GM is once again the lead in the news, and yes, it's all about the bailout.

First, it was announced that General Motors will receive the second installment of its loan from the government on January 16th, according to an announcement from the United States Treasury made late Monday afternoon.

According to the transaction reports for their bailout fund, the Treasury stated that GM has been approved for a total of $9.4 billion, including the $4 billion that was disbursed on December 31st, 2008, and the new installment of $5.4 billion.

There is also an additional $4 billion that has been promised, but those funds won't come unless Congress approves the Treasury to draw on the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

On Monday, GM reported a 31 percent decline in U.S. sales for the month of December, as compared to figures from the same month in 2007, making the decline for all of 2008 23 percent.

In addition to more bailout funds, it has also been announced that GM must reduce its stake in the revived GMAC Financial Services, which company has also received bailout funds.

While the financial company did receive fresh capital, courtesy of the United States Government, it has also relinquished its exclusive right to provide low-interest loans to purchasers of GM cars and trucks. This is both good and bad for GM, in that it allows them to work with other lenders to help consumers finance their products, but it also means they don't have a "captive lender" any more.

The aid to GMAC was approved on December 24th, at about the same time that the company converted to a bank holding company. As part of this transition, the Federal Reserve is requiring GM and Cerberus Capital Management, LP (the parent of Chrysler) to cut their ownership stakes.

Cerberus, which purchased 51 percent of GMAC in 2006, leaving GM 49 percent, must reduce its voting power to a maximum of 14.9 percent, though it is being permitted to retain up to 33 percent of the company's equity, while GM must reduce both its voting shares and equity to a maximum of 10 percent.

Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the purchase of $5 billion in preferred shares - about 17 percent of the company's equity - of GMAC, and it also gave GM a loan of $1 billion to invest in the financial company.

Despite GM's shrinking stake in GMAC, however, the financial company is now able to expand its dealer and consumer loan offerings, and it was announced last week that loans and leases would be made to auto shoppers with credit scores as low as 621 (on a 300 - 850 scale). GMAC had previously stopped purchasing contracts for consumers with scores below 700, excluding roughly 60 percent of GM's U.S. customer base.