Poor quality = better value!
Today, for the third business day in a row, General Motors has announced a recall of a large number of vehicles for a safety problem. The much-beloved Corvette, the flagship of American sports cars, apparently has a problem causing the car to be able to move when the steering column is locked (which, presumably, ought to render the vehicle undrivable). More than 125,000 cars are going to have to be fixed for this problem, which is in addition to the two other recalls this week: faulty windshield-wiper mechanisms in 2002-03 sport utility vehicles, and ignition switches that catch fire in 5.8 MILLION other cars.

Now, GM cars are actually less faulty than the other American brands, according to a recent study. But, faulty or otherwise, this isn't why I brought this recall up.

Even after news of the recall was announced, GM stock was up 95 cents by 3:00 PM on the market. Over the past two days, it's up almost two dollars per share. GM is traditionally a blue-chip stock...not volatile, just slow and steady, pokey and mildly profitable. But why? Shouldn't the recall of 6.5 million cars and trucks in three freaking days cause a little bit of a hitch in the price?

I'm tempted to announce a recall of my own cells. I figure I've got a couple million bad ones, no doubt - perhaps I can increase my paycheck by releasing a statement and going into the doctor sometime in the second quarter of 2004.