Lovell & Stewart Announces Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit On Behalf of Purchasers of Ford Motor Company Common Stock

Business Wire, Jan 29, 2002

Business Editors & Legal Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 2002

The law firm of Lovell & Stewart, LLP ((212) 608-1900 or www.lovellstewart.com) has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Ford Motor Company ("Ford") (NYSE: "F"), between December 1, 1999 through January 12, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period").

The action, Fadem v. Ford Motor Co., et al., filed on January 29, 2002, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (500 Pearl Street, New York, New York), Docket No. 02-CV-0686 (MP), and has been assigned to the Honorable Milton Pollack, Senior U.S. District Judge. A copy of the complaint is available from Lovell & Stewart, LLP. The complaint may also be viewed on Lovell & Stewart's website (http://www.lovellstewart.com).

The complaint alleges that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market before and during the Class Period, thereby artificially inflating the price of Ford common stock.

The complaint alleges that Ford's representations were rendered false and misleading by Ford's failure to disclose: (a) that Ford's management purposely had made and failed to hedge large commitments to purchase platinum, palladium, rhodium or similar commodities at very high prices, (b) that the declines in the prices of such commodities during the Class Period (which, to outward appearances, were favoring Ford's business) were not helping Ford and, on the contrary, were hurting Ford's business and prospects, (c) that these large unhedged purchase commitments had placed Ford at a disadvantage to, for example, General Motors, and/or (d) that the large unhedged purchase commitments by Ford's management were exposing Ford to potentially in excess of $1 billion in losses from price declines that would have been favorable to Ford.

The complaint further alleges that defendants made false and misleading statements to conceal top management's errors and speculation, and Ford's true financial and competitive position. Only after defendants Jacques Nasser and Henry D.G. Wallace had departed the employment of Ford, did defendants, on January 11, 2002, belatedly disclose the foregoing material adverse facts in Ford's "write-off" of one billion dollars of charges (or losses) relating to such unhedged commodity exposure.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of Class members and is represented by the law firm of Lovell & Stewart, LLP, which has significant experience and expertise in prosecuting class actions.

Christopher Lovell, the senior partner at Lovell & Stewart, has been appointed lead counsel or co-lead counsel in numerous significant class actions, including actions involving reportedly the largest class action recoveries in history under three separate federal statutes (the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Commodity Exchange Act, and the Investment Company Act of 1940). These record-breaking recoveries for class plaintiffs included the $1.027 billion recovery in In re: NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation and a $145.35 million recovery in 1999 in In re: Sumitomo Copper Litigation, a class action against various parties who conspired to manipulate the worldwide copper and copper futures markets for their own profit.

Any investor who bought or otherwise acquired the common stock of Ford between December 1, 1999 through January 12, 2002, may, not later than April 1, 2002, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the Class. Investors who wish to discuss this action may contact Lovell & Stewart at the address, telephone number, or e-mail address below:

Contact: Lovell & Stewart, LLP
         Christopher Lovell
         500 Fifth Avenue
         New York, New York 10110
         212/608-1900
         sklovell@aol.com