General Motors Building a New V-8 Engine

When I was a small boy in 1965, my grandfather bought me some stock in General Motors at $32 per share.  His purpose was to show me how wonderful capitalism is, by enabling me to see my money working for me, silently but powerfully.

GM closed today at $41.63, which means an annual appreciation of 0.45% over those 58 years.

I bring this up not to throw shade on my late grandfather’s prowess as an investor, but to bring into question GM’s competence in performing on its share-holders’ behalf.

I was reminded of this by their announcement that they will be spending $854 million in the development of yet one more V-8 engine, at a time when the entire world of transportation is turning electric.