The old GM was left behind in an entity called Motors Liquidation Company, made up of unwanted assets that are being sold off or eliminated. However, old GM shares remain and can be traded. And, despite warnings from the new GM, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and others that the shares are worthless, the shares, indeed, are being traded.
The Financial Times recently quoted Cromwell Coulson, chief executive of the Pink Sheets over-the-counter market where the Motors Liquidation shares trade, identifies three groups that have kept the shares trading: day traders looking to make a quick profit from heavy trading; traders who sold short before GM's bankruptcy and now must cover their positions; and others who haven't gotten the word that the shares are worthless.