Govt stake sale to take time: GM

The fourth chief executive at General Motors in less than 18 months, Daniel F. Akerson, on Thursday tried to demonstrate that now there is stability at the top of the nation’s biggest automaker.

The fourth chief executive at General Motors in less than 18 months, Daniel F. Akerson, on Thursday tried to demonstrate that now there is stability at the top of the nation’s biggest automaker.

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Distancing himself from his predecessor, Edward Whitacre, who wanted the Treasury Department to sell the government’s entire stake in G.M. in the company’s initial public stock offering, Akerson said that “I don’t think that’s going to be done in one fell swoop. I think that’s unrealistic.”

How long it takes for the government to divest the rest of its holdings will, in part, be determined by G.M.’s success, he said. The company has posted back-to-back profitable quarters this year, but “we understand that two quarters a trend does not make. We need to post numbers consistently,” the new CEO of the auto giant said.

US poverty up in recession

The percentage of Americans below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest in 15 years, the Census Bureau said, with the total at 44 million, or one out of seven residents. The increase appeared to be continuing this year.