonds and he wants to know if you have relatives who are just as guillable, oops, I mean investment savy as you.

A 70 K investment reduced to 200 bucks is a huge loss. Those of you saying you lost in the stock market are very likely to not have had that kind of loss. Obama interfered with the normal bankrupcy proceedings to ensure his union supporters were taken care of and he dictated the terms that the bondholders would have to take.

Come On, I am a 15 year old high school student, even I understand that investments of that type are a risk. Sigh.

"So do you blame the task force? Do you blame the company, the unions? Who do you blame for getting in this situation? "

If anyone is to blame it would be the investor who risks their entire $70K in a single fund. Investments are a gamble. It's tremendously sad when a middle-class working person loses such a large sum of their retirement, but that doesn't change the rules of investment.

GAH! Bonds are not the "stock market". Bonds are not "equities". I wish that basic finance and economics were required courses in high school. This country would be a better place if it wasn't so full of opinionated idiots who have such strong feelings about things they don't know the first thing about.

This is plain old fashioned socialism. Hmmmm, I wonder if the UAW will support Obama in 4 years after the scores of back-door meetings between them and his administration of the next few years?

Socialism ...something that these school teachers preach to our children and something she should have understood better. I'm sure the future prospect for GM's viability are as good as they are for our own government. Our government cannot even keep its own debt under control in its frantic effort to redistribute our tax dollars. I will also point out that the majority of Americans do not pay any net taxes and, being one that does, I'm happy to see the rest of you flounder in the tides of "change."

All you people who are saying she invested in bonds, not stocks, so it's "not her fault" need a serious education. Especially if this woman is an EDUCATOR she should know how to LEARN something about where she puts her money. I wouldn't want her teaching my kids.

A corporate bond less risky than stock in the same corporation, that is all. Many stocks are safer than many bonds. Putting all your money in ANY single corporate bond is completely stupid. Putting all your money in an American carmaker in 2003, even in bonds, is pure ignorance, and this woman has no one to blame but herself. If you want a large stake in the bond market, you don't put everything in one risky bond, you buy a bond fund. That way you can diversify and manage your risk. That way even if things turn sour you won't be completely wiped out.

She bought the ticket, now she's taking the ride. And those of you who are claiming that she had a "right" to a return or that Obama "stole" from her are equally ignorant. If the government didn't step in and GM was forced by bondholders into an unstructured liquidation bankruptcy when it ran out of cash to pay its coupons, the bondholders would get nothing or next to nothing–less than the pittance they are getting under reorganization.

The institutional bondholders realize this and that's why when it came down to the wire they agreed. This woman wants to destroy an auto company and is harming its workers by trying to hold out for a deal that she CAN'T GET. The money is not there.

Lee Stewart...This administration will go down as the most overbearing, corrupt and law breaking one in Americn history. Sorry Obama supporters, all we have to do is watch the facts begin to unfold.
-------------------------------–
I find that hard to believe considering this administration would have to be worst than Bush, Reagan and Nixon. I just don't see that happening.

Yes, she bought bonds – she was not in the stock market.

But bonds are still a risk. There is no guarantee with bonds. The company went under and she lost money.

If bonds were a sure bet, we'd all buy them, but they are still a risk.

dumb dumb dumb. what about diversification? Thats a big word, lets all say it now. For her 70K has got to be almost more then 2 yrs pay. Is she crazy? I couldnt sleep with that much in one stock. This is got to be a lesson to all diversify!

I have to laugh about the "entitlement" comments. Obama voters are ALL looking for entitlements. If you are a minority, gay, or a union worker (including pathetic Hollywood types), you voted for that inexperienced, angry imposter for one specific pet cause. You could care less about the country or else you would be outraged by this guy taking over companies, where he would only be qualified to be in the mail room. He is clearly nothing more than a puppet who was selected to be the front man for a socialist agenda since they knew that most people wouldn't have the guts to criticize a black guy. Wake up America and take our country back!

Alrght folks; here is a link to a pretty relevant article on buying GM bonds... from 2006!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/waggon/2006-07-20-gm-bond_x.htm

The article stresses the risks, says it is worth the risk, but very clearly lays out the fact that THERE IS RISK. To all the commenters above stating that a bond is a guaranteed return on investment, you are wrong wrong wrong. This woman didn't diversify and should not make political excuses for her foolishness.

To the person who wrote on this comment board: "Wow- to the people who say- “she knew the risks of speculating”; “the Stock Market is a dangerous place”. HELLO!!!!!!! These are people who invested in BONDS; FIXED INCOME; LOW RISK INVESETMENTS: – NOT THE VOLITLE RISK TAKING STOCK MARKET!!"

Sorry, but you're missing the point: this is not a savings account in which you are guaranteed to accrue a certain amount of interest monthly no matter the position of the bank.

You said it yourself in the misspelled comment you made: "Low Risk Invesetments"-Low Risk is not equivalent to No Risk, no matter how naive you are.

Seems like a lot of hate in many of these comments...are you people happy that someone lost their investment?
Also, stop saying that 'even mortgage backed securities used to be safe'. They were........until the government started screwing with them! Please keep in mind that when the government started legislating who should get mortgages, that is the day mortgages became a risky investment.

Keep the government out and let the market clear itself. Also, I have to laugh at you Obama supporters who gleefully criticize this woman for not being responsible, then you turn around and expect the government to guarantee:
a minimum wage
health care
college education
welfare benefits for otherwise able workers
etc
Which is it you want.......individual responsibility or Obama's nanny state?

Who hasn't lost a ton of money in this market that BTW started going south way before Obama took office? Welcome to the stock market. Maybe you could have lost it in chip stocks or telecom....gee, wake up.

Creditors have seniority over stockholders, but employee pay (until terminated) has even higher priority. The UAW has essentially become a senior creditor with the pay/benefits they were promised. No one should complain about this pecking order unless they feel like seeing their own employers start paying bondholders before getting their own paychecks or medical coverage! It's just a shame GM couldn't design and sell vehicles that could successfully overcome these expenses.

How much was this woman hoping to get out of this anyway? GM's liabilities are nearly double its assets - and they're only going Chapter 11 which means only select assets will be on the table to be liquidated and distributed to bondholders. and it's probably safe to say the assets they do liquidate will probably not even get full book value in the process...

She should be thankful if she gets those converted shares and be as faithful in the long term to GM with that investment as she was when she bought (and kept) the bonds.

Only one thing to add. WHo exactly does she want to pay for her loss? GM is bankrupt and owned by the "the people" now, so I guess I should dig in my piggy bank and you in yours and pay her for her. I understand it was a security asset backed bond and not stock so the loss and the rule change sucks. Yet having previously worked for a company that got done over by a bankruptcy the best she could hope for owning her bonds is what ever the company can sell its assets for. Now who wants to buy an over priced out of date production facility in a location where the union is going to try to force themselves in and make labor prices crazy. Humm I think we saw houses in Detroit selling for more last year.

I lost $4,500 at the tables this year, must be because the casino's are suffering huge losses. Now all I'm getting is $450 in free credits! I feel robbed...I should be reimbursed, maybe my lawyer can get my money back! HAHA....what a joke, I might be a little extreme here, but gambling is gambling...look lady, you took a chance and lost....suck it up.

The issue is not that she is going to lose money. There obviously is a risk inherent to lending money to a company in exchange for bonds, although that is a MUCH lower risk than buying that company's stock. The point is that in bankruptcy, the bondholders (including herself) should've been paid first, as opposed to being pushed back in line at the expense of the UAW union.

Therefore, the point is that she should've recouped more money than she is being given, going by the rules in effect for corporate bankruptcy proceedings. It's hard to understand why most people seem to have such a hard time understanding the concept that she was guaranteed to be at the front of the line if the company went bankrupt, but instead, thanks to Obama's "plan", she has been pushed back in line behind the union, and now is getting less than she is entitled to.

Michelle Obama (I did not vote for the current president) and the fact that you are a school teacher have nothing to do with this. Are you saying that you are entitled to some help because of what you do? You make around the average wage in this country. That means that about 70 million people make less than you. Are the rest of us not worthy because we have different jobs? No, the rest of us know what an investment is and have taken our losses for what they are. Part of the price for living in this country. A country that allows things like bankruptcy, which in turn allows you to have 140 shares left when in fact you should have 0 shares left. GM did not work and should be allowed to die and be replaced by a business model that does work.

Look, there is not an investment in the world that is guaranteed. I feel for the money you lost (I have lost a similar amount, most of what I have invested) (not most of what I have saved) but I hope you knew that this was a possibility going in. Every investment I have ever made has had a paragraph devoted to the fact that this is an investment and that there is a possibility of the loss of all of you principle. If you did not know what that meant then I am sorry, but even things like banks and your own home, which almost always are a safe investment, cannot guarantee a return on you money.

She didn't invest in the stock market.

She bought Bonds.

Under the law, she is supposed to get her disbursements first.

But the White House is breaking the law, and giving the disbursements to favored parties, and giving the bondholders the leftovers.

This is stealing. It's fraud. It's illegal.

I don't feel sorry for this person at all. She doesn't seem like she's the brightest crayon in the box anyways. She has no grasp of financial risk v. reward.

"Common" people generally don't have $70,000 laying around to invest.

"Common" people generally stick to mutual funds.

"Common" people who think they're sophisticaed investors and pick individual companies need to live with the consequences.

From the comment on Mrs. Obama, it is clear that she is a republican. I thought that republicans believe in personal responsibility. When you invest you take risk – so accept it. BTW, this is what happens after eight years of George W.

So the UAW and the Government of the United States and Canada are the major owners of GM and the share holders and bond holders got screwed. What makes the UAW and the Government of the United States and Canada think that GM is going to be successful. Right now I dont even think GM is going to even succesful. So UAW and the Government of the United States and Canada think they they are safe and that they just screwed the share holders and bond holders but what they dont know is that they are next. GM is not a good company and this company is eventually going to fail so our tax dollars and the tax dollars of the government of Canada are going to be wasted. UAW people you are going to feel the pain of what this lady is feeling right now so sooner or later you are next.

LOL.. Why would you buy bonds in GM? That's retarded anyway.

I wonder how many people complained during the 90's that they were making obscene amounts on their investments? Where were the cries for fairness and restraint back then? Oh, I see. The government and Wall Street are only bad guys when they're LOSING everyone money.

As long as they're making us all rich, we don't care to know the details.

the govt. might as well paid off all the bond holders and let GM go down the drain.

It's clear what political party the folks that are completely diverting the issue on behalf of a Michelle Obama remark are. You would defnitely not be saying the same thing if you were in her shoes, just like she wouldn't be saying the same thing if she hadn't lost money. That is just what American culture is about now...greed...for better or worse. I think many of us have lost a lot of money in the last year (I pretty much lost all my investments...diversified...over the past 7 years). It seems that many of the big funds tanked (I'm sure there have been some that seemingly are weathering the storm or at least breaking even of which I'd love to learn more). Anyways, someone else commented that bonds were supposedly safer, and that she was due first dibs at the assets of the company. She should be mad if Obama's team came in and gave that away. If it is true...then it should show all you voters, Republican and Democrat, that politicians on either side of the spectrum are all bad.

I'm literally in tears laughing at the people who are clumsily attempting to differentiate between holding bonds and holding stock.

The stockholders are completely wiped out, they get nothing. This is exactly what is supposed to happen.
Bondholders then become equity holders throughout the bankruptcy process and have dibs on whatever is left.

Debt is always subject to default risk. The only reason she got any money back at all was because she was a bondholder. If those of you defending this woman because "she invested in debt, she should get her money back", you understand nothing about corporate legal structure and will likely end up with a CNN special of your own.

GM maybe was in trouble before President Jim Jones's financial people got involved, but nobody seems to mention while defending the teleprompter president that Ford didn't take Barry's handout, and they are seeming to ride this out like the rest of investors... What's wrong, didn't Ford's Union vote for Mr Hussein Obama?

You invested 70K in a SINGLE asset! How can you consider yourself to be one of the "people". Sorry for your loss but maybe now you will be brought down to earth a bit and realize what the term average really means in America. Most of America is not running around throwing 70K at loser companies.

Truth is although you laid 70K on a single company, you did not have that much to lose. No one in their right mind would put all their investment money on one horse. Would you go to Vegas and put 70K on red? Always nice to see nouveau rich get their lumps. You thought you could play in the big leagues and you wind up getting burned. This is the part of the story that does indeed redeem you as being average or even below. You invested poorly and are now disgruntled at being subjugated to your rank as just another broke wage earner. Guess what, you were never anything more than that. Next time try earning your money you groveling proletariat, and stop trying to act as though you can handle the world of high finance.

Be thankful you are still employed, it puts you on better ground than a lot of other people. Now get to work, it's all you will ever be good for!

To all you people out here shouting about how risky it was to "buy stock" in a company who was losing money, or investing all her eggs in one basket, you seem to be ignoring the fact that THIS WOMAN DID NOT BUY STOCKS. She was a bondholder, which is a very different animal than a stockholder, especially when it comes to bankruptcies. By law, this woman should be first in line for GM assets in the ownership restructuring, but the plan that she has been offered instead stinks. Quit blaming her for buying GM stock. That isn't what she did.

Umm, you guys know that she purchased bonds, not stocks, right? So why is everyone talking about taking risks in the stock market? Oh yeah, this is a left-leaning website, why would I expect to find anybody other than the poster Claude Montreal who has a clue about anything other than whining?

What everyone is forgetting is that she probably received interest on these bonds. I am guessing that it is a good rate. Let's say it was 10%. This means she would have gotten $42,000 (!0% X $70,000 X 6 years) over her 6 years. Heck, we all lost a lot of money in the stock market with all divdends reinvested. She made out about the same as someone investing in stocks.

i pretty much agree with the general sentiment of the comments – this individual is whining and complaining. suck it up. you made an investment and it didn't pay off. nobody robbed you. if anything, you robbed yourself. i wouldn't have touched GM with a 40 foot pole.

It's odd that people are calling her an idiot for investing in the stock market.

She did not invest in the stock market.

She bought bonds.

If you're going to call people idiots, don't get your facts all wrong.

Sounds like most of the people who have commented thus far are more sympathetic to Michelle Obama for having her words used against her than for the person who lost her retirement savings – how skewed and illogical is that?

1st, just as it's been said over and over, The stock market is a gamble, it's a crap shoot. you take your punches and you collect your winnings, if you let them ride, thats all on you.

Obama did a lot more for GM than any of the republican candidates would have. Remember they wanted GM in bankruptcy years ago, and ealier this year they all agreed that GM should go into bankruptcy.
So Obama delayed the inevitable giving GM every oppourtunity to right it's ship. GM was failing, It was too beholden to the unions who in a sense crushed GM out of competition.
So now they can restructure, the Union contracts are done, they can start fresh and new. What does that mean for those people who put thier faith in the failed business practice of the past..just as in the government when you try to hold onto the old in the new age you get dropped or left behind.
Mrs Obama, has been misquoted by a very emotional woman trying to solicit support for a loss of 70,000 dollars. I would to, thats a lot of money. But this is American capitalism rules, and those are the breaks in our society.
Cest la vie. She has a right to feel the loss and blame someone, but dont get it twisted, this would have happened in february under Mccain, with no sympathy or help offered. one could say the American public would not be in debt with GM as much as they are...but looking to the future, who knows what the american people will get out of the new GM to come. it is sure to be a better company than it was. I'm willing to see what comes out of american production.

What has happened to one person can/will happen to another person. For those without sympathy and, most important, without understanding of this situation...your turn is coming.

It's called RISK. How could you not diversify? You are just as retarded as those running GM. Cry me a river!!!!

The real lesson here is, don't invest your money.

The crooks will break the law as they did here, and find ways to steal it.

Once your money leaves your hands, it can be stolen by politicians and their friends, who have no regard at all for the law.

maybe a schoolteacher shouldnt be investing 70K into one high yield name...

anddddd.... stop comparing her to everybody else that is hurting in this economy. she is in a small minority of people who was looking toward her future and retirement and making investments toward that. the majority of you people and everyone else were spending way beyond your means. the reason people are losing their houses is because they borrowed more money than they could pay back. those are the ones that we should not feel sorry for. instead your government is bailing out the people who spent more then they had and screwing the people that saved their money and made investments.

it really blows my mind how many screwed up people there are in this country – and browsing the CNN website...

I can certainly empathize with Ms June and the thousands of other GM bond holders. However, her coment "You’re wiping out common people that saved money. I’m not a corporation. " is lacking in personal responsability – yes you saved money but you invested that savings as well in anticipation of a profit and thus subjected that savings to one of the many possible outcomes wich unfortunately did not turn out in your favor.

Ms. June has a legitmate complaint as far as being a bond holder rather than a stock holder.
Bond holders have lent money to the company and if the company fails, the procedure is ususally to liqudate that assets to pay off the loan holders. Stock holders have an equity stake. Bond holders have lent money collateralized by the assests of the company, or should be that way.
It is bad judgement to put all of your money in one big bond, but little guys don't usually know this.

In the end the this bondholder gets nothing but the CEO of GM will probably walk away with millions. That sounds fair to me. I think GM should be held responsible for their actions. If they owe her 70K then they need to pay it. Maybe they should sale some of their executives personal items to cover it.

There's sure a lot of idiots on this blog. Read the article, she is not a stock holder, she bought bonds. In a bankruptcy, she should be first to the trough to get her money back. Obama blindsided all the bondholders with his inside negotiations and left them holding the bag. She got screwed by Obama, and GM and company.

Evidently this woman thought investing her money was a "no lose" proposition. And she was so very convinced that she put all her money into that one investment?

Seems to me she would have lost no matter where she invested.

"A fool and her money are soon parted."

And I love this comment from her .......

"People out there have saved their money. We’ve done the right thing. I pay my bills and here all of a sudden, they want to give me two shares. 140 shares of stock. "

She was a good girl and should be sheltered from the realities of investing because she did what people told her was "the right thing". And lets not forget .......... she pays her bills. That alone should be worth $70,000.

You gotta love the Obama plan for everything, pretty much it says one thing to the koolaid drinkers and screws them all in the end.

LMAO I voted for the other guy LOL.

We still have three plus years of this president so buck up everyone we are in for one helluva ride

I see the true America hasn't changed much from the 1800's. It is dog eat dog, use and abuse who ever you can. Take the little persons money and run then make it look like they are the stupid ones. Most of us lost big time with our 401k plans, in these plans there are very few choices as to how to invest. These are the plans that our goverment is pushing to help us all retire. Lets face it none of them know what they are doing, or maybe they do, its called The Fleecing of America.
What a mess, we all look stupid!

Corporate management and politicians are interested in keeping the gravy train moving. Saps like us are the feedlot cattle. WAKE up and smell the half caf no foam macciatto vanilla soy latte.

also, to those who claim that obama screwed bondholders in favor of the union, GM had a HUGE unfunded penion liability, so the union was probably one of their largest (soft) lenders....

EVERYTHING has risk including BONDS. WTF was she doing on her income buying 70K in one bond that was DUMB. She took a risk and lost.. Let me ask her this if the 70k would have become 700k would she have given the windfall to Michelle Obama?

Although I feel sorry for this and the other bond holders, all investments involve RISK. The alternative in bankrupcy is that she would get nothing – not even the few shares of common stock she would get in this distribution. It's too bad that her anger is misguided. It should be directed at GM's management and board.

The comments here are amazing – people really don't understand bonds at all. The consensus seems to be: "You lost your money, but you knew the risks and sometimes investments don't pay off." In fact, there seems to be animosity toward anyone who would dare to invest in a company! "Must be some awful RICH PERSON if they've actually managed to save enough to invest!"

People save money SAFELY by investing in bonds as part of a RETIREMENT PLAN. You know, what responsible adults are SUPPOSED to do? Bondholders are not looking to 'get rich quick' as 'speculators'... they're loaning companies their OWN money, for a VERY small return. GM bonds were one of the safest, most responsible ways for a person to save for retirement. And you people are saying this woman "took a gamble that didn't pay off?" Are you serious? I'm gonna say the same thing to you when your bank account shows up empty one day because the bank went out of business overnight: "You knew the risks, and I guess the gamble didn't pay off."

This ISN'T STOCK people! This isn't a situation where someone bought stock at one price, hoping it would rise, and instead it went down. No, this woman let GM borrow 70 thousand dollars from her PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT, with an iron-clad promise that they would pay her back, and Obama stepped in and said "I'm breaking GM's promise and letting them keep your money."

Why? So he could give her money to the UAW. This woman gave GM her OWN money, thinking with absolute certainty that GM would keep their promise and pay her back. Instead, Obama STEALS it and gives it to GM employees. Unbelievable!

Just another example of Obama taking from one person something that's rightfully theirs and giving it to someone else that didn't earn it. Never mind the law, or fairness, or personal freedom – instead, we've got the self-proclaimed President Robin Hood who can take what he wants, and in his infinite wisdom decide who best to 'redistribute' it to.

I wonder what $70,000 represents to this woman as a percentage of her total savings. Why would someone invest a large percentage of their savings into a bond of ONE company? And if this is the case, why would she pick GM? This company has been in decline for a quarter century. To pick GM is to ignore the statistics that have continued to come out quarterly for many years now. The Japanese and German car makers have been consisent gainers in US market share. If she was gambling on a big turnaround, then she should have been using money she could afford to lose. Maybe 10% of her savings. I do not sympathize with this woman one bit.

When the government stepped in and got involved I knew it was going to be bad news. I don't care who is president. The government does not know how to run businesses.

The worse thing about the government getting involved is what happened to this shareholder, that there are no negotiations. You could not argue or sue the government.

We would've been better off if the TASK force did not get involved. Now taxpayers own 40% of a company that was going to go bankrupt anyways.

For those of you making negative comments for the boldholder, you've missed the point. Obama started out strong, but clearly he's becoming a money hungry pig. Just like all the other Demo's and is giving into big money and leaving the common people behind.

A number of folks have written in here claiming that bonds are supposed to be safe investments. Since when? Bonds are and always have been risky investments, just as stocks are. Bonds fluctuate in value, just like stocks. And if the company goes belly up, you can lose big time. That's why you spread your money around, and that's why you pay attention to the company's condition. If the company looks seriously damaged, you can sell the bonds. They won't be worth face value like if you hold them to maturity, but if you've been getting the distributions for a few years, you may not be losing all that much. That's much better than going down with the ship.

I will be very upset if this woman and her ilk get one additional dime. What about me? I lost half of my portfolio value and have a 20% decline in the value of my home? Will someone mail me a check? We all took risks – until someone compensates me for my losses, I don't want to hear anything from jokers like this lady!

Everything is a risk... For almost three decades Toyota and Honda have built better cars. The time was coming. Had she invested in Toyota instead she would have made a significant amount of money.

Sorry, no one owes her or any other investor a dime.

Obama support are saying two things: "oh but you knew there were risks" and "you cant blame Obama". But what they are missing is the fact that Obama's team (and Bush) not only wasted TONS of tax dollars on a dying company; they gave in to the Unions and gave them the best deal while throwing investors under the bus. So the government rewards the group that kept them uncompetitive while slapping the group that gave the most to try and keep things going. One fat pig feeding another. Can't wait til this type of stuff cripples our health industry (which is in need of an overhaul, but not the they Obama is thinking).

Thanks to so many for their savvy explanations of the difference between stocks and bonds. In the final analysis, Ms. June made an investment in a failing company that has finally reached its breaking point.

Hopefully Ms. June will relate her story to all of her students, so that future generations won't make the same mistake as her.

Good luck trying to make Ms. June feel better about her own situation by pointing out all of the auto workers that are going to lose their jobs. Do you really think that a school teacher is going to feel sorry for people that made up to $30/hr bolting parts together? Some of the laid-off folks are going to make 80% of their salary. Any guesses on what Ms. June would get if she were laid off??

For all of you who keep saying bondholders should be first in line, you are wrong. That is true in chapter 7 – liquidation. This is a chapter 11 – reorganization – and that means that statuatory debt like paychecks and benefits are first in line by law. This is nothing new – it was true under Reagan and it's true today.

C'mon. It's the stock market. You can't complain when you lose money like this, it's always a risk. Sure the deal they were offereing is lowsy, but too bad. You invested in a company that bombed as many many many people have lately. I hope you diversified like you're suppoosed to.

Still laughing at the multiple finance "gurus" who seem to think the principal for corporate debt is riskless.

"Uh, she, uh...um...should at least get her $70,000 back. Darhur"

I hope you guys can ask your business school for a refund.

It's true that we should not put all our eggs in one basket. However, it seems that Obama is ruining all the baskets for the people. This is so reminiscing of what Fidel Castro did in Cuba. Castro was trusted, admired and believed at first. What happened after is history. It's very frightening.

The Michell Obama comment was over the top, but when she says she hopes a judge questions "what about the people, the dealerships, and factory workers, I nearly laughed myself into a stroke. It's business. And GM was very bad at the business game over the last decade especially. They need to trim the fat, and that means that bondholders, dealerships, and factory workers will be cut, put on hold, etc. What is the government suppose to do, wave a magic wand pay for the company to continue on as it has and hope for the best?

For a school teacher she is not very bright.

Six years ago GM was still in bad shape, what were you thinking investing $70,000 in a failing company at that time? For a school teacher, who probably only makes around $40-50,000 a year, $70,000 in one company is a huge RISK and amount for one person to invest totally into one company. Unless you are very wealthy from inheritance or other means that we don't know of, why did you do this? Now you want to blame Obama. Blame Mit Romney! He would have bankrupted GM years ago and you would have lost everything with no deal.

It's a sad situation indeed...but when you buy stocks and bonds, you assume RISK. And to blame Obama for it? Seriously? It was YOUR financial decision, not his. Take some accountability instead of shifting the blame onto everyone else. Millions of Americans have lost trillions in the stock market, but no one put a gun to your head and forced you into this investment. The stockholders of Lehman Brothers made out much worse than you. I realize you're angry, but coming from someone who lost a good chunk of money in the market last fall, you should accept the fact that it was a risk, you did what you thought was smart, and a horrible turn of the economy which no one could have seen coming hit you as well as millions of others. Get angry, make your peace, and move on. I know it's hard, but being bitter and angry won't make your money come back...believe me, I know. Just make your peace with this, and move on.

It is truly amazing to read the posts from those who believe this poor woman "invested" in a risky enterprise. She did not. She earned money. She loaned it to GM at a specified interest rate with the risky expectation that GM would repay the note, no more. She did not speculate that GM stock would rise. She should be second in line behind suppliers for the proceeds of liquidation in bankruptcy, and typically would have realized 40% of her investment. That's the law. That is until we elected an openly corrupt president with debts to organized labor. What did organized labor invest in GM that they didn't get paid for? Open corruption. A government strong-arming business, flaunting bankruptcy law. Many people get hurt when big businesses fail, but the government has no business changing the rules to save the politically correct.

The deals were grossly unfair both the GM deal and the Chrysler deals.

When you give unsecured creditors more than you give secured creditors its a raw deal. When you kowtow to those who are making on average more than 3 times the average US wage and expect everyone else to continue to subsidize that wage it is wrong.

It is my sincere hope that not 1 American will buy 1 share of the New GM and Chrysler nor that any bank will loan either company any money after the travesty the Government brokered deal is.

We should have let these two companies fail late last year, we should have let the banks fail. It is what they deserved. Now we are all on the hook to save people more concerned about earning 3 times the national average wage and more concerned about big institutions and big corporations than they are about the people.

Debra's key words are "When I bought into GM, I thought it’s a safe thing". She doesn't want to take any responsibility for managing her investment portfolio. She wants to find someone to sue for her stupidity instead. She should have got out when the auto industry when it started getting getting pounded 3 years ago. I don't want to pay for GM's bailout and hers.

Remember GM had the soluction with their all electric car. Customers loved it.
Then GM killed the electric car. Therefore GM deserves to die.
GM is stupid.
Now Obama is laying claim to invent the GM electric car?
Is everyone in America either crazy or stupid including Obama?
See the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car."
Die GM die.

Wow, most of the people on here can't tell the difference between stocks and bonds. She invested in GM bonds, not stock. And six years ago, GM's bonds were considered low risk (not junk) bonds. In most cases, companies that go bankrupt allow the bondholders to take control of the company. In this case, our GOVERNMENT took control of the company. Don't blame her for pointing out what a lot of you can't understand. The GM bondholders got screwed by our own government.

Sorry for her and the others.. we have freinds with same issue, most over 60.. BUT not ONE complained when "Stock growing at 5-15% per year etc" and NONE could ever explain at how this was going on and what was source of their new wealth? One did get "paid back" when son and family showed up at door as both laid off in "cost cutting". as company that was making them "great returns on stock".
Sorry USA, but as we fail, and USA is failing, has been for 30 years now... we turned the management of the once might USA industry over to the "bottom line and stock bonus C//'s and fee feeders along the cash flow". from the "Industry knowledgeable" and we fed the greed machine, rather then the industrial machines.. and "capitalisum" was no more as it required to grow, money going back to plant updates, and workers in USA.. not move offshore via trade rules that a bought congress set up.. So greed got what greed gets, a very few did very well and those millions of commoners taking a beating..
So as one very wise money guy told me.. "Investment is going for all you can afford to lose.. saving is getting a safe place for funds, one pays or loses very well, the other remains there very well.. you pay and take your chances with your greed index guiding your plan" Sorry but you lost, along with millions of others.. but the fee feeders did well and so will the lawyers as usual. .. So goes GM, so goes the USA

Well June, I am sorry you lost your money. However, it sounds like you should have gotten some financial guidance before you dumped $70,000 into GM. Even 6 years ago the company was not in good shape.
You should have done your homework. Also you should have never put such a large investment into one company. You should have diversified your risks. You made a bad investment and now you want to blame someone else. That's one of the big problems with the people in this country, nobody wants to take responsibility any more. At least you have a job!

What the heck!!! Since when do people that invest in a company knowing....KNOWING....there is risk involved get to play the sympathy card, cry and say it's not fair? I've got the IQ of a baby rattle and I know that investing is risky and you should make choices wisley. Let's look at this logically, she took $70,000 and invested in GM. First, is she loaded, I think the fact she felt she needed to get on CNN and cry about her money being gone means no she doesnt have a lot of money which means she broke the rule of people all your eggs in one basket. Second, I'm know business man no do I keep up on business news but I seem remember GM not doing that well even 6 years ago.
In summary, SUCK IT UP, you rolled the dice of investment hit craps and your moneys gone, I'm sorry really I am, but please spare us all your whoa is me cry baby act and take responsibility of YOUR OWN ACTIONS like a grown up. GAAAAAHHHHH!

Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle, speaking in Milwaukee, Wis. said,
“for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

If you hope someone will dhange the rules of the game to steal your money, yup!

This is what is wrong with people,trying to blame every one but themselves, If I buy a house which i cannot afford,say some one tricked me into it,if credit card companies raise your rates because you didnt pay,lets gang up on them,blame blame blame,I lost 50 000 dollars in the dot com bust,I accept the fact that i did nt know squat about investing and hence its my fault.

It's funny, people are quick to assume that bonds bear the same risk as stock.

Claude from Montreal said it right, bondholders have the first stake at assets should a company (in this circumstance GM) goes into bankruptcy.

Generally, that is correct if you're talking about a liquidation bankruptcy (e.g. Circuit City), but this re-organization bankruptcy. The main difference is that bondholders, instead of having rights to equity, lose the right to mature their bonds. That being said, the offer made by GM is legal, but it's not an all-or-nothing deal.

If you were to accept the proposal, then GM would convert your bonds to equity, if not, you would maintain your bonds until they mature (and the company is out of bankruptcy). The only concern is that if you wait, the bonds may be reduced in value by the bankruptcy judge.

Welcome to the world of investments. Risk=reward or failure
Read the disclaimers.

The amount of stupidity and ignorance on this forums is beyond belief. The majority of the individuals on this board she educate themselves on the topics they are discussing BEFORE posting a comment "backed up" by what they hear on TV.

People think HEADLINES that the media use to pull in viewers REFLECT THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH. wake up you fools – DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BEFORE YOU TYPE.

For those that didn't know and are drinking the media kool-aid because you're in the presumably uneducated sector – BONDS are NOT EQUITIES. The majority of investors who invest in the bond/stock market are looking for a JUSTIFIED rate of return on the accepted level of risk.

What Obama did is ALTER risk during Chrysler and now GM bankruptcies. The White House also did a great job spinning these investors as the "speculative bunch" on Wall St. Sure, some private investors may have speculated (as with ALL OTHER INVESTMENT VEHICLES), but the biggest loser are the small time investors who invested in bond/stock funds through larger funds. This is what frustrates me, the private investor, and investors across the country.

Please educate yourself before firing off idiotic comments.

Lets forget about our Prsident and our Government, lets get rid of the UAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I work for a company that has No Union and was created by the men who owned Enron KM... Its the greatest place to work without some Union rep asking for Money, Money, Money... WAKE UP AMERICA LETS GET RID OF THE UAW......

Investment carries risk. Return is usually proportional to risk. If you don't understand that, or don't have it explained to you by whoever is helping you invest, you shouldn't be in ANY financial instrument – stocks, bonds, or anything else.

She assumed a risk, but now doesn't like the fact that it didn't turn out in her favor and wants her money back – so, she wanted to be paid for taking the risk, but now wants to be indemnified against the loss? I don't think so.

And may I ask where she's BEEN the last few years, as the auto market was coming unraveled? Did she ever think of redistributing her investment as she saw the industry failing? How about diversifying her portfolio? How difficult a concept is THAT?

No sympathy hear.

It's all in the fine print: Past performance is not guarantee of future results. If you can't take the heat, then get of of Wall Street.
There will always be company Executives, Accountants, insiders, day traders, that are actively finding ways of milking the company out of millions and there are others that for many years have managed to run a company onto the ground because their so called Ivy Leage background, Market to Market Financial Modeling and Forcasts are very poor/unsustainable; whereas A High School Graduate could much better read an INCOME STATEMENT and make a wiser choice.
Next time you need investment advise, try not to contact a professional, just have a one-to-one face conversation with one of your students, you will thank them 10 years down the road.

Greed is what drives many business and they are cushioned by INC lables. unfortunatley system does not allow a indivudual a cushion. against greed. (bane of capitalism?) we should blame individuals for their decisionsbecasue we all make mistakes. society should work for better solutions to solves these problems . THERE IS NO CURE FOR GREED.

Buy Ford. LOL!

The big issue here is not this woman's loss. It is the fact that what is happening is not legal. Attacking this woman for being an investment idiot is pointless. The real issue is that what the government is doing is illegal. Don't let sob stories and personal attacks distract you from the important part of all of this.

The government's only real power is protecting property rights and enforcing contracts. They can't modify existing contracts. But that is exactly what they are doing now with this whole situation.

Step back away from the political attacks and think about it from the perspective of the law and the supposedly limited power that the federal government should have. What they are doing right now breaks all rules of bankruptcy.

Hopefully, the courts will just throw this whole thing out the door and put GM back into a proper bankruptcy. People like the teacher depicted here will still lose money, but they won't be losing money because the government changed the rules to suit a political agenda.

Let's forget about the politics for while; both parties have done some bonehead moves that have hurt people. CASE CLOSED!

I can only hope that Ms. June isn't teaching some form of financial responsibilty!! Who puts $70,000 in the bonds of a single company (unless this is just a small percentage of your TOTAL bond allocation)?!?!?? "Paul" made the following remark: "How were GM bonds speculative?" Well, they are very speculative when the company considered bankruptcy twice before in recent history. And, even if that wasn't so, ANYTHING can happen and you should ALWAYS spread your portfolio across as many sectors/companies as you can. Otherwise, it's speculation.

It's the classic case of all your eggs in one basket.

Most comments on here have some merit in what they say...BUT..and it is huge. The government has nor had any business being involved in this. When the US Government is deciding what a once private company can and will do as for paying to bond holders or whoever reeks of socialism at best...dictatorship and communism at worst. We just wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on Chrysler and GM and yes investing is risky bussiness...but when the government decides to step in and make decisions that they have no right to do all the investment rules change. I am on disability. I do not want to be. After the bailout of so many financial institutions and those same banks raise my interest to 31% on credit cards and I have done nothing wrong.really makes me angry. Yes I knew very well that they can set my interest to anything they want....but I never knew or thought they the US Government would be helping them to do this by backing them up with money. I was slowly getting my CC paid off. I am now thinking of not paying anyone a penny. After all I am non-judgmental and always will be. No one except the IRS can touch my Social Security and retirement check. I have no assets for them to get and in my state all bad debts come off a credit report after 7 years at which time I will be 65 and would have a decent credit score to purchase a home....my credit score is fine but this whole bailout deal makes me want to do like the big boys and screw all I can....after all they are all screwing us!!!!

Greed is what drives many business and they are cushioned by INC lables. unfortunatley system does not allow a indivudual a cushion. against greed. (bane of capitalism?) we should NOT blame individuals for their decisions becasue we all make mistakes. society should work for better solutions to solves these problems . THERE IS NO CURE FOR GREED.

How many "common" people have $70,000 in savings to invest in one lump sum? Basic market principles involve big gain for big risk, small gain for small risk. Where I come from, $70K in one basket is a big risk.

At some point, we have to call it a day with debtholders and let these big companies go under. Investment is not always a win-win situation.
Looks like she lost this one.

Why in the world would you invest your entire savings in corporate bonds? I'm a 22 year old college student and this just baffles me. You know they pay you interest because bankruptcy is a real possibility for any corporation. Either fire your financial adviser or spend an extra couple hundred dollars so you don't lost your entire savings.

As a working husband and father of 3 in a 2 income household, I find it impossible to feel sympathy for someone who: a) has 70k to invest and b) is so irresponsible to risk it all on a single investment! AND then to have the nerve to whine "poor me" about it afterwards? Give me a break. No different form some loser taking their last $10 to a casion and then whining that they didn't hit the jackpot.

You can't pay people $60 an hour to turn a bolt, and expect to stay competitive in the world. GM has been in a royal nose dive for years. How many billions were handed to GM and they still couldn't get the nose up? It just took a recession to put it in the ground. It's AMAZING that anyone is surprised by this. This is just a larger example of what has been happening all over the country for a long time now.

Please someone have sympathy for me too. My stock portfolio was down over 62% earlier this year. It's now at a comfy -35% (Thanks FORD!) and I want to blame someone other than myself for MY losses. Please lady, take resonsiblity for YOUR actions and stop blaming others. Guess you weren't donating your proceeds to charity when the going was good now, were you. GREED makes people do STUPID things. Just ask the Madoff lemmings or the people who lost their nest eggs during the savings & loan scandal decades ago. There's no such thing as a free ride or a sure thing. Do your homework and invest in reputable holdings. A longtime, broke down, overburdened, American auto company is not the place to park one's hard earned money.

If you dont understand what a BOND is and the rights of a bond holder than you shouldn't be leaving comments about the risk associated with bonds. Bond holders have rights, and when Obama called these bond holders un-american for wanting to exercise these rights was unconstitutional. I hope the goverment gets sued and I bet they will and the Bond holders will win.

So, apart from this womans "problem". If the US changes the rules between bond holders and all other bankruptcy claims, companies will start having a very hard time getting capital through bonds... sets a dangerous standard!

"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country."

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/michelle_obama_finally_proud_of_usa_/

Let's not forget, that it has been the investors who invest in business that allow most of us to employed

If Debra June had invested $70,000 in GM bonds out of a portfolio of $700,000, that might have been a reasonable level of diversification. It seems to me that $70K for a school teacher probably represents most, if not all, of the money she had to invest and, even without the benefit of hindsight, not a particularly wise decision. Further, if we look at the state of GM six years ago, the state of the auto industry at that time and the competitive challenges they faced, I wouldn't have invested any money with GM – or any other auto manufacturer.

Caveat emptor...

Open letter to Debra June:

You do NOT represent me as a main street investor:

(a) You bought GM knowing it was poorly managed by a bunch of greedy, money grubbing crooks masquerading as 'executives'.

(b) You knew GM was churning out planet-destroying machines like the greenhouse gas belching Hummer.

Were you too busy teaching to learn even the basics about responsible investing?

And have a little more dignity than to try dragging Michelle Obama's good name into your bitter temper tantrum. Do some research on XO Communications stock which suffered the same fate as GM stock, and learn a lesson from a tragedy many could see coming for over a decade. You lost 10 times what I lost in XO stock back in the early 2000's, but it's tough to pity you considering the damage GM executives have wrought on the economy.

Gullible people like you made their crimes possible, just as gullible people made Bernie Madoff's crimes possible!

Perhaps if you invest your hard earned teacher's salary in environmentally responsible corporations with good management, you'll sleep a lot better and set a good example for your students.

Suck it up, that's life.

Wow! This explains everything that is wrong with education. revoke her teaching license ASAP.

and LOW RISK =/= NO RISK

I have no sympath for you Ms. June. What a smart person would have done to cut their lost months ago. When this market went downhill everyday at record numbers and people from 20 to 90 plus was losing money like there was no tommorrow. That is what I did I pulled out of the market. I can't believe you are a teacher...Because a REAL TEACHER would teach their child about risk and how if something doesn't look right maybe they should leave. If your case you should have pulled out.

Its supply and demand people.

When cars need to be made; car demand goes up and car supply goes up

When cars dont need to be made, car demand goes down and car supply goes down.

That + GMs terrible tacticle greedy errors have check mated the auto company.

The administration is stupid for leveraging the company this far up; because cars dont need to be made!.. And atm screw the unions they are not helping that much; people should never have been paid that much money to make a car.

Oh; and this lady should have deversified; all eggs in one basket and basket broke; thats investing 101. And like someone said this company was never if not for a long time been rated AAA stock.

I'm disapointed that people seem to think that being a Bond holder is the same thing as an equity holder (i.e. having stocks).

"A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals"

Sorry, but bonds are one of the most secure instruments out there.

It's like a friend borrowing money from you to buy some baseball cards, only to say, "Sorry, can't pay you back but here are some worthless cards"

I agree that Debra is going to have to accept a loss, but shame on every commentor who has outright thrown insult on top of her injury. I personally like the Obama's but we'll never have a President who can do the right thing for every single citizen. It's impossible.
And for Obama haters, I challenge you to do his job and not piss anybody off.

Goodday

You ONLY lost $70,000? I took a $150,000 hit in my 401(k) plan over the last 18 months and I diversified. I took the risk when I invested in stocks, and so did you. I didn't like the loss but it was MY choice to invest my money as I saw fit for the long term.

I might add that I was a victim of the LTV bankruptcy filing in 2001 and lost my job as a result. No one bailed out the steel or aircraft industries and the auto industry should not have been bailed out. Now all of us taxpayers will take the hit. It's too bad you lost your money but so did alot of us.

Notice who is complaining: GM bondholders
Notice who isn't complaining: UAW

Yes, negotiations often leave one party feeling like they got the short end of the stick, but this wasn't even a negotiation. That's why a few of us are taking notice at what's going on here.

This woman speaks like an idiot and behaves like one. [Thus, she probably is an idiot.]

Investing in GM bonds six years ago was a risk ... she undoubtedly liked the yield.

If she thinks she got a bad deal, what about the common holders?

She deserves what she got.

What Michelle has to do with it again?

Newsflash! Bonds are not secure. Bondholders are considered "unsecured creditors." They don't have first dibs on the company's assets during a bankruptcy. The secured creditors have first dibs, then the bondholders, then the stockholders. Bonds are not supposed to be, and never have been a completely risk-free investment. They are risk free with one HUGE exception. The exception is bankruptcy. And I do feel bad for this woman. She got in right before GM started it's big fall. It would have been difficult to foresee this. Still, she shouldn't have put all her eggs in one basket. Diversify! And the only difference that Obama has made was delaying the inevitable. She would have been even more screwed had Obama not gotten involved. At least now she has a chance to recover something.

I feel sorry for June. However she does return seem to understand that a return on investment is a reward for taking risk. In this case the risk has not worked out in her favor. She needs more financial education.

The most important issue here is not what June is saying. I think the interviewer is phenomenally bad. He does not seem to make any effort to explain this issue to her. I actually think he is stoking the flames.

All of us Americans need to understand the risk/reward principal if we want to invest our money. We are in a free country. We are free to make good/responsible decisions and draw the benefits. We are also free to make mistakes and suffer the consequences of our bad decisions. Right now it seems many people want to get in on the action of making all the taxpayers pay for the mistakes of individuals. We need to start a new movement against this phenomenon.

I would think the money the govt put into GM makes them the #1 bondholder and owner of GM, which means they are the only people who can and should be making the deals.

Without their money, GM wouldn't even have a hope of existing at this point...and frankly, GM could have not accepted the handout and could have filed for Bankruptcy in dec of 2008.

They chose not to, they decided to take a handout KNOWING things could not get better...

face it folks, stupidity all around.

In case you idiots are forgetting.....CONGRESS not OBAMA votes legislation into law. Obama could not approve something like this without the support of congress. Forget all the B.S. about bond vs stock, and playing the blame game with OBAMA. BOTTOM LINE....the company was a wreck LONG before OBAMA took office.

Someone made a comment about "Dictated Law"...are you kidding me...here's a rundown of the last 8 yrs. the middle class driven to near extinction, the rich worshipped as GODs, TORTURE is legal only when we do it, over 14 banks Nationalized (or as you irrepublicans like to say...SOCIALIZED..lol) before Obama took office, warrantless wire tapping (this is worse than taking my guns away...lol), and more people than ever are without health care (as you irrepublicans like to wine "govt chooses my doctor"...umm..well last time i check BSBS, Cigna, Aetna all tell me who's in network or out-netowrk...same difference).

for you irrepublicans looking for someone to blame for you financial mishaps look elsewhere. Blaming a new administration for your FAILED attempt at GREED is childlike behavior. You have now become the party of NO, FEAR, GREED, SELFISHNESS, and FINANCIAL IRRESPONSIBILITY.

WHAT'S IRONIC IS THAT IF IT WERE A MINORITY PERSON BLAMING BUSH FOR THIS YOU WOULD BE PREACHING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. HOW MUCH OF A HYPOCRIT CAN YOU IRREPUBLICANS BE!

As far as i'm concerned she came out with a better option that what she could have had (which is ZERO) because of Obama. At least now she has a stake in the company.

Wow! Never thought people could be so mean and unfeeling as some of you have. Have you ever been interviewed with an earpiece in your ear, looking into a camera, not sure if you're being heard, and also wondering how long an interview will last? For all the people who said I wasn't talking coherently..wow..I'm not a newscaster..just a person like you. I didn't have a written speech or a monitor to read off of. I tried to tell the truth. I never once blamed the President but instead blamed GM and a President appointed Task Force that basically had no feelings. I said it will be a trickle down effect to all the people..dealerships, workers, etc. As the First Lady comment, I wanted her to maybe see the show and say to her husband..oh, my goodness this is not a good thing..sorry if people saw it another way..I think you're reading way too much into it. Also bonds have always been 1 step less safe than a CD...stocks are speculative...I did not own stocks..and I am one person ..there are 200,000 plus individual bond owners..go to the websites and read their stories..it's really sad. For anyone who is saying too bad, don't whine...I'm not whining...I'm just sharing my story and hoping that this doesn't happen to other people..It's too bad that the interview seemed so rushed to me. Also the individual bondholders were never given any information about the "new deal" only the huge corporate bondholders who basically are insured..All I have to truly say is NEVER EVER buy bonds...in any company. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. If anyone else wants to be mean out there, I feel very sorry for you. Remember, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Frankly, I'm shocked at all you commentators who seem heartless. The relevance of her being a school teacher indicates she is an average person, not a millionaire who can afford this kind of loss. I for one understand investing but certain feel for her. There should be accountability for such events in which non-corporate investors be more protected/compensated from such devastating losses.

Over 40 yrs ago I worked for GM. I brought home more $ than my college-educated teacher husband. From that time forward, we knew that something was seriously wrong with people who had an 8th grade education making more than university graduates. We have told this to many people over the yrs. & now it is ironic how many remind us of our comments so many yrs ago.

My husband left teaching, went into business & has provided an excellant living for myself & our children, now grown. He studied, learned & invested in the mrkt. & fortunately, through prudent, intelligent, & common-sense management, got our money for retirement out of the mrkt. before the melt down. He even warned others when he was making 22% on real est. trusts that things were going to change. He's not an investment banker or certified fiancial planner. But it took time, work & interest to learn what makes this country run the way it does.

I wish I had words of wisdom for younger people who are worried about how to "keep" their standard of living that their parents had. The next generation after the Boomers will be the 1st in U.S. history to NOT increase the standard of living beyond their parents. But then again, that's how the powers-that-be are "tweeking" society today. There will be a nation of haves & have-nots regardless of whether a Democracy like ours can survive the loss of a strong middle-class. Most Democracies in history have lasted @ 200 yrs.; we are on borrowed time.

I didnt mean to say AAA rated stock; i ment to say bonds was hurrying

Obviously this twit is not an economics, securities, probability, business or math teacher. You pays your money – you takes your chances, blondie.

I would be irritated if I lost 70K too, but only at myself. And I certainly wouldn't go all over broadcast media proving how uneducated I am. Shame on CNN, also, for letting this girl embarrass herself.

Jessica quoted:

I would think the money the govt put into GM makes them the #1 bondholder and owner of GM, which means they are the only people who can and should be making the deals.

Without their money, GM wouldn’t even have a hope of existing at this point…and frankly, GM could have not accepted the handout and could have filed for Bankruptcy in dec of 2008.

They chose not to, they decided to take a handout KNOWING things could not get better…

face it folks, stupidity all around.

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE HER A ROUNDOF APPLAUSE...LOL.
REPEAT THIS POST BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE TO ME.

It's a good time to buy GM stock...

Yes she bought bonds, not stocks. She should have been among the first in line in a "normal" bankruptcy. I wonder what the bond rating of GM was 6 years ago however? My only point is that what she did was extremely risky. The status of that bond should have been junk or near junk.

In this crisis, our government has caved in to the temptation to rule by fiat (no pun intended!). Normal laws don't apply, and I suppose that was part of the hidden risk she was taking. It's very similar to an emerging market country with an unstable government. It is not fair but it is what it is.

My best posts:
Yoop at 1:47:

"Thanks to so many for their savvy explanations of the difference between stocks and bonds. In the final analysis, Ms. June made an investment in a failing company that has finally reached its breaking point. "

Yes, by the end of the day, the gal made a bad decision with her money.

and:

Carol at 1:47pm:
"For all of you who keep saying bondholders should be first in line, you are wrong. That is true in chapter 7 – liquidation. This is a chapter 11 – reorganization – and that means that statuatory debt like paychecks and benefits are first in line by law. This is nothing new – it was true under Reagan and it’s true today."

It's a buck of cold water in the haters spumming from their mouth at the opportunity to diss Obama.

I don't think the media is doing a good job discussing how the balance has shifted regarding who gets paid through bankruptcy.

Frankly, while I feel bad that bond holders are getting screwed...ultimately I feel like saying "welcome to how the rest of us feel".

I don't and can't comprehend why bond holders, above anyone else, ever, should be the first to get their money back. Yes, they are "loaning" money...but at the end of hte day, they arent banks (and that's what banks do best not individuals). To me, bonds are more safe stocks, but at the end of the day if a company has blown up...no one above anyone else should get their hands filled...

I think we'll see a sea shift in the way business is done – no more operating on loans. Just as the republicans have been screaming about the little person "buying more house than they can afford"...well business has been doing the same thing...offering more business than they can sell, and borrowing to do so.

Slower more honest growth isnt exactly a bad thing, unless you are a republican who likes to get rich off the backs of everyone else.

Heres what it comes down to; At present time, does demand say we need gm cars? Noooo

So to be preserving jobs is actually stupid; gm should be going under; gm should collapse and not be around anymore.; it will show people how not to run a business. It will be a lesson. But to bail out for the sake of jobs is socialism or communism and it doesnt work. It makes the game not fun; Its not fair. Capitalism while greedy has rules that should be followed; and while there is corruption is fair

Obama does not equal capitalism, this is socialism. And it stinks.

Msg to Robert Johnson...You are an idiot along with this woman. There is Risk to Corporate Bonds also!!! For a school teacher to invest 70K in one company even if its not stocks but Corporate Bonds is still stupid. I don't feel sorry for this lady because she didn't diversify her investments whether its bond diversification or stock and bond diversification...

She said that she have had the bonds for 6 years. What she failed to mention in her little "poor me" sympathy play is that she has been paid interest for those 6 years and the interest is probably very significant.

If she was only getting 5%, that means she has already made at least $21000, but it was probably much higher than only 5%.

STOP COMPLAINING. You took the risk, nobody did this to you.

Where was all this outrage when the financial laws that protected us were being thrown away.................The company filed for bankruptcy i mean someone is going to lose money and it's the people with the smallest amounts first......where's the new news?

Tell your reps to "JUST SAY NO TO CARD CHECK!!!!!"

It's called "political risk"!

Obama emphasized the "rule of law" regarding Guantanamo and that we are a nation governed by the rule of law.

NOT ANY MORE! The rule of law is either convenient or to be dispensed with, at the Obama administration's whim.

In Russia, Venezuela, etc. government take over of private enterprize, etc. is called "political risk". Like them, the U.S. is now governed by a "political risk" administration that could care less about the rule of law, when it suits them. GM will probably be government-mandated to produce green cars inferior to foreign cars.

It's not difficult to surmise that investors will think twice before buying corporate bonds.

Yes, there would definitely be significant repercussions with a "non-government forced" bankruptcy. Under the law, secured creitors are have first claim on assets.

Bye-bye capitalism, hello socialism.

Its a bad thing that has happened – losing $70,000 has got to hurt. I don't have it to lose but what I do have $2,000 I watch carefully and definitely don't want it going down.

But I see something here about the story – She invested $70,000 in a company that she thought was going to turn around. In my opinion thats nuts – I wouldn't invest one thousand in any American car maker – they are always floundering.

The worst thing I see is that she wants everyone to feel sorry for her.. which apparently from all the comments here didn't work. Even if bonds are supposed to be great its a risk.

Why not put the $70,000 into CD's.. let them rollover year after year... and at 2% year she would gain $1400 in the first year... Its still an invest but definitely more secure that gambling on an auto maker.

Finally if you are going to invest ... just because you lose money or as they say – "your shirt" take responsibility for your actions and don't blame it on anyone else. No one held a gun to your head telling you to invest $70,000 ... so now its time you stand up, shake your head and start working on plan B.

All of you fail to realized that these companies created this mess. How can you send the jobs out of the country and expect the people here to buy your products if they don't have jobs. This has just come back to bite these companies where the sun don't shine. I am a American and proud of it. Sure there can be better products aboard but if we would've taken care of our own back yard we would not be in this mess. We all have to take some blame. This is not rocket scientist stuff here, it is all about greed. You all may think this is nothing but an Obama stunt, remember he did not create this.

Oh, to the finance gurus shrieking about union favoritism, the UAW was an unsecured creditor just like the idiot who is the topic of the article.

They, like Deb, had their $20 billion converted into an equity stake. Since they were owed slightly more than ol' Deb was, they get a slightly larger equity stake, which is why their equity stake makes the news. Why ol' Deb is in the news is beyond me.

And lets not forget about bonds people!

Most bonds pay out a payment; This is called a coupon payment. So she didnt lose everything; its quite possible that in 6 years she made some money. Say she was getting ( hypothetically here- havent looked at bonds in a long time ) 6% annual coupon payment. That means she would be paid out 4200$ every year. 4200 * 6 = 25200. Say this was accurate she wouldn't have lost everything but suffered a big decrease.

The purpose of a bond is to lend money to a company and be repaid interest + principle in the future. The 25200 she would have received over 6 years would be her interest payments, and her principle seems to be the 200$ worth of stock that GM is trying to give her. She is complaining because the principle should have been the 70,000$. This is a best case senerio and this means that she would have earned a possible return which is greater then inflation. If you dont make more money then you put in + inflation then you have lost money. She may not have lost money on inflation but she lost a lot of money on principle.

This whole story isn't told right there; it makes you think she lost everything when in fact she didn't. Smoke and Mirrors

To slightly change Jason's post:

Notice who isn't complaining: Large bondholders in GM (read: intelligent investors)

Notice who is: Small idiot bondholders who didn't know what they were doing, and who resort to incoherent rants that somehow include the first Lady.

First:

Would you lend money to Uncle Fred when you (& everybody else) knows Uncle Fred is up to his eyes in debt already?

A bond is an "IOU your money plus some interest for being nice enough to lend me the money, but if I go down the tube you might get a cut of what I have left (if anything)." promissory note ... no more & no less.

A stock certificate is simple the same thing but with a lower ranking in getting part of "what's left"; thus perhaps a higher return if Fred pays the IOU back.

Second:

Most of the recently failed major companies have been raped by their board of directors, CEO/CFO’s, unions, and short-term investors for years via golden parachutes, excessive pay/stock options, guaranteed retirements/health plans, day trader/overnight capital gains, corporate perks, etc, etc … Enron, WorldCom, AIG, GM, stock/mortgage brokers, etc, all took advantage of us little guys (small long-term bond/stock investors & grunt employees).

Republican & Democratic politicians have de-regulated stocks/bonds & corporations, provided tax loopholes, refused to enact higher gas mileage standards, etc, … most of this was supposedly done “in the name of shareholders” but in reality all of it allowed the big financial boys (ie: CEO/CFO’s) to play the game their way. In fact, a number of CEO/CFO’s have profited enormously while their companies bellied-up!

In return, these corporate executives paid off these politicians via corporate campaign contributions taken directly/indirectly from corporate profits. Both political parties have reaped millions and millions from these failed/failing companies. Note: Unions officials have also gotten well into this game.

Third:

Political contributions by corporations/unions/PAC’s should be banned … period.

Campaign money should be raised one way … directly from individuals, perhaps even with no limits as long as there are open books as to where the money comes from.

At least then we would know who is buying off who!

All the people talking about the safety of bonds are forgetting that in bankruptcy, bond holders do not get paid first! The Bank Creditors with secured loans get paid first, and employee liabilities are second. In the case of GM – they owe so much money to the banks, the US Government, and thier employees, that individual bondholders would've been wiped out anyway.

Also, GM bonds were relegated to junk status over two years ago! GM debt was selling at 20 cents on the dollar back in 2007!! If this unfortunate woman was paying attention to her investment, she could've sold then, and walked away with at leats $14K! Instead, she decided to wait and see – and now she's feeling hurt. At least with stock she has a chance to recoup some of her losses. Ask the individual bondholders of Enron debt how they've made out when that went bust. They got NOTHING from Enron – and are only starting to get payments now because they're still suing all the companies that helped Enron hide it's money!

Bottom line – she should've diversified!