[Perfectlap]

I woldn't touch Ford either (except to short it). Doesn't matter if Ford is running a brilliant company while Chrysler and GM are cratering. Half of stock's value is the sector it occupies. Ford will get pounded thru mere guilt by association.

That being said, I think we can't allow them to fail. This country's population is growing and they need cars. Emerging markets are also growing, maybe not as fast as last year, but in the long term they are exploding. Millions of people need a $15K econo box to get from point a to point b. We need a player in that game we can't rely simply on one US car company. Chrysler barely counts because they're purely domestic. Big ticket items like wide body jets and Caterpillar machines are all we have going for us. All small consumer items have been lost to China for good. We really cannot afford to lose GM if we plan on staying in the manufacturing game. Service jobs at Wal-Mart and Costco are not going to meet the goals of American families: college and a House for their kids.