Woodenfish said:b_m_hart said:You are proponents of the free market, and letting private industry "figure it out" - well, for all that chatter, I'm amazed that you haven't connected the two. But given the lack of understanding between the differences between stocks and bonds, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Private industry IS trying to figure it out - by asking the last standing entity (the US Federal governement) that is willing and able, to give them a loan so they can continue ongoing operations without having to destroy what remains of shareholder equity by declaring bankruptcy. If I were a shareholder of GM, I'd be mad as hell at the notion that they'd just roll over and declare bankruptcy and make my stock worthless, rather than try to do every last thing imaginable to get out of the mess that they're in, and get back on track.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Code
Chapter 7 bankruptcy, liquidation
The bankruptcy court selects an outside trustee who liquidates the assets and distributes the proceeds among claimholders according to
The absolute priority rule:
*Bondholders must be paid in full before shareholders receive any proceeds
*Secured debtholders must be paid before unsecured debtholders
*Senior debtholders must be paid in full before junior debtholders
What did I miss?
And the fact that the lawyers and accountants take priority over any of those folks. Until they're paid in full nothing gets distributed to any of the people on your list.