High-speed trading firm postpones IPO

High frequency trading firm Virtu Financial is reportedly delaying its IPO after a new book on the industry.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Citing people familiar with the matter, several news outlets said part of the New York-based company's decision was related to the release of Michael Lewis's new book, "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt."

Related: Wall Street responds to Michael Lewis' 'Flash Boys'

In his book, which has been accompanied by promotional interviews and a much-discussed 60 Minutes segment, Lewis claims that the stock market is rigged in favor of high-frequency trading -- a strategy where traders use computer algorithms to buy and sell stocks in the blink of an eye, often beating out traditional investors.

Virtu was supposed to begin marketing its IPO Friday, but the company is postponing the IPO by at least a week, the reports said. It still plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol VIRT.

Virtu filed for its IPO in March, seeking to raise $100 million, but IPO firm Renaissance Capital at the time estimated the size of the deal could be as high as $250 million.

For its part, Virtu intends to persuade the public and investors that it doesn't have an unfair advantage and is, in fact, one of the "good guys".

Related: Flash Boys face off: Michael Lewis on CNBC

Brad Katsuyama, an ex-trader who is portrayed as a hero in Lewis' book because of his alternative IEX exchange that prevents firms from gaining unfair trading advantages from speed alone, told the Wall Street Journal that Virtu is one of the "good high-frequency traders."

"They are one of the few HFT firms trading on IEX and I think that says a lot about them and a lot about some of their competitors," Katsuyama said.

Virtu's track record is remarkably impressive. According to its SEC filing, the firm had only one losing trading day in the four-year period between January 2009 and December 2013.

Its risks include the potential for increased government regulation of high-speed trading as well as the possibility of technological failures on its trading platform, the filing said.

First Published: April 2, 2014: 9:34 AM ET

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What's next for housing in your town

Job creation and low unemployment rates are expected to drive up home prices in cities like Tampa this year.

NEW YORK (Money Magazine)

Related: 10 fastest growing cities

Researchers are predicting an average price gain of 4.2% -- respectable, but a far cry from the 11% average posted in 2013, according to data firm CoreLogic. At the same time, the shortage of for-sale homes should ease, as more would-be sellers get off the fence and construction of new houses continues to pick up.

Of course, in reality no market is truly average. Some areas are predicted to grow at more than twice the nationwide rate, while a few will barely tick up. Then there's the specter of interest rate hikes, which could hit some places harder than others.

Calculator: Was my home a good investment?

To sort out what you can expect, MONEY zeroed in on four common types of markets, each with its own quirks. We'll help you determine which one most closely fits your area, and what moves you should make in 2014.

More -- Real Estate Guide 2014:

Upscale neighborhoods
New investor favorites
Once-hot housing markets, now not
Booming growth cities

First Published: April 2, 2014: 9:43 AM ET

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The sunny outlook for housing in upscale neighborhoods

In Denver, the Mile High City, sales of homes prices at $500,000 or more spiked 65% this January vs. last.

NEW YORK (Money Magazine)

UPSCALE NEIGHBORHOODS

Do you live in one of the tonier areas of your city? Here's good news: It should be easier to sell this year.

With jumbo rates now closer to those of conventional loans, and buyers more confident, sales volume for expensive houses is on the upswing. In January the number of U.S. homes selling for $500,000 to $750,000 picked up 15% vs. a year earlier, compared with a 6% drop for $100,000 to $250,000 homes, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The time it takes to sell is also falling in many areas. In Denver, for one, $500,000 homes were on the market 12% fewer days in January of this year than in the same period in 2013.

Related: Top 10 most affordable small cities

Prices for high-end homes rose less than those on the low end last year, but that's likely to change soon, says CoreLogic economist Sam Khater. A jump in sales is typically followed by price increases, he says.

How you'll know: To find out if your home is in the top tier, check Zillow's Local Info page for your town. There you'll find the median home values for the low, middle, and top price tiers in your market. Then, gauge the strength of your specific tier by asking your agent for the inventory and days-on-market stats for homes in your range.

BUYERS

Time it right. Want a more expensive home? Buy now before prices climb. However, if you live in a pricey house but are looking to downsize to something less expensive, it may be worth waiting for your current home to appreciate.

Look at jumbos. Will you need a large mortgage (typically more than $417,000)? The premium over what you'd pay for a smaller loan, which grew as wide as two full percentage points during the bust, has shrunk to next to nothing. Today rates on jumbos average 4.43%, vs. 4.42% for smaller loans, thanks in part to growing competition among banks. Big banks often offer the best rates and options on these types of loans, says Keith Gumbinger of mortgage publisher HSH.com.

Don't dismiss ARMs. A five-year adjustable rate for a jumbo averages 2.93%. While rising rates are a very real risk, ARMs at least deserve a look if you're taking a big loan, says Gumbinger.

Caluculator: How much house can you afford?

On a $650,000 loan, you'd save $47,775 on interest during the first five years (vs. a 30-year fixed), and gain an extra $14,745 of equity. If you're planning to sell soon after rates reset or are confident you can handle a spike in your payment at the end of the adjustable period, you may decide the gamble is worth it.

Buy for the future. Nearly 25% of owners regret the size of the home they picked, according to a Trulia study. With prices expected to climb, high-end homes are likely to be more affordable than they will be in the future, so think about how much space you'll need in the coming years and buy appropriately.

Don't go it alone. A recent study found that buyers of homes priced at more than $300,000 are more likely to try to negotiate the deal themselves than buyers of more moderately priced properties, says co-author Bennie Waller, professor of finance and real estate at Longwood University. It doesn't end well: The DIYers end up paying an average of 9% more than those who use their own agent.

SELLERS

Price carefully. With sales of higher-end properties picking up, homes are increasingly "stigmatized if they stay on the market too long," says Judson Henderson, a broker in Princeton, N.J.

Overprice, and your place could be the one with the black mark. If you're unsure, pay the $500 or so for an appraisal. Also, if your home is older than 20 years, get an inspection to make sure your structure is sound, and your HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems function smoothly. Fix whatever's on the fritz. "You don't want people feeling like the house is a project," says Henderson.

Make your listing tech-friendly. Most shoppers, and particularly those in the market for upscale houses, will be looking at your home on phones and tablets, says Amy Bohutinsky, chief marketing officer at Zillow. Photos on these gadgets need a higher resolution than what's required by a desktop. Check your listing on a mobile device to make sure it looks great. Some buyers may look at photos of your home on Google, so you should do the same (type your address into the map search, then click on the Street View tab). If the photo is outdated or taken in winter, note that in your listing.

Highlight the right features. According to a study by the National Association of Home Builders, buyers who expect to pay at least $500,000 today put warming drawers, wine fridges, and outdoor kitchens high on their wish lists. If your home has these or other unique selling points, mention them in your listing.

OWNERS

Renovate sooner, not later. Don't let dated features drag down the value of your home. Owners thinking about remodeling have good reason to act now. Quality contractors, already busier than they have been in recent years, are likely to get even tougher to snag. Then there's the issue of rising rates, which would push up the cost of new home-equity loans and most lines of credit.

More Real Estate Guide 2014:

Upscale neighborhoods
New investor favorites
Once-hot housing markets, now not
Booming growth cities

First Published: April 2, 2014: 9:38 AM ET

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Save your tax refund, win the lottery

Lilly Roman won $25,000 last year by saving a portion of her tax refund.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

A new lottery created by nonprofit Doorways to Dreams Fund aims to encourage people to save rather than spend. For every $50 of your tax refund you tuck away in savings, you receive a chance to win $100 during one of 100 weekly drawings, along with a chance to win a $25,000 grand prize.

To enter the Save Your Refund lottery, you need to request that at least $50 of your refund be put into a basic savings account, an IRA, prepaid card, savings bond or CD using Form 8888 when you file your taxes.

In order to be eligible to win the grand prize, you also need to submit a photo that illustrates your savings goal -- like a picture of a tropical island where you hope to take a vacation or a new car. This photo is the key to winning the big money -- while the weekly prizes are selected randomly, the grand prize winner is chosen by a panel of judges based on the photo.

Related: 13 crazy tax deductions

Save Your Refund launched last year, with more than 750 participants saving almost $1 million.

Single mother Lilly Roman took home the grand prize, which she put toward bills, medical expenses and savings for her three children. She found out about the program at a free tax filing center, and forgot she entered the sweepstakes until she received a call telling her she'd won $25,000.

"My dad was actually over and scratching a lottery ticket, and I told him he was wasting his time because only rich people win," said Roman. "And right then, someone [from the Doorways to Dreams Fund] called and said I won $25,000. I said, 'you're kidding me right?' and thought it was some kind of scam, but it turned out to be a huge blessing."

This year, 2,300 people have already saved nearly $2 million from their tax refunds, and $5,800 in prizes have been given away during the weekly drawings.

Related: 10 tax audit red flags

While the sweepstakes is open to everyone, it is especially meant for low-income families, says Joanna Smith-Ramani, a director at the Doorways to Dreams Fund. It's not always realistic for families living paycheck to paycheck to save every cent of their refund, but saving even a small portion is better than nothing, she says.

"For many low-income families, their refund is the single largest paycheck all year," said Smith-Ramani. "For that reason, it's a chance to catch up on necessities like bills, but we also want to change that from not just catching up but to getting ahead."

If you're chosen as a winner, you need to send a copy of Form 8888 to Doorways to Dreams to prove that you have saved the money. Winners of the weekly drawings are announced each week from February 7 to April 11, and the Grand Prize winner will be announced within 30 days after Tax Day, which falls on April 15.

Related: 8 ways to cut your tax bill

This isn't the first time the Doorways to Dreams has experimented with lotteries to encourage people to save. Over the past few years, the group has been partnering with credit unions across the country to offer prize-linked savings accounts, where customers are given the chance to win up to $25,000 simply by saving money in their accounts.

Because of the success these bank accounts have had -- with customers saving more than $70 million so far -- the group thought expanding the idea to tax refunds was the next logical move.

"Families particularly strapped for dollars often look for quick and easy ways to get an extra injection of money, such as buying a lottery ticket," the organization said. "SaveYourRefund encourages families across the country to channel the same motivation that drives lottery-ticket purchases into new motivation to save."

First Published: April 2, 2014: 6:15 AM ET

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Banks under pressure over rising stress

Banks and professional services firms are only just beginning to introduce programs designed to prevent mental health problems.

LONDON (CNNMoney)

Last week, a coroner concluded that retired Deutsche Bank (DB) executive William Broeksmit took his own life. His psychologist told the inquest that Broeksmit was deeply anxious about authorities investigating the bank.

Last year, Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) intern Moritz Erhardt died of an epileptic seizure, which may have been triggered by fatigue, according to the coroner. The 21-year old had been working punishing hours in the days before he died.

In May, an inquest will examine the death of J.P. Morgan (JPM, Fortune 500) employee Gabriel Magee, who fell from the bank's 33-story tower in London in January. Magee died just weeks before a J.P. Morgan colleague apparently committed suicide in Hong Kong.

"The stress in [London] is certainly palpable. It seems to have gotten worse over the last few years since the recession," said Dr. Neil Brener, a psychiatrist who works with professionals in the city's financial center. "Employers are starting to wake up to this as a problem."

Bankers took much of the blame for the global financial crisis. In the years since, there's been a flood of investigations, lawsuits and new regulations that have piled on the pressure for many workers, even as their employers demand a return to the bonanza profits of the past.

And it's an uphill struggle for financial firms trying to change a culture where employees fear that asking for help could damage their careers. Getting London's 146,000 banking staff to change their ways will take time.

Related: Making 6 figures on Wall Street, but life stinks

But some firms are making a start. In London, 19 companies and two charities -- Mind and Mental Health First Aid -- have created the City Mental Health Alliance, which provides a forum for top executives in banking and professional services to talk about how to tackle the problem.

CMHA was founded in October, and now includes Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500), UBS (UBS), KPMG and Deloitte, among others.

Pete Rodgers, CMHA co-founder and deputy general counsel at KPMG International, said all these firms have good programs to help employees cope with crises -- offering a helpline to call in times of distress, for example -- but few have initiatives focused on prevention.

"Everybody recognizes that [London] is a competitive place and long hours are not going to go away," said Rodgers. Employers are "experimenting with programs to meet their clients needs but also ensure employees have down time when they can revitalize," he said.

Related: Zurich Insurance chairman quits after CFO suicide

Among the new measures being introduced: Goldman Sachs is encouraging its junior investment bankers to take weekends off.

And one of the big accounting firms is considering allowing employees to take a few months off work without disclosing why they need a break, Rodgers said. That could help employees who don't want to talk about mental health issues with their managers.

Morgan Stanley has also been expanding a program called Mind Matters, which offers employees seminars on issues related to resilience, relaxation and managing pressure. The program was launched in 2010.

Related: Wall Street says 'Om'

But even as firms are trying to tackle rising stress, they're doing little to publicize their efforts. Half a dozen of London's biggest banks contacted by CNNMoney refused to comment on the issue.

KPMG was one of the few companies to speak up. According to Rodgers, one initiative that went down particularly well at the firm had senior executives write about their personal mental health struggles in a company newsletter, which encouraged more open discussion among staff.

Despite its reticence, Rodgers believes the financial services industry realizes the bottom-line benefits of improving the mental health of their employees.

"We understand the business case," he said.

Mental distress issues cost U.K. employers roughly £26 billion ($43 billion) each year through absenteeism, reduced productivity and recruitment costs, according to the Center for Mental Health.

First Published: April 2, 2014: 6:23 AM ET

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T-Mobile no longer selling BlackBerry

BlackBerry and T-Mobile are going their separate ways

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

BlackBerry owners who use T-Mobile will still be able to use their phones and get product support even after the deadline, but the contract between the two companies won't be renewed, BlackBerry said in a statement Wednesday.

"Regretfully, at this time, our strategies are not complementary and we must act in the best interest of our BlackBerry customers," said BlackBerry (BBRY) CEO John Chen.

T-Mobile (TMUS) was unavailable for immediate comment.

The split doesn't come as much of a surprise.

Related: Things go from bad to less bad at BlackBerry

T-Mobile stopped stocking its shelves with BlackBerry devices last year, citing weak demand.

In 2013, competitors ate up most of the market. Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android dominated, with 57% of the market, while Apple took 39%, and Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Windows phones making up 2.5%, according to marketing intelligence firm IDC. BlackBerry was a distant fourth place, with a mere 1.5%.

Related: Sprint wants T-Mobile but don't count on it

Earlier this year T-Mobile emailed its subscribers who use BlackBerry, encouraging them to switch to Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhones. Chen came out swinging in a blog post, calling T-Mobile's promotion "inappropriate and ill-conceived."

T-Mobile CEO John Legere then apologized for the campaign, tweeting "BlackBerry users, I'm hearing you loud and clear. Let me work with the team and get back with you." He changed the upgrade offer to allow BlackBerry owners get an upgrade without ditching their BlackBerrys.

First Published: April 2, 2014: 7:43 AM ET

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HTC One M8 review: Beautifully better

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The HTC (HTCKF) One M8 is bigger and faster than last year's M7 model. The M8 has a larger, five-inch screen, a speedier quad-core Snapdragon processor, and a new rear-camera technology which makes use of two lenses instead of one.

But the design of the HTC One M8 is the main attraction with this phone.

Design: Last year's M7 model was flashier, with stark angles and a silver and white color scheme that really stood out. The M8 is toned down in both regards, utilizing a darker gunmetal gray and black color scheme, rounding out the edges, and moving to a rear shell that's machined from a single piece of aluminum.

It's fundamentally the same design -- which is to say incredibly solid and premium feeling. But the phone is ergonomically more satisfying without the sharp edges of last year's model.

The main problem with the new HTC One is that it's just too big. Last Year's HTC One was already pushing the limits of one-handed comfort with a smaller screen. Even compared to other five-inch phones, the HTC one borders on unwieldy.

Related: HTC One M8 is the most beautiful smartphone

It's big for a reason: the phone has very good quality stereo speakers adorning both sides of the screen. But for me, designing the phone to be as small as the display will allow would make a bigger difference in my day-to-day life than improved sound from the built-in speakers. (Aren't we all using headphones and Bluetooth speakers anyways?)

Camera: It's not as flashy as the phone's casing, but the new camera on the M8 tech is appealing as well. One of the lenses is permanently tasked with gathering depth information from every image captured, which not only makes the M8's auto-focus much, much faster, but it allows for the camera to more deftly apply effects to your photos.

In general, this camera provides no huge leap in image quality -- the sensor is very similar to the one found in the M7. But the M8's camera lets you have more fun with photos. You can more easily and accurately add light 3-D effects, and you can make select parts of an image black and white while keeping the rest in color.

What the camera doesn't do, as HTC would like you to believe, is refocus images. It can take a photo that's 100% in focus and apply a blur effect to specific parts of the image to emphasize someone or something, but it can't refocus a blurry image, or change the perspective of the image if the camera was already able to isolate a single object in focus.

Performance: HTC has this phone running in peak form, with every aspect of the software functioning in a responsive, silky smooth manner. From Web browsing, to gaming, to video playback, the M8 was more than up to the task, even with the HTC Sense user interface running on top of Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android mobile operating syste.

But HTC also took time to consider some little details that help make a big difference. Like the Moto X and Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone 5S, the M8 has all of it's sensors optimized and running on a dedicated co-processor, which not only saves battery life, but also allows them to always be on and collecting data.

That allows for useful, thoughtful features like being able to double tap the screen to wake the phone up. Or letting apps determine where you are and what you're doing. Or even just letting fitness tracking apps, such as FitBit's use your phone as an activity tracker.

Battery: Speaking of battery life, it's quite good. Most people should find themselves able to get through an entire day with average use. If you're streaming audio and video, or constantly browsing the internet, you'll probably have to recharge more than once a day.

Software: HTC refined and expanded its Sense software to offer more to users. The interface has been slightly scaled back so that the social media and news aggregation "BlinkFeed" feature that was prominent on the M7 isn't quite so central to the main experience of using the M8. And BlinkFeed itself has been fleshed out so that app developers, and not just media outlets, will be able to integrate their app content into the stream.

All things considered, the Sense interface isn't bad. I'd even say its attractive, and I wouldn't mind using this if Google's own design wasn't so good. The one complaint with the custom software is that the keyboard doesn't register taps all that accurately. Luckily, you can go to the Google Play store and just install the default Android keyboard. (Highly recommended!)

Conclusion: If you're OK with carrying a big phone around, the HTC One M8 is about as nice and powerful an Android phone that you'll find right now, and is definitely worth its price tag. It is good enough to go toe-to-toe with the iPhone 5S and Galaxy S5. But if you're already satisfied with your iPhone or Galaxy S, the HTC One wouldn't necessarily give you a compelling reason to switch.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 7:08 AM ET

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GM recalls reach nearly 7 million

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The 7 million figure includes recalls in Canada and Mexico as well as cars and trucks exported outside of North America that needed to be recalled and fixed.

The latest was on Monday when GM recalled 1.3 million vehicles, mostly in the U.S., to fix a problem in power steering.

The company said Monday it will take a $750 million charge against earnings in the first three months of the year to cover the cost of all the repairs, up from its earlier estimate of $300 million.

GM (GM, Fortune 500) shares are off 16% so far this year. That's more than twice the decline in the shares of rival Toyota Motor (TM) and much worse than U.S. rival Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500), which has posted a narrow increase in 2014.

This year's batch of recalls is by far the greatest number by GM in a long time. It recalled 4 million vehicles in the United States in all of 2010, which was the highest total in recent years. It recalled only 1.6 million last year.

Related: GM - Steps to a recall nightmare

But the company is now getting grilled because it took 10 years between the time it discovered a problem with an ignition switch and its decision to recall 2.6 million of the small cars earlier this year. That flawed switch, which could shut off the car while driving and disable the airbag, power steering and anti-lock brakes, has been tied to at least 13 deaths.

GM CEO Mary Barra met with some of the families of people killed in those cars at the company's Washington, D.C., offices Monday night, the company confirmed.

Barra faces two days of testimony before House and Senate panels Tuesday and Wednesday. In remarks released in advance she apologized again for the problem and the delay in fixing it, and conceded the company still does not know why the recall wasn't made much earlier.

GM also is due to report March U.S. auto sales Tuesday, along with the rest of the industry.

Experts forecast that GM will post a slight increase in sales compared to last year, but not as much of a rise as the industry as a whole.

But in yet another headache for GM, the company announced early Tuesday that its would have to delay the release of its sales report by several hours. The reason: problems with the computer system dealers use to report results.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 9:08 AM ET

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Stocks: S&P500 at all-time high

Click for more market data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The S&P 500, which gained 1.5% in the first three months of the year, has just passed its all-time high of 1,883.97 by going to 1,884.64 shortly after 10am. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq were also higher in early trading Tuesday.

If history is any guide, Tuesday's gains could set the tone for the rest of the month. Stocks have returned 1.7% on average in the month of April over the past 40 years, making it the top performing month of the year, according to Schaeffer's Investment Research.

In economic news, a report on U.S. manufacturing this morning is flat, in line with expectations. Investors have been looking for clues on the health of the economy after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said Monday that the central bank's repair job was not yet finished.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

The auto industry will also be in focus, with monthly sales reports due from the top car makers throughout the day.

General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), which delayed the release of its sales figures because of a technical glitch, announced another recall Monday and set aside more money to cover the costs. The stock was up over 1% in early trading.

GM has been criticized for how it handled a different recall due to faulty ignition switches, linked to the deaths of 13 people. CEO Mary Barra will testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday about the problems.

GM shares have slumped more than 10% this year, compared with a gain of about 3% for it's crosstown rival Ford. Shares of Ford (F, Fortune 500) were higher Tuesday after the automaker reported better than expected March sales.

Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) shares were also under pressure after a report claimed it avoided $2.4 billion in taxes. Company executives will defend their practices at a U.S. Senate hearing today.

Shares of Intuitive Surgical Group (ISRG) soared after the Food and Drug Administration approved the biotech's "da Vinci Xi" technology for minimally invasive surgery.

Casino companies were on the move following reports that gambling revenue in Macau surged 13% in March. Shares of Las Vegas Sands (LVS, Fortune 500), MGM Resorts (MGM, Fortune 500) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN, Fortune 500) all gained ground.

Related: CNNMoney's Tech30

European markets were mostly higher in afternoon trading, while Asian markets ended mixed.

First Published: April 1, 2014: 10:11 AM ET

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Five questions for Mary Barra on GM's recall

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Tuesday she'll have to answer some very tough questions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee about why it took GM 10 years to order a recall after it learned about a problem with some ignition switches getting knocked out of the "Run" position.

These are some of the questions she'll probably face:

Were the company's financial troubles in the years before the bankruptcy a factor in its decision not order a recall?

GM documents submitted to House investigators show that its engineers came up with a possible fix for the cars as early as March 2005. But the automaker failed to order a recall to put it in place because "tooling cost and piece price are too high," and "none of the solutions represents an acceptable business case," according to the documents.

Related: GM recall - 10 things you need to know

This raises red flags as to whether GM's deteriorating financial condition was behind its failure to act. While the company was still four years away from bankruptcy, it was already losing money and its debt had been downgraded to junk bond status.

Why won't the company release the list of serious accidents and deaths that GM believes were tied to the ignition problems?

GM says that at least 13 deaths have been tied to the ignition problem. But Barra admitted two weeks ago that GM has not told the families of the deceased that their family member's fatal crash is tied to the problem.

It is quite possible that some of the family members don't realize that they lost someone due to the ignition flaw. Police reports at the time of the accidents likely did not highlight the fact that the key was turned into the "accessory" position, or that this was why the airbags did not deploy.

Will GM compensate those victims, even if its bankruptcy protects it from liability?

When GM went through bankruptcy in 2009, it became shielded from having to pay accident victims for any crash that happened before the bankruptcy. That's because the current GM is technically a new company, leaving victims and their families to sue a shell company that had been left holding closed factories and other liabilities but few assets.

Related: GM - Steps to a recall nightmare

Barra and GM spokespeople have thus far refused to address reporters' questions as to whether the company will accept legal responsibility for these deaths in spite of the liability shield.

How could GM have reports of airbags not deploying in this many fatal accidents and not see the need for a recall?

It's clear that GM was aware of the problems with the ignition system, as well as the mounting reports of serious accidents and deaths, as early as 2004.

But neither GM nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered a recall until GM acted in February of this year. So far the company has not detailed what led it to believe there was no pattern of crashes tied to the ignition problem until recently, and what changed to prompt the recall.

What changes can GM point to, besides its promises and apologies, to assure the public this kind of delay in ordering a recall won't happen again?

GM has promoted a long-time employee to a new position as head of safety. And it seems to be rushing to order other recalls at the first signs of problems. There have been 2.2 million vehicles recalled this year for problems other than the ignition problem.

But the company has not yet explained how it will prevent its internal review process from going awry again.

First Published: March 31, 2014: 10:19 AM ET

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