Maytag produces 99 percent in the U.S., and they are just not price competitive.
Through their product offering, price-competitiveness, and moving production overseas, Whirlpool has been able to compete on price. That's how they've been winning.
They've made the moves they thought they needed to, like moving 30 percent of the jobs down to Mexico. That may be good for the American consumer, but it's not good for the workers. It's not easy on the economy here.
What incentive is there for GM dealers to use GMAC going forward if it is not really part of GM?
GM is desperate for the cash. They need it to pay out a lot of people, so they're trying to bolster their cash position.
People are very surprised that there is strong demand out there. There's still a strong housing market.
The bonds had a little bit of a run-up over the week, which I thought was probably a little overdone. They're still facing the same problems. In the short term they need to sell a controlling stake in GMAC, get the cash of $10 billion or more, and then resolve the Delphi situation.
Whirlpool has moved a lot of operations overseas, and that's helped out with their costs.
They wanted to stay out there in the corporate market even though it hurts them. The coupon was huge, but they're in a serious situation.
I'm stunned. I thought they would need to do at least something to appease the Justice Department.
