GM shares tumble 31 percent to 58-year low

NEW YORK — Shares of General Motors Corp. lost nearly one-third of their value today, plunging to their lowest level since July 1950.

GM shares plummeted $2.15, or 31 percent, to close at $4.76 after falling as low as $4.65.

GM’s drop helped push the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 700 points to its lowest level in five years.

GM’s price drop seemed particularly harsh to David Healy, an analyst with Burnham Securities. Concern over credit ratings and worries about GM’s European sales didn’t seem to be enough of a reason for investors to shun the company’s stock to that degree, he said.

“It remains a puzzle to me,” he said.

Standard & Poor’s said the automaker’s credit could fall further into junk status due to the “rapidly weakening state” of the global automotive market.

Healy said GM appears to have enough cash, borrowing capacity and salable assets to weather its financial crisis without resorting to bankruptcy, he said.

Fitch ratings analyst Mark Oline has projected that GM could reach the minimum amount of cash required to run the business, $11 billion to $14 billion, within the next year.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com.