Hoo Ha

This is one of those articles Bloomberg publishes on occasion which leave us wondering what the hell is the point? (06.01.07):

"In case you missed it, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. outperformed Toyota Motor Corp. in the stock market the past 12 months."

GM, Ford Trounce Toyota Shares, Bonds

Which means what, exactly? It's very hard to tell. If you look at a graph of GM versus Toyota shares over the past year, GM's shares as a percentage increased by about 11%, and Toyota's by about 10.5%. Outperformed? Guess so. But a trouncing?

Let's fire up the wayback machine and take a look at a graph over the last two years. Who's doing the trouncing now?

A five-year comparison is even funnier.

As for bond yield, GM's classified as junk bonds. Toyota's are "rated AAA, the highest corporate ranking." Considering the concept of risk versus reward, of course GM's are going to "outperform" Toyota's.

Bottom line? Toyota is kicking GM's ass. USAToday (04.25.07):

"Toyota sold more cars and trucks around the world in the first quarter than General Motors did, pushing the perennially No. 1 automaker to second place for the first time, a stinging reminder of Toyota's rise and Detroit's skid."

Toyota outsells GM for the first time

As if that wasn't enough, "Toyota Motor Corp. led all North American automakers in manufacturing productivity last year, but Detroit's three automakers continued to close the productivity gap with their Japanese rivals, according to a study watched closely by the industry."