Ford, General Motors rise despite poor sales numbers; LCDX, cash inch higher as buying improves

By Sara Rosenberg

New York, Jan. 5 - Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. both saw their term loans strengthen during Monday's trading session as the debt shrugged off bad monthly sales results and followed the rest of the market higher.

Also in trading, LCDX 10 and, as mentioned, cash in general were better as more buyers appear to be stepping in to the market.

Ford, GM trade up

Ford's and General Motors' term loans moved higher in trading even though the companies reported a year-over-year drop in sales since the cash market was stronger, according to traders.

Ford was quoted by one trader at 44 bid, 46 offered, up from 41 bid, 45 offered, and by a second trader at 43 bid, 45 offered, up on the bid side from 41 bid, 45 offered.

General Motors was quoted by both traders at 51 bid, 53 offered, up from 47 bid, 51 offered.

"December sales were terrible but completely expected. I think it was priced in. Up because everything is up today," one trader added.

Ford sales down by over 32%

On Monday, Ford said that its total sales for the month of December were 139,067, down 32.4% from 205,685 in December 2007.

Total Ford truck sales for December were 91,027, down 33.9% from 137,764 last year.

And, total Ford, Lincoln and Mercury care sales for the month were 43,087, down 26.4% from 58,580 in the 2007 comparable period.

"This is a strong ending to end a very challenging year," said Jim Farley, Ford's group vice president, marketing and communications, in a news release. "In addition to finishing the year with increased market share, we received several accolades from third parties concerning our world-class quality and safety, and we turned some heads on the fuel economy front with our 41 mpg Fusion Hybrid, the most fuel-efficient mid-size sedan in America."

Ford is a Dearborn, Mich.-based automotive company.

GM sales down over 31%

Also on Monday, General Motors announced its December sales results that included total sales of 221,983, down 31.4% from 323,453 a year ago.

Total General Motors truck sales for the month were 134,477, down 35% from 206,870 in December 2007.

And, total December car sales were 87,506, down 24.9% from 116,583 in the same period last year.

"Given the ongoing challenges and the difficult market environment, we were very encouraged to see a volume rebound for GM in December compared with both October and November," said Mark LaNeve, vice president, GM North America Vehicle Sales, service and marketing, in a news release.

"We are building more vehicles than ever that provide great value and Americans enjoy owning. That is why, for the year, we are seeing our market share holding steady at just above 22%. That's 5 percentage points more and 760,000 vehicles more than our nearest competitor," LaNeve added in the release.

General Motors is a Detroit-based automaker.

LCDX, cash stronger

LCDX 10 and the overall cash market gained some ground during the session as more buyers entered the scene, creating trading volume that was above average, according to a trader.

The index was quoted at 79.85 bid, 80.10 offered, up from 79.10 bid, 79.40 offered and cash was up as much as two points, depending on the name, the trader said.

"Money sitting on sidelines that couldn't be invested till January, so people started buying in late December in anticipation of that. That's why we've had a rally for the past two weeks and I think that will continue for the first half of January," the trader remarked about the cash market.

"High yield, loan rallying, so people are buying that too," the trader added about LCDX 10.

Meanwhile, the stock market was a little lower on the day, with Nasdaq down 4.18 points, or 0.26%, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 81.80 points, or 0.91%, S&P 500 down 4.35 points, or 0.47%, and NYSE down 7.30 points, or 0.12%.

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