Posted by Lauren Cappelli
First it was the investment banks, then the Main Street banks, then the insurance companies.
Now the financial crisis is set to topple U.S. manufacturing stalwarts, the companies that actually build things in this country, from airplane engines to medical equipment, high-end motorcycles to military aircraft.
Now the financial crisis is set to topple U.S. manufacturing stalwarts, the companies that actually build things in this country, from airplane engines to medical equipment, high-end motorcycles to military aircraft.
Iconic U.S. companies such as General Electric (GE, news, msgs), Harley-Davidson (HOG, news, msgs) and Cessna aircraft manufacturer Textron (TXT, news, msgs) have seen their share prices decline by 70% or more. Normally, that would signal to smart investors that it was time to buy surefire values. But this is no normal downturn, and these companies are particularly vulnerable to the credit crisis because of their once-profitable finance arms.
A bank by any other name . . . Involvement in the credit mayhem began innocently enough for General Electric, Harley-Davidson and Textron, evolving gradually, says Kent Mortensen, an analyst with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans:
Years ago they set up finance divisions that lent money to customers to boost sales.
After finding how easy it was to make money by acting like a bank, they branched into lending that had nothing to do with their core businesses, making loans that in many cases are now going bad. GE now funds things as varied as commercial-real-estate ventures, subprime loans, emerging market debt and credit card lending. Besides making aircraft, Textron funds golf courses, vacation resorts and recreational vehicle sales. Harley-Davidson, at least, stuck to motorcycles. But it became a big player in the asset-backed-securities market, repackaging its bike loans into debt instruments and selling them at a profit to investors. That market has vanished.
After finding how easy it was to make money by acting like a bank, they branched into lending that had nothing to do with their core businesses, making loans that in many cases are now going bad. GE now funds things as varied as commercial-real-estate ventures, subprime loans, emerging market debt and credit card lending. Besides making aircraft, Textron funds golf courses, vacation resorts and recreational vehicle sales. Harley-Davidson, at least, stuck to motorcycles. But it became a big player in the asset-backed-securities market, repackaging its bike loans into debt instruments and selling them at a profit to investors. That market has vanished.
In the final stages, just like the failed investment banks and reckless homebuyers, GE and Textron got seduced by low interest rates. They borrowed more money than was good for them.
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