Two years to the day after GM's ousted CEO begged Congress for a bailout, investors bought shares Thursday in a renewed, redirected and financially viable General Motors Co. — essentially halving the government's 61 percent stake in the automaker and heralding a newly competitive era for a Detroit industry given up for dead.

There are lots of winners here and a not-insignificant number of losers. They include bondholders muscled by the government's speedy bankruptcy cram-down; employees who lost their jobs in swift downsizings and retirees whose expected benefits were reduced; communities whose GM facilities were swept into the old GM and readied for liquidation...

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/ 20101119/OPINION03/11190366/ 2nd-chance-doesn’t-come-easy- for-GM#ixzz15k4DIG5v