General Motors will move its stock from the NYSE to Nasdaq on Nov. 17. The ticker stays "GM." Shareholders need to do nothing.
Nothing. The company built a press release around a task that requires zero effort from you. Congratulations on your upcoming non-participation.
GM says Nasdaq is a "natural home" for its listing. CFO Paul Jacobson said so himself. The company first listed on the NYSE in 1911. It came back in 2010 after a government-backed bankruptcy. Nothing says natural home like a place that took you back after the bailout.
The NYSE now loses a tenant of more than a century. Jacobson thanked it for its "remarkable legacy." That is what you say to an ex while carrying a box to the car.
The real prize is eligibility for the Nasdaq-100. Eligibility. Not inclusion. GM is not getting into the club. GM is getting permission to stand near the line outside it.
The pitch is that GM is a technology company now. Walmart made the same move. So did DoorDash and Palantir. Apparently you become a tech company by changing the sign on the building, and the building is a database entry.
The trucks are the same trucks. The factories are the same factories. GM announced no changes to its business operations alongside the transfer. The only thing that got more innovative is the stationery.
Retail traders will see the news and buy anyway. They will call it a catalyst. A catalyst for what? A ticker that did not change, on an exchange they could not find on a map, for a company that will still be selling Silverados.
Some of you will check the chart on Nov. 17 looking for a breakout. Look closer. It's the same line, now with a different logo in the corner.
GM spent 115 years on the NYSE, then left to be taken seriously by a stock exchange.
Photo by on Unsplash
Leave a Comment