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Toyota shareholders in U.S. sue over fallen stock price

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Gone....forget, Toyota may file for bankruptcy in the States !

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No one could foresee that Toyota would have this problem, not guilty.

Oh wait, a Japanese company...maybe guilty.

BUY USA!! GUILTY!

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You got to be kidding me.

To win damages, the investors must be able to prove Toyota made misleading statements about an issue that would have a “material” effect on its bottom line, said James Cox, a Duke University law professor who specializes in corporate and securities law. And they must show Toyota had a duty to disclose the truthful information.

and

The automaker is also being sued by hundreds of Toyota owners seeking compensation for the lost value of their cars and trucks in proposed class-action lawsuits likely to top $3 billion in possible damages. The company also faces a series of wrongful death and injury lawsuits from crashes linked to accelerator problems.

Investors and the class lawsuits are greedy and selfish people. These people are not interested in Toyota making safer cars they are looking at making a quick buck at the expense of future buyers of Toyota. They make Toyota look good.

Instead, the lawsuits contend, top Toyota executives have known for nearly a decade that faulty electronic throttle controls caused vehicles to sometimes careen wildly out of control but covered it up to protect the company’s reputation for safety—and its stock price. The company has not issued any recalls involving flaws in the electronic throttles and has repeatedly denied they are the problem.

The lawyers are going to use any excuses and find loopholes in the law to sued Toyota in order to get a large settlements.

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"The investor lawsuits say Toyota spread misleading information through press releases, conference calls with stock analysts and TV interviews to assure stockholders and the public that the accelerator problem was easily fixed or might be the driver’s fault."

Now which problem is this ? The "unintended acceleration" or the "sticy Brake"? It's getting hard to differentiate because Toyota is blaming the drivers in both cases- but then they turn around and admit something is wrong and repairs are made. If this is in reference to the "runaway Toyotas"- well the CEO has all but admitted the existence of such a problem years ago and, in his words, Toyota was slow to respond. Ha- they sure as hell weren't slow about the "press releases, conference calls, and TV interviews" ! This is gonna be a massacre folks- enjoy the show.

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(1)"but some investors say the recovery did not prevent them from losing POTENTIALLY millions of dollars as the stock was dropping." (2)"said Stackhouse, who said he bought 40 shares in late 2009 just as the accelerator problems became more widely known."Now we all know that dealing in stocks and shares is a gamble.Every invester all over the world should take note.The word used "potentially" can be used by every invester thats ever lost money in a company that had problems. The other is Stackhouse bought 40 shares in late 2009 ,knowing about the problems.Now here is a guy,seeing an opportunity to make a lot of money.For an investment of about $3500,this guy is hoping to make a killing.Some might say ,good luck to the guy,others may think this very morally selfish,thinking about the investment Toyoto has in America ,all those jobs it provides,how it contributes to the ecomomy of America.It will be interesting to see the outcome.

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after this propaganda campaign the Japanese car market in America is not worth pursuing. Toyota should close all factories in America immidiately and not put another dollar in the fat Americans pockets

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“This drop removed the inflation from Toyota’s securities prices, causing real economic loss to investors who had purchased securities,” said Stackhouse, who said he bought 40 shares in late 2009 just as the accelerator problems became more widely known.

The catch is Stackhouse bought 40 shares and will recoup the loses through lawsuits. I am sure Stackhouse is a well educated person who knows about buying and selling stocks (Toyota) for that matter. When a company is in trouble the majority of people are selling stocks instead of buying.

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I think the message is 1. Don't sell cars in countries where people drive like babies. 2. Don't list stocks where people make important financial decisions like babies.

You know who loves these lawsuits? People who have already shorted the stock. They buy 40 shares long and then go 40,000 short and file a lawsuit and publicize it. Even if they lose the suit, they make out like bandits.

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There still has not been 1 shred of true evidence that the accelerator is actually the problem. -And the EMF (voltage) interference seems unlikely since it was debated in the 70's with early car digital electronics.

Does your cell phone/computer/GPS/radio ever act up while driving. -I have never experienced that. Even with spark generators (spark plugs) throwing out huge EMF fields while driving. You are literally surrounded by these EMF fields constantly and historically there has never been a problem.

I believe it is a driver issue. -It is the only logical thing at this point. People do not understand how to drive a car anymore and lack the common sense to do so.

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Sounds like the American thing to do. Find every reason possible to sue and get millions of dollars. Glad I'm not living there anymore.

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Folks here can slag the yank owners of cars &/or stock(& I often think suits are frivilous)but at least they have some rights & can exorcise them, if they were in Jpn they all wud be SOL! Something to think about, especially J-companies who tend to seem clueless because in Jpn they can pretty much do as they pls with little worry because even if they were to lose the pay outs wud be minimal.

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I believe it is a driver issue. -It is the only logical thing at this point. People do not understand how to drive a car anymore and lack the common sense to do so.

Very specifically Toyotas. People do not understand how to drive them. Other brands...they can drive those, but not Toyotas...much too complicated for the stupid public at large...

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Funny that the shareholders are sueing. Don't they have any faith in Toyota management?

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I think the message is 1. Don't sell cars in countries where people drive like babies. 2. Don't list stocks where people make important financial decisions like babies.

Lets add some more points to your list, shall we?

Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to). Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this). And most importantly, dont do all this in your largest market, especially if you are a foreign company. See, unlike in Japan, we are not brainwashed from an early age that all our products are superior to everyone else and are beyond scrutany; also, in US we expect all companies (domestic and foreign) to adhere to certain safety standards. I know that in Japan most of the scandals are kept on the down low (often times with bribes), but this is not the case in US (for the most part). We go hard after our own companies who deceive both customers and investors (think Enron and others) so do not expect Toyota to get some preferential treatment. If a similar thing happened in Japan (with American company), then our company what have been friggin crucified by the Japanese, so lets not pretend like Toyota is getting some unfair treatment. Toyota is perfectly aware of US regulations and the fact that our corporations face a sea of lawsuits if the crap hits the fan, yet they chose to do business in US anyways. Over the years, Toyota got rich off US consumers and now they will pay for their arrogance. Dont like our rules, GTFO our market. Is it not what Japan tells to foreign companies?
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i agree with Sheeple maybe Toyota should close a couple factories in the US, and see who will get the final blame.

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American car manufacturers (GM?) had 'sudden acceleration' problems a few years back.

It's not like this kind of event is news, i.e. unknown.

I don't think Toyota should be closin' any factories in the US. After all, we be friends. And we've had the same problem.

Work to fix it, tomodachis.

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I don't think the threat of closing factories will do much. One of the benefits of an open, unprotected market is there are plenty of auto firms ready to fill the gap...

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The shareholders are suing themselves: any money they get from Toyota will reduce the value of their shares by same amount. In fact, the lawyers will take a chunk of any settlement, leaving the shareholders worse off than before they started their foolhardy legal action.

It's also well known that Japanese companies try to cover up defects in their products. The investors should have know this and therefore have no case.

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Elephunk said,

Lets add some more points to your list, shall we? 1. Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to). 2. Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this). 3. And most importantly, dont do all this in your largest market, especially if you are a foreign company. See, unlike in Japan, we are not brainwashed from an early age that all our products are superior to everyone else and are beyond scrutany; also, in US we expect all companies (domestic and foreign) to adhere to certain safety standards. I know that in Japan most of the scandals are kept on the down low (often times with bribes), but this is not the case in US (for the most part). We go hard after our own companies who deceive both customers and investors (think Enron and others) so do not expect Toyota to get some preferential treatment. If a similar thing happened in Japan (with American company), then our company what have been friggin crucified by the Japanese, so lets not pretend like Toyota is getting some unfair treatment. Toyota is perfectly aware of US regulations and the fact that our corporations face a sea of lawsuits if the crap hits the fan, yet they chose to do business in US anyways. Over the years, Toyota got rich off US consumers and now they will pay for their arrogance. Dont like our rules, GTFO our market. Is it not what Japan tells to foreign companies?

I agree with you to a certain degree if the same thing can be said about GM and Ford along with Toyota in the same sentence without double standards. Comparing Toyota to Enron is inaccurate when it should be compare to Ford.

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nicely put elephunk!

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The shareholders are suing themselves

I'm guessing they have already sold their shares.

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Good stuff, perhaps Japan will learn now

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Important Decision: Do not sell cars where customers are pat of the decision making process and do not like taking it the way Japanese do.

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Kudos to Elephunk.

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Obviously Toyota shareholders are just pandering to US automakers.

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misoshiro:

Important Decision: Do not sell cars where customers are pat of the decision making process and do not like taking it the way Japanese do.

I do not understand the link between the Toyota issues with the Japanesness. Do you mean that the Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi cars are not Japanese anymore? Or do you want to say that cooking and hiding the relevant data, or misleading the customers are the most important features of the "way Japanese do" the things?

I think Elephunk explained it very well in his post.

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Elephunk, nice rant, though you could be a bit more concise. You're off on one point though - Japanese people are not "brainwashed" into thinking everything made in Japan is better. Perhaps the older generation believe in the Japanese brand, but younger people are aware of the decisions they make when they buy products.

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Too many people just want too easy money from Toyota too much.

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Too many people want others to pay their way, tclh. And not just on this issue.

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i agree with Sheeple maybe Toyota should close a couple factories in the US, and see who will get the final blame.

Hyundai, KIA , Tesla, Tata, Ford, GM, Just to name a few of the brands that would love to see Toyota dare to close up shop in America.

Not to mention the fact that production in America is an excellent hedge against currency fluctuation.

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Perhaps the older generation believe in the Japanese brand, but younger people are aware of the decisions they make when they buy products.

Most products are frozen or closed out of the Japanese market. Their is no choice but to buy Japanese in most if not all cases.

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Folks here can slag the yank owners of cars &/or stock(& I often think suits are frivilous)but at least they have some rights & can exorcise them

Exorcise. I agree with you on this one :-)

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Elephunk!! congrat!!! is about time someone stop the japoanholic!!!

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biculture; "Sounds like the American thing to do. Find every reason possible to sue and get millions of dollars. Glad I'm not living there anymore."

"The American thing to do" ? Thank god for that ! Imagine if more than 50 of your citizens were killed (alledgedly) and hundreds more injured (alledgedly) by products made in your country where laws against doing so were virtually non-existent. I seem to recall a few citizens getting belly aches and the poopies a few years back from tainted frozen veggies (alledged)- there in Japan. The government damn near created an international incident by blaming one of your asian neighbours- what a freakin' fire storm that was- the fallout being social, economic, and political damage for all sides- with no end in sight. Is that the "Japanese thing to do" ? I must say- I too am glad I'm not living "there" anymore". No product liability whatsoever, no concept of consumer safety, no regulatory commision with any authority, and worst of all no due process for those maimed or killed by defective products ! Toyota made millions off the American public, then got sloppy ! Greed and lust to become the worlds #1 auto maker clouded their vision as they churned out one risky product after another- and then failed to fess up when the deaths and injuries (alledged) started to appear- how can anyone defend such a company. Maybe those without a conscience can, but this poster can't. Elephunk has laid it out pretty clearly, Toyota knew full well what they were doing- and they tried to hide it. Like I said before- this is going to be a massacre, one that Toyota may not survive. Bankruptcy is looking better and better everyday !

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"James Cox, a Duke University law professor who specializes in corporate and securities law-“They clearly win on the materiality issue. This is going to be a matter that hits Toyota square in the eye,” Cox said. “But the mere fact that you didn’t disclose it isn’t necessarily fault. It’s whether you have a duty.”

Again- this is gonna be a massacre to the tune of billions and billions !

"John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University, said there has to be strong evidence of fraud."“Stupidity or gross negligence is not enough, and a defense by Toyota that they were surprised about the extent of the problem can be anticipated,” Coffee said."

Unfortunately Toyota sent staffers to the NHTSA to have them drop as many as 4 investigations ! Simply put, by these calculated actions, Toyota was not "surprised by the extent of the problem" ! Another sad bit of reality for the worlds former #1 auto maker- sniff sniff.

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Branded at 11:58 PM JST - 22nd March

That’s something of a rant given that you have missed a small detail, the people taking legal action are people who bought shares and feel that they could “potentially” have lost money. I can’t see any place where they feel they could have been “potentially” killed. Comparing apples with oranges doesn’t quite make it.

I’m not that concerned about who is taking action against who, what does worry me is the idea that people who deal in stocks now feel they have some grounds to sue when they make bad deals. Sorry but when the law of the land starts to protect gamblers from losing then the law is well out of order.

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What a crock, investors have no recourse. When you buy a stock the due diligence is your problem. Whining that you were decieved after the fact doesn't cut it.

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There are some advice for the executives at Toyota. Just keep your head down, stop whining, don't fight with politicians and immediately start on the slow road to recovery. Identify the consumers perception of the issue, weather it is safety, quality or integrity and start working to correct it. This will take some time, but it will take less then if you continue being defensive. The more you fight the more the issue is in the news.

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Grafton; "you have missed a small detail, the people taking legal action are people who bought shares and feel that they could “potentially” have lost money."

Grafton- my response is to biculture's racist comments about Americans. I was simply reminding him how and why Toyota is in the mess they are in- don't be confused. As for this;

"what does worry me is the idea that people who deal in stocks now feel they have some grounds to sue when they make bad deals."

"Bad deals" are one thing- fraud, deception, and calculated deceit is another. It is up to the courts to decide which is which. The plaintiffs here are accusing Toyota of doing what Horie did in Japan- window dressing to make the product look better than it really is for the sake of profits- this is highly illegal in Japan as well as the USA.

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Branded -- agree. bicultural prefers a country where hiding things from the government, the public, and investors is considered par for the course, and, if caught, copanies can count on simply having to do a meaningless bow at a press conference and get a "business improvement" order from the appropriate ministry. Give me a place where actions have consequences and executives/directors must take real responsibility any time. And, usaexpat, obviously you have been overseas long enough to have forgotten about the SEC. If Toyota made false or misleading statements, especially if done so in any of the numerous required filings, then investors very much do have a case. That's not "whining". It's recognizing that if the company puts out false information, it is impossible for the investor to do the "due diligence" you advocate. Called protecting the investor, and not the company.

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"1. Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to). 2. Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this). 3. And most importantly, dont do all this in your largest market, especially if you are a foreign company."

Well, all of that above remains to be proven, doesn't it Elephunk. My points don't. Way to speculate rabidly. By the way, I guess you heard that another case of "runaway Toyota" was shown to be driver error yesterday. I think it was New York this time.

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Well, all of that above remains to be proven, doesn't it Elephunk.

None of this is speculation. All of this is already in the public domain and been admitted to...strange post..

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"If Toyota made false or misleading statements, especially if done so in any of the numerous required filings, then investors very much do have a case. "

You have very well stated the allegations. And I am sure that Toyota can beat them. I guess I would take issue with "misleading" because the plaintiffs will have to prove that Toyota knew more about the problems than anyone else, which it clearly doesn't. They will have to show that there was some effort to defraud investors, which there wasn't. I don't even think that they can point to Toyota insiders cashing out, which always helps in cases like these.

No. It is as I said above. They do not expect to win money on the case because the case has no merit, they want to win money on the puts and shorts.

Toyota is up, what 15% in the last two or three weeks? I think these loser investors zigged when they should have zagged, don't you? Watch for another pop up this week as the losers withdraw their suit and cover their shorts.

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Actually no Junnama. What you are referring to as FACT is an allegation by LaHood. Might I remind you that NO punitive action has been taken against Toyota yet, nor has any been planned as far as I know. Not a fine. Not a mandatory recall. What you and that other posters describe, if true, would have someone up on charges, and there are none, are there?

Toyota is STILL involved in voluntary recalls that it initiated months ago. LaHood got his panties in a bunch for one reason or another, but he apparently was not so concerned about "the lives of US citizens" as to call the cars "unsafe" or regulate them in any way. In fact, if he really thought Japan had a quality problem, he would not be coming to Japan to inspect its trains, now would he?

You and some other posters are paying too much attention to some bizarro news feed that sadly has nothing to do with the real world. You have been duped and used. In the real world, Toyota's stock is up and it is solving its problems. Most of these "runaway Toyota" cases are turning out to be fabrications. Let's call them "mistakes by valued customers." Meanwhile, if you think you know what is wrong with Toyota cars, you can win a million dollar prize, did you know that? Nobody has claimed it. What do you think that means?

I am sure you will draw your own conclusions. I conclude that there never was a problem. Some random accidents. Too bad, but we know that the US is carnageland anyway, so no surprise there. The mistake is thinking that there is a pattern. So far, I am right to the tune of a million dollars. When someone wins that million dollar prize, maybe you will be right. I am not holding my breath. Buy some Toyota stock. You will feel better.

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Another odd post. This has clearly been admitted to:

Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to).

This is in the public domain right now and is pretty much undeniable:

Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this).

Legal cases and investigations take years to follow through on. Why would we expect the lawsuits and federal investigations to be done and over within a couple of months... They may have merit or they may not but we don't know right now...

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Oh and I hope you don't believe the Toyota recall was really voluntary... that's just kidding oneself...

Also, regarding the runaway Toyota cases, I believe you can clearly state Toyota believes they are false. Law enforcement and government officials have issued no definitive statements. Mind you I believe the CA case is pretty suspect.

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"They may have merit or they may not but we don't know right now..."

No. YOU don't know right now. The rest of the world has moved on.

"I hope you don't believe the Toyota recall was really voluntary"

I guess I am beyond your hope. Look at the timeline instead of just repeating what you hear from idiots. The floormat thing was going on in November. You really do not know what you are talking about. You do not own a Toyota and you probably do not know anyone who does. It was voluntary. It still is. There has been NO, I repeat, NO mandated recall for Toyota. How could there be when the US government has not made any official statement as to what the cause is?

"I believe you can clearly state Toyota believes they are false."

I am not sure what you are saying here. I believe that they are "false" meaning that "randomness" caused these accidents, which are so few that there is no reason to suspect that a design failure caused them. Nobody has said it is a design failure, even the US government. Certainly nobody has proven it, or they would be an instant millionaire. Toyota's engineers cannot even replicate the problem, let alone find an answer to it. In the midst of all this, some jerk named LaHood thinks he can identify a problem and just demand that someone fix it, and then have Toyoda speak in front of congress. Big deal. For its part, this "criminal organization" Toyota has been happy to accept responsibility even though it does not know the cause, which I think is particularly stupid, but when some lawyer tries to put devil horns on Toyoda, it is not going to work very well, is it? 1. Toyota did voluntary recalls long before the US asked for them. 2. It did everything that the US Dept. of Transportation asked them to do. 3. If nobody knows the cause of the problem, how can it be "covered up?"

"Law enforcement and government officials have issued no definitive statements."

Your statement is false. You don't read the Wall STreet Journal, but you should know that police in New York have called one case DEFINITELY driver error. Here is the link http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704117304575137951141817126.html You DO read JT however, so you know that Japanese police are officially citing a man for a crash despite his claim that his Prius went out of control.

So I put it to you. Rather than assuming that all of these lawsuits are valid and that Toyota has some explaining to do, maybe you should be wondering how many cases are actually valid. 40? 20? 10? 1? Maybe ZERO??

These people with their lawsuits should be prosecuted under RICO.

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No. YOU don't know right now. The rest of the world has moved on.

It won't matter what the rest of the world thinks or even what I think. It will matter what the US courts and the US regulators think.

I guess I am beyond your hope.

You are indeed beyond hope if you think typing out angry rants if going to change anything. Toyota was forced into the recall for the "sticky pedals", whether it was labeled "voluntary" or not.

So I put it to you. Rather than assuming that all of these lawsuits are valid and that Toyota has some explaining to do, maybe you should be wondering how many cases are actually valid.

I was unaware of the law enforcement statement over the weekend. That would be one in Toyota's favor. However, they did indeed recall some vehicles over this and did admit there was a sudden acceleration problem.

All propoganda aside, I believe the person who's money is on the line. The insurance companies who make their money analyzing and underwriting this stuff are unequivocal about it: there is an issue.

I await your next angry rant...

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Oh. I get it. Passive-aggressive. Cute. Make crazy statements and then claim bullying when you cannot back them up. Look. I am not angry. I respect your right to have an opinion. Hey. It is like a smile. Everyone has one. I am bothered that you presented a false statement as the truth, but maybe that is ok where you come from. Your family or something.

I think you have some misunderstandings you will have to work out. Good luck with that. If you want to educate yourself a little, look at a timeline of this issue, recent news articles, actual penalties against Toyota, and Toyota's stock price. All but the second are absolutely factual, and they tell a different story from what you have come to believe. You might have some fun reconciling those.

Hey, and maybe you are right. Don't let me deter you. Someone with such knowledge and command of information as you have must have vast wealth. If you feel so strongly, plunk a million bucks or so in the stock market and put your chin out there. Good luck to you! All those people who bought Toyota stock today can't be right, can they? Get in there and show them what idiots they are. Just short Toyota and keep shorting.

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@5sppedracer5: looks like toyota was well aware that they've had issues with electronics causing acceleration: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/22/toyota.throttle.warning/index.html?hpt=T2

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5speedracer5;

"Way to speculate rabidly. By the way, I guess you heard that another case of "runaway Toyota" was shown to be driver error yesterday. I think it was New York this time."

You seem to be guilty of your own advice- The "Runaway Toyota" you speak of in New York has not been proven to be "driver error". The story is being covered by ABC news for those of you inerested. What they have found is that the throttle was indeed "wide open" but the on board computer did not register that the brakes had been applied- we are now waiting for the tire and brake tests to see if there is any extranormal wear to show that the brakes were applied. So- lets not be "rabidly speculating" on the behalf of Toyota- their credibility is down to zero.

I see you go on;

"I guess I would take issue with "misleading" because the plaintiffs will have to prove that Toyota knew more about the problems than anyone else, which it clearly doesn't. They will have to show that there was some effort to defraud investors, which there wasn't."

The plaintiffs claim otherwise, and the good professor at Duke Uni, James Cox, seems to agree-“They clearly win on the materiality issue. This is going to be a matter that hits Toyota square in the eye,” Cox said."

It's not only this lone professor either. Legal analysts are popping up all over the various media outlets here in the US to chime in- and the vast number are pointing out the obvious- "Toyota knew- they hid, they duped- they hid, they deceived-they hid" ! It wasn't until the now infamous 911 call from Mark Saylor's runaway Toyota, that eventually crashed killing himself and 3 family members, that Toyota started to fess up. Unfortunately, up to the last month or so I feel that Akio Toyoda actually believed a lot of the press about Toyota being able to survive this scandal and go back to business as usual. Now though- a different story as the reality of these billions of dollars in lawsuits starts to sink in- after that will be the strong possibility of executives doing "Jail time" and boy just wait for the rats to turn on each other to avoid that situation. "Then" we will get the true story- as the fear of doing time in an American prison starts to sink in.

As for this little diddy;

"Toyota is up, what 15% in the last two or three weeks?"

Toyota stock is about to become worthless ! This article points out the immediate reaction-

"Toyota’s total U.S. market capitalization has fallen 13% to $135.87 billion."

"In trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota shares also have lost nearly 17% of their value since Jan 21. That’s wiped out about 2.27 trillion yen ($25.1 billion) of the company’s market capitalization there."

Like I said, wait for the lawsuits to start escalating, the discussion of jail time for executives, the media frenzy surrounding the whole circus- Toyota will not survive and will be forced into bankruptcy- it is their only option. Customers in the states are already shunning Toyota for more trustworthy and reliable auto makers- this will be a domino effect and Toyota has only themselves to blame !

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Safety concerns are exaggerated. The problems are serious, but political posturing in U.S. and media hype have created the impression that every Toyota is dangerous. That's ridiculous. The sudden-acceleration incidents is still the center of the controversy. The odds of a sudden-acceleration fatality in a Toyota vehicle are on the order of 1 in 500,000, not exactly a death wish for somebody buying a Toyota. And those odds could end up much lower. Deaths now considered linked to sudden acceleration could later be proved to have been caused by something else, including drivers who were pressing the gas pedal instead of the brake. No driver wants to admit doing that, but the fact is, it happens.

But most likely, the acceleration problem could turn out to be far less widespread than current hysteria. Toyota is probably paying more attention to safety right now than any other automaker, to include the extraordinary step to retool the gas-pedal assembly in many of their models. Toyotas coming off the assembly line these days are probably subject to more quality control than most other cars on the market.

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sfjp330 keeps wondering why I continue to repeat the numbers of those killed and injured (alledgedly) in these defective Toyotas- well, here's why;

"Safety concerns are exaggerated."

Huh ? Maybe for you they are but not for those with family members, children, or parents that they give a damn about ! Sheesh.

As for this; "But most likely, the acceleration problem could turn out to be far less widespread than current hysteria."

Hardly ! I would say just the opposite- and the numbers would back my observation as Toyota continues to hear escalated reports from individuals who have had their auto's examined by Toyota dealers and mechanics. In some cases Toyota has gone so low as to blame the garage where the repairs were done ! What a joke Toyota has become. Unfortunately JT has opted not to run that story but it can be easily accessed through Yahoo under "repaired Toyotas continue to cause problems"- enjoy !

Oh and sfjp330 take note;

"Toyotas coming off the assembly line these days are probably subject to more quality control than most other cars on the market."

So what ? It doesn't matter if the QC guys don't know what they're looking for ! Toyota has proven that its QC line is simply inefficient and inadequate- that explains the 10 million recalls !

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Branded at 07:55 AM JST - 24th March. keeps wondering why I continue to repeat the numbers of those killed and injured (alledgedly) in these defective Toyotas

Those are accusation only. Toyota should take all of the cases to court and play hardball to those that are suspected of illusions and outright fraud and most fit in this category. If defendends lose, then Toyota should sue them for damages. Generally the prosecution bears the burden of proof, not Toyota and is required to prove their version of events to this standard. This means that the proposition being presented by the prosecution must be proven to the extent that there is no "reasonable doubt" in the mind of a reasonable person that the defendant is guilty.

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Hey Branded

"Toyota stock is about to become worthless !"

Better tell that to the punters. Up 1.5% on a down market yesterday and up again today. Cover your shorts, Branded. You are wrong about the New York (law enforcement confirms Toyota's account) case and all the rest. Glbert has been powned by an editor of Popular Mechanics. The guy in Tokyo who claimed his vehicle malfunctioned was proved a liar. NTHSA cannot identify the problem and neither can Toyota. It does not exist, so no lawsuits. See you in the funny papers. I won't waste another second trying to make sense of your goofy claims.

Just like you, these plaintiffs will get up one by one and their claims will be shot down one by one. 100 plaintiffs do not add up to a liability. But please, don't believe me, just watch the stock price tell the tale. See what the professsionals think. Every 10 points it goes up, I will say "Branded, Elephunk and Junnama" and laugh out loud, just to remind myself of your pownage.

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Oh. I get it. Passive-aggressive. Cute. Make crazy statements and then claim bullying when you cannot back them up.

Another weird non-sequiter post. If you want to talk with a strawmen, you can just post what you want other people to be saying and voila, you can have the whole conversation by yourself - because that's what you're trying to do anyway.

Let's get back to the original point. These three points are very clearly factual and you haven't said anything that counters that (whatever insults or angry language you want to put in).

Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to).

Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this).

And most importantly, dont do all this in your largest market, especially if you are a foreign company."

Have you got anything to disprove these or are you going to ranting on about stock prices again?

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"But most likely, the acceleration problem could turn out to be far less widespread than current hysteria."

Talking about hysteria?? There's been a mass hysteria in the US for the past decade.

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"Toyota shareholders in the United States, incensed over a sudden drop in the Japanese automaker’s stock price"

Actually this should be plural- as in sudden "drops." Lets take a closer look at Toyota's stock price. In the last 5 years Toyota reached a peak stock price of $137 in February of 2007. From that time it's been a slow steady, sometimes dramatic, fall eventually hitting $58 in December of 2008. Now some of this, not all, reflects the global economy in general- but the rest is a result of recalls, increased reports of defects, and poor evaluations from noted consumer groups like "Consumer Reports" who suddenly removed their "automatic seal of approval" in 2007 !

As for this;

"Cover your shorts, Branded. You are wrong..."

"don't believe me, just watch the stock price tell the tale. See what the professsionals think. Every 10 points it goes up, I will say "Branded, Elephunk and Junnama" and laugh out loud, just to remind myself of your pownage."

5speedracer5- Yes I will "just watch the stock price tell the tale". And how about I "laugh out loud" every day/week/month, that Toyota fails to recoup it's losses or stock price- Hmm, $137 I do believe it was. And today ? Down so far... seems to be wallowing in the $80 range ! Sorry mate, but you and the punters best gear yourselves for some gloomy days ahead if you are only counting on a good laugh every time Toyota's stock goes up 10 points. At this rate, it could be an eternity. See you in the funny papers ?

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Branded at 12:40 AM JST - 25th March. Actually this should be plural- as in sudden "drops." Lets take a closer look at Toyota's stock price. In the last 5 years Toyota reached a peak stock price of $137 in February of 2007. From that time it's been a slow steady, sometimes dramatic, fall eventually hitting $58 in December of 2008. Now some of this, not all, reflects the global economy in general- but the rest is a result of recalls, increased reports of defects, and poor evaluations from noted consumer groups like "Consumer Reports" who suddenly removed their "automatic seal of approval" in 2007 !

Well, almost all stock prices drop significantly in August 2008 to March of 2009 and beyond. How can you compare with 2007 when economy was booming? In low times of March 15, 2009, B of A at $3.50, Intel at $12.50, Wells Fargo at $8.00. on and on. Toyota is no exception. This was crazy times.

Toyota stock prices wasn't helped by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood when he threw gasoline on Toyota Motor Corp.'s wildly spreading recall fire, warning owners to stop driving their vehicles before he backpedaled just moments later. For Toyota's stock, the hasty and somewhat confusing clarification barely stemmed the bleeding. At that time, the shares fell as much as 8% before bouncing off the session lows to close down 6% at $73.49. However, if you look at Toyota stock prices of 52 week lows at $63.00 and highs at $91.97, the stock closed today at $81.63. Toyota stocks are performing well compare to few months ago and they will do fine in long term. Remember stock investment and return has NO GUARANTEE and there is a risk, regardless if it's Toyota stocks.

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Lawyers will start lining up outside the courthouse today to argue why they are best qualified to argue these more than 100 suits against Toyota. High profile lawyers like Mark Geragos are just chomping at the bit to stick it to Toyota- with many analysts saying payout for the plaintiffs could easily be one for the record books.

I've been doing a little surfing around to get a feel for the common man out there in the US- and the numbers are shocking. 2 months ago 38% of Americans said they would buy only American cars. Today that number has risen to almost 70% ! (69% to be exact). For those of you who think Toyota will recover from this- think again ! I'm not sure what sfjp330 is on about with the finger pointing of Lahood- but lets just say his comments had nothing to do with Toyota's freefall. As for US stocks in general- all of mine have rebounded quite nicely- back or above 2007 levels. Guess some of us are just better investors than others- Home Depot, McD's, etc- recession proof baby ! Anyway, for 5speedy5 I see Toyota was down yesterday- and is down again today... just wait for the media circus and the actual lawsuits to begin ! A bungy jump with no cord, ahhhh ! BTW- you have yet to mention what you will do when Toyota drops another 10 points- any ideas ? Oh, and I see where Canadians are also looking to "class action" lawsuits against Toyota. Guess it isn't just the Americans afterall. The bigger they are people.

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Branded at 12:42 AM JST - 26th March. Lawyers will start lining up outside the courthouse today to argue why they are best qualified to argue these more than 100 suits against Toyota. High profile lawyers like Mark Geragos are just chomping at the bit to stick it to Toyota- with many analysts saying payout for the plaintiffs could easily be one for the record books.

This is fine. However, if accuser loses in the court of law, the accuser should pay for the legal fees of Toyota. It's about time that law should change to make this a fair game in a court of law. The change would minimize frivolus lawsuits.

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Falling Toyota stock you say ? Seems its true again today- as the rest of the economic world enjoyed positive results Toyota took it on the chin for another loss- and the lawyers for this dabacle haven't even been named yet. Don't hold your breath- from here on out it's free fall city for Toyota- they will not survive. Mark Geragos termed Toyota a "murderous corporation" and the stock market reacted wldly ! This is gonna be a slaughter folks- best sell off what ya have, Toyota is done !

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So how bad has it gotten for Toyota ? Well I wrote yesterday that large percentages of US car buyers are starting to shun Toyota- this in spite of what certain posters here want to believe. Well, bloomberg has their numbers out today and yes, the freefall continues with this screaming headline- "Toyota Is Dead to 44% of U.S. Buyers" !

"NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- More than 4 of 10 Americans say that they "would definitely not buy a Toyota(TM)," according to a recent Bloomberg National Poll."

"According to the poll, a full 44% of U.S. consumers say they are fully shunning Toyota, amid the automaker's massive vehicle recalls and public relations debacle. Of those 44%, 39% cited the recent recall as the reason for why they would not buy Toyota. The poll shows that 36% of the polltakers view Toyota unfavorably, while 49% or less than half of polltakers view the company favorably."

Now the rest of the story involves the good news surrounding the American companies lik Ford, GM, etc- but I'll not get off topic- this story is about the downfall of Toyota's stock, law suits, and the reasons behind them. This latest info goes to show, once again, how bad things have gotten for Toyota !

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Karma is a b.itch! Poor Toyota, my crocodile tears just flow and flow!!!

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Now what to do about the current "falling" stock price ! With the lawsuits just getting underway and Toyota finds itself in more negative light- it appears stock holders are starting to jump ship ! Toyota stock, like 5speedy5, has been down for three days in a row now. It seems to have settled in at about $80- a far cry from the $135 range Toyota used to enjoy. The real test will come after the first week of trials- if the serious investors, not the day traders, sense Toyota is even a tad bit guilty, they'll drop this stock like a greased pig ! And once the stock goes below $50- freefall with no end in sight !

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5SpeedRacer5 at 10:27 AM JST - 23rd March "1. Dont design cars that speed out of control even if the cause is something as simple as car mat (something Toyota had already admitted to). 2. Dont lie about known safety defects for decades and then pretend like you are innocent (seized internal documents and past employee testimony point to this). 3. And most importantly, dont do all this in your largest market, especially if you are a foreign company."

Well, all of that above remains to be proven, doesn't it Elephunk. My points don't. Way to speculate rabidly. By the way, I guess you heard that another case of "runaway Toyota" was shown to be driver error yesterday. I think it was New York this time.

I don't know about proving this, but State Farm Insurance pointed out an alarming disparity in "sudden acceleration" issues with Toyota versus any other brand in 2007. Here's the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020803830.html

There is a problem with Toyota, and they need to fix it.

Oh, and as for all of the lawsuit stuff? If Toyota lied on their 10K, then they should be sued. If you don't know what a 10K is, look it up.

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the bottom line, is that it will be very difficult to prove that the fluctuation in stock value was due completely to the alleged negligence and fraud committed by Toyota management.

Stocks of other j-automobile companies may also have dropped in the same period. I just checked and all major indexes tanked during the same period.

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