It's a slap in the face said James Yarbrough a retiredaccountant from Plano

"It's a slap in the face," said James Yarbrough, a retiredaccountant from Plano, Texas, referring to the 10 percentequity stake offer. Yarbrough has invested $158,000 in GM bonds, which he firstbought in 1994. He regrets buying more bonds in 2008, when hethought GM was about to make a turnaround. "This will probably force me to sell my house," Yarbroughsaid. "I'm going to fight until the end." A person familiar with Obama administration's thinking onthe matter said the White House was continuing to engage withbondholders to reach agreement. GM shares, which could be worthless in a bankruptcy, endedTuesday trade up 1 cent at $1.44 on the New York Stock Exchangeafter trading between $1.12 and $1.84 on the day The U.S.

government has provided a combined $36.6 billion toGM, Chrysler and their financing units since December. In an interview broadcast over the weekend, Obama said hehoped GM and Chrysler would emerge from restructuring "leaner,meaner, more competitive." Chrysler is seeking approval this week to sell itself to a"New Chrysler" owned by the U.S. and Canadian governments,Chrysler's union and Italian carmaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) Ahearing on the sale will take place on Wednesday On Tuesday, a U.S. federal judge denied a request by agroup of Indiana pension funds to delay the company's salehearing and remove the bankruptcy case to district court SUPPLIER SIDE The U.S. auto companies' struggles have also hurt thecompanies that make vehicles' components U.S.

auto suppliers will be in dire need of up to $8billion in emergency government aid over the next few monthsparticularly if GM enters bankruptcy, Michigan Gov JenniferGranholm said. "We need to provide the (auto) suppliers with the means toget through the next 60 to 90 days," Granholm said at a pressconference in Detroit. Flanked by Michigan Congressman Sander Levin and EdMontgomery, who is spearheading efforts to help communitiessuffering from the U.S. industry's worst downturn in decades,Granholm said she has asked the Obama administration for aidfor suppliers. She said that nationally there is an "unmet need" for $8billion in aid for auto suppliers Much of that aid will beneeded in Michigan.

[ID:nN26504103] THE OPEL SAGA While much attention is on Washington and Detroit, talkscontinue in Europe over the possible sale of GM's Opel unit. On Tuesday, Germany pressed three bidders for Opel toimprove their offers for the carmaker, saying they needed toassume greater risks and make credible commitments to preservejobs and sites. [ID:nLQ677656] Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told reportersafter meeting Fiat (FIA.MI) Chief Executive Sergio Marchionnein Berlin that the Italian carmaker's offer looked serious butthat rival bidders Magna (MGa.TO) and RHJ International(RHJI.BR) remained in contention "There's no favorite," he said. "Everyone knows thatimprovements are still necessary." In an unexpected twist, China's Beijing Automotive IndustryCorp (BAIC) also submitted an offer, potentially turning thethree-way race into a four-way battle. Fiat made an aggressive last-ditch push to convince theGerman government to back its bid for Opel ahead of a top-levelmeeting in Berlin on Wednesday where a preliminary decision onpreferred bidders is expected. Marchionne met with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Guttenbergon Tuesday morning to try to address German concerns about hisambitious plan to fold Opel into a transatlantic car empirethat would also include U.S carmaker Chrysler.