Ford Motor Company (F)

[frankie_fillet]

.30 cent moves make the world go round.. and round... and round.

[Flobewan]

Come on Ford, put it in gear will ya

[frankie_fillet]

hitting second resistance now...

[DADDY FAT SAXX]

Bought more before the bounce. $12 again soon in the rearview.

[frankie_fillet]

I got first support showing at 11.38 on the intraday

[frankie_fillet]

anywhere down here is good.. the dips are spread out pretty good...

real

[Randolph Duke]

in what way? where do you see support? I'm thinking I might grab a few more here under $12.

[frankie_fillet]

really interesting when you compare the long chart vs the short chart...

real

[frankie_fillet]

I missed the morning but the open was pretty nice... keeping it on auto pilot now...

lets see if it turns that long chart.

[Seminole Red]

horay...go F.

[Flobewan]

That and market up and Ford still won't move up, grrrrr

[DADDY FAT SAXX]

Ford Returns to Investment Grade After 6 Years

Ford Motor Co. (F) (F)’s credit rating was raised to investment grade today by Fitch Ratings, ending six years of so-called junk status for the second-largest U.S. automaker.

Fitch lifted Ford to BBB-, the first level of investment grade, from BB+, the ratings company said in a statement. Fitch first cut Ford’s rating below investment grade Dec. 19, 2005, as rising fuel prices began curtailing sales of sport-utility vehicles and pickups that accounted for most of the automaker’s profit.

Returning to investment grade (F) with Fitch and other ratings companies is one of Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s goals. That would reduce Ford’s borrowing costs and permit it to recover collateral, including the company’s blue oval logo, used to obtain financing that enabled Ford to avoid bankruptcy.

“The upgrade of Ford’s ratings reflects the automaker’s significantly improved financial performance, balance sheet (F) repair, and product portfolio improvement that have taken place over the past several years,” Fitch said in the statement. “Since the last recession, Ford’s management has been heavily focused on increasing profitability, growing liquidity, lowering debt and reducing the company’s pension obligations.”

Fitch raised the issuer default rating of Ford and its finance unit, Ford Motor Credit, and said the outlook for both was stable.

Earlier Than Expected
“This upgrade has come at least several weeks earlier than our credit team had expected,” Adam Jonas, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, wrote in a note today. “Our credit team does not expect an upgrade from Standard & Poor’s within the next six months and thinks it is more likely that Moody moves Ford to investment grade within the next three months.”

Ford rose 1.5 percent to $11.52 at 11:32 a.m. New York time.

The move is “an important proof point of the continued progress” at the automaker, Bob Shanks, Ford’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. The company plans on “achieving strong investment grade ratings and maintaining investment grade throughout an economic cycle.”

Ford’s ended 2011 with its 11th consecutive (F) profitable quarter, with fourth-quarter net income of $13.6 billion, or $3.40 a share, compared with $190 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier. Ford earned $29.5 billion in the last three years after $30.1 billion in losses from 2006 through 2008.

Ford resumed paying a dividend last month following a five- year suspension. The automaker March 14 declared a second- quarter dividend of 5 cents a share payable June 1 to shareholders of record on May 2.

‘Natural Next Step’
“This is just the natural next step for the company,” said Jody Lurie, a credit analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “The debt markets are pretty much seeing investment grade and have factored this in already.”

The upgrade “is an important milestone for the company and can have real strategic implications on the funding side,” Morgan Stanley’s Jonas wrote.

Credit-default swaps on Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford fell 25 basis points to 280 basis points as of 8:32 a.m. in New York, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. That’s the biggest decline since Nov. 30 and the lowest level since April 6, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.

Ford borrowed $23.4 billion in late 2006 by putting up all major assets as collateral. That helped the automaker avoid the bailouts and bankruptcies that befell the predecessors of General Motors Co. (GM) (GM) and Chrysler Group LLC in 2009.

‘Rallying Cry’
To recover that collateral, Ford must receive an investment-grade credit rating from two major rating companies.

“Getting the collateral back, getting the blue oval back has been a huge rallying cry and one that we all feel emotionally connected to,” Neil Schloss, Ford’s treasurer, told reporters March 15. “Investment-grade companies feel better about themselves.”

Standard & Poor’s rates Ford BB+ and Moody’s Investors Service rates the automaker Ba1; each is one level below investment grade.

The credit upgrade “does help improve their borrowing costs by lowering interest rates,” said Efraim Levy, equity analyst with Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ in New York.

CEO Mulally turned around the automaker by globalizing operations, cutting costs, improving quality and expanding the lineup with fuel-efficient models such as the Fiesta subcompact.

Ford is “in a solid position to withstand the significant cyclical and secular pressures faced by the global auto industry,” Fitch said. The automaker faces risks including “ongoing uncertainty regarding the strength and pace of the global economic recovery, and the durability of global auto demand.”

[BridgeBuilder1]

Yes, right back up. Anything under $12 is worth putting away for longer term holders.

[Flobewan]

Investment Grade

UPDATE 1-Fitch upgrades Ford to investment grade

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/24/ford-rating-idUSL2E8FO2QU20120424?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&rpc=43

[carl2591]

Excellent entry price at $11.35

11.20 would have been better for sure.. but you are correct here is a good place to jump in.. now if i only had some free cash..:)

i hope in 2-3 yrs we look back at 12 and say.. them was the days... as the stock will be trading at 24 at least. guess until greece, france, all of europe either explodes or start cutting cost this will just hang here.

oh well i got 10 yrs before i need this..

[BridgeBuilder1]

Excellent entry price at $11.35

[carl2591]

down to $11.20 right out the gate this morning.. this one is going crazy.

crystal ball upgrade ordered..?? i saw one on craiglist for good price. :)

[frankie_fillet]

year end? I don't have that crystal ball upgrade yet... lol

[TRUSTUNITS]

I love there commercials

[big_dog37010]

Any idea as to where it stops? It's possible that insiders may be moving it down in anticipation of good earnings? Or maybe that's wishful thinking? I still have a feeling it wont stop falling until it fills the gap. Maybe at that point we move back up. Where do you see F at year end? I know you trade the swings, but what do you see as the general trend?

[frankie_fillet]

It finished on second support.. long trend says down.. it might pop for a short trend... but as it looks now on the long chart... falling knives.

[frankie_fillet]

its trying...

[big_dog37010]

Frankie, do you see F stock breaking below the 200? I know we still have that ever important gap to cover between 10.75 - 11...do you see us getting down there prior to earnings? Another observation I have is that there isn't the usual run up ahead of earnings this time around...possibility we beat this time?

[frankie_fillet]

fords pps is just bouncing on it on my long chart.. just what i said.

[bluebird50]

lol sorry... What number is it in relation to Ford's price?

[frankie_fillet]

the 200 day moving average

[bluebird50]

Where is the 200 hundred mark?

[frankie_fillet]

and? what is the problem?

[bluebird50]

just trying to read your statement that I replied to...

you referring to the 200 day moving average?

[frankie_fillet]

I do not understand your statement... or question.

[bluebird50]

tapping the 200 is where?

[frankie_fillet]

I got two indicators showing it might pop... but if they bounce under the pivot.. we could hit the 11.25 area.

[frankie_fillet]

its looking good isn't it.. on my long chart its just tapping the 2oo.... I hope it goes and closes the gap i have been waiting for...

and I love making money over and over....

[PennyNK]

with my smidgeon @ 10.67 i'm going to check in every 3 - 6 mos this may just pay me my trip to mom's homeland next year. but really wish i'd gotten them at 2.12! does anyone think it will go lower than 11.00??

PennyNK

[BridgeBuilder1]

Nice trading vol and action today. Price getting attractive.

[carl2591]

looks like the Ford F-150 2012 models are having transmissions issues..
happen to find this site when search info on the ecoboast tech.

http://fordecoboostforum.com/index.php?/topic/240-f150-ecoboost-problems/

[DADDY FAT SAXX]

(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) is investing $760 million to build a new plant in eastern China as part of its effort to catch up with U.S. rival General Motors Co (GM.N) in the world's largest auto market.

Ford said the new plant in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province will initially boost the U.S. automaker's annual capacity in China by 250,000 vehicles when production begins in 2015. Construction is expected to begin later this year.

The announcement comes two weeks after Ford said it would invest $600 million to build a third plant at its Chongqing complex in southwest China and is part of the largest and fastest expansion by the company since the 1960s in North America and Europe. Ford has now announced or begun building eight assembly and powertrain plants in Asia.

"We're looking at this more than just this quarter or this calendar year," Ford's Asia chief, Joe Hinrichs, said in an interview. "We're looking at this as how does Ford set itself up for success for the next several decades in Asia Pacific.

"People say, 'Are you too late?' No," he added. "You get one chance to really come at the market with the full power of Ford's product portfolio, but you want to be able to look everybody in the eye and say you truly developed the vehicles for China so it does require some patience."

Ford expects industry sales in China to hit about 30 million vehicles by 2020, up from 18.5 million last year.

Ford has said that its growth plans in China are part of its effort to increase global sales by about 50 percent from 2010 to about 8 million vehicles annually by mid-decade. By 2020, it said, about one-third of its sales will come from the Asia Pacific and African regions.

Ford, which makes Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and other sedans in China in a three-way tie-up with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd 000625.SZ and Japan's Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T), is a relative latecomer in China, where GM and Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) have a sizeable lead. Ford sold 320,658 vehicles in China last year, compared with VW's annual tally of 2.26 million and GM's 2.55 million.

DON'T PANIC

"Part of the reality of what we have today is that we have a very limited product portfolio in China," Hinrichs said.

"We made a conscious decision back in 2010 not to panic and go grab all the products around the world and put them into China right away," he added. "We made a conscious decision to wait to get into the early phase of the next generation of all of those global products and...then design the vehicles with the Chinese customers in mind."

Ford will gain market share as it rolls out new vehicles, he said, adding it won't happen overnight. He suggested Ford will be closer to full strength in China in 2015.

Hinrichs said there are so many automakers in China that he expects some shakeout in the industry over time, but he declined to predict which brands may suffer. Pricing pressure in high-volume segments that started last year continues among small and mid-sized cars, he said.

To narrow its sales gap, Ford has said it plans to bring 15 new vehicles and 20 engines to China by 2015, starting with the redesigned Focus small car that is set to hit Chinese showrooms in the second quarter. The company did not disclose what vehicle it will build in Hangzhou or at the third plant in Chongqing.

Ford has imported vehicles into China since the mid-1990s and formed its first joint venture there in 2001. Ford also holds 30 percent of Jiangling Motors Corp 000550.SZ, which makes Ford Transit vans.

The Hangzhou plant will increase Ford's production capacity in China to 1.2 million vehicles annually by 2015, including the Chongqing expansion. After opening a second plant in Chongqing six weeks ago to build the Focus models, Ford currently assembles 600,000 vehicles a year. Chongqing is home to Ford's largest factory complex outside southeastern Michigan.

By mid-decade, Ford, including both of its joint ventures, will have seven assembly plants, two engine plants and one transmission plant in China.

Ford said the Hangzhou plant in the wealthier coastal region that is the heart of the Chinese auto sector brings the company's total investment in China so far to almost $5 billion and allows it to diversify its Chinese manufacturing and also provide closer access to the country's affluent coastal cities.

By 2015, Ford has said it intends to more than double the number of dealerships in China from the 340 it had in 2010 and to double its workforce.

The rapid expansion in China led Ford to say this month that it would realize a "small loss" in Asia in the first quarter. Executives cited major investments in new products like the Focus and the new Chongqing plant, as well as the midsized Ford Ranger pickup truck in Asia and Africa. Ford said its Asian operations will be profitable for the full year in 2012, however.

Hinrichs, 45, has been viewed by many industry observers as one of the candidates to succeed Ford chief executive Alan Mulally. He declined to address the speculation, saying he was focused on his current job.

[carl2591]

Hey frankie...

where do you see a bottom for this pig.. I was thinking 11.80 ish but that was busted today as well..

going to have some dry powder soon and looking to blast something..:)

[tfifeco]

LMAO, That was funny Trueheart

[carl2591]

I got in at 11.95... Was that a mistake?

looking at todays drop it does look like a mistake.. however in a couple years i think it will be viewed as not..

i too am in a different points but most under 12.

wish i had been buying at 3-4-5-6-7-8-9 range.. :)

[Trueheart]

Depends on your timeline. And Europe and Asia and Iran's nuclear ambitions and consumer confidence and the elections and possibly the phases of the moon. Dunno.

Trueheart

[12bucklemyshoe]

I got in at 11.95... Was that a mistake?

[Z-Axis]

Utter, blatant manipulation of Ford stock price.

This is getting sickening!

zenner

[farooq]

Here is one question about Ford, If Ford is purchased at say 29 $ a share, off course Ford family has to agree.
Is that mean it will include all assets Ford is holding around the world? or it will be the price of USA assets only?

[frankie_fillet]

I agree... i once saw a Dodge in the slip next to me... blow a tranny.. and was going into the water with the boat... i had a chock in my hand and got it under the tire before the whole rig submerged...

this ole greasy guy who is fishing on the dock looks over and says .. hang on... comes over with a rusted out chevy with huge holes in the bed...and a tow chain.. slaps it on the dodge.. an pulls the dodge and the boat out of the slip like it was nothing... lol steep ramp too...

Not to say ford hasn't got a good product but I like those Vortec engines GM has... my GMC has 240 thousand miles on it and if it was not destroyed by some broad that crashed into it while on herion.. I would still be using it.. got it for sale for 500 bucks. The engine still runs good...

I will get that for it too.....

[Dan_78]

That's a beautiful car. If only I could get that one.

[Dan_78]

I got my 2500HD for a boat too, a 27' sailboat. I made sure to get the diesel engine for the towing. Chevy/GMC trucks are pretty good.

[BridgeBuilder1]

used money for building materials, cheaper than oil derived plastics. Interesting idea.

[smith54a]

Haha!
Well, while we're not buying in our own interest, I suppose I should share this: http://www.indystar.com/videonetwork/1560754601001?odyssey=mod|tvideo|newswell

[frankie_fillet]

USED 1500HD.. JUST to pull the boat, and go to the dump and out east for plants and gardening... I cannot live without a truck.. and the last one was a GMC....

with this one I can pull the Titanic.