CHICAGO (Reuters) - CHICAGO (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian has increased his stake in General Motors Corp. to 9.9 percent from 7.8 percent, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

News of the move helped send GM's shares higher in after-hours electronic trading.

Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., over which he has effective control, acquired 5 million shares on the open market on January 23 at an average price of $21.40 a share and an additional 7 million shares in a private transaction expected to settle on January 27, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tracinda spent a total of about $262.8 million acquiring the shares, the filing said.

The purchase by Kerkorian, a dissident GM shareholder who has called for sweeping change at the automaker, comes two weeks after his key adviser suggested Tracinda might be prepared to organize a fight for control of GM's boardroom.

Kerkorian has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to get Tracinda adviser Jerome York a seat on the board.

Speaking to Reuters at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this month, York said Tracinda might mount its own slate of directors in its bid to force change at the world's largest automaker.

"The reality is we have a whole menu of options," York said in an interview with Reuters following his speech to industry analysts on the sidelines of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

"We are continuously evaluating the situation regarding what is going on with GM," York said. "I don't mean every two months or something, I mean on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis."

The news sent GM shares higher in after-hours electronic trading. They last traded at $24.10, up 25 cents from their close of $23.85 on the New York Stock Exchange. During regular trading Wednesday, GM shares rose 3.5 percent.

Copyright 2006 Reuters

heres another article

DETROIT (AP) - Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian is acquiring 12 million shares of General Motors Corp. stock, matching the number of shares he sold in December, a federal regulatory filing showed on Wednesday.

Kerkorian's private equity firm, Tracinda Corp., bought 5 million shares of GM stock on Monday for an average purchase price of $21.40, or approximately $107 million, it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Tuesday, Tracinda agreed to purchase an additional 7 million GM shares in a private transaction for $22.25 per share, or approximately $155.8 million.

Those purchases would boost Kerkorian's stake in the world's largest automaker to 9.9 percent, the same as it was before Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Tracinda sold 12 million shares in December.

Tracinda said at the time that it sold the shares so that it could end its fiscal year with a capital loss, making it eligible for certain federal and California income tax breaks. Kerkorian lost $109 million on the 12 million shares he sold in December.

But Tracinda left open the possibility of reacquiring shares, and it waited only a short time after so-called wash rules lapsed. Federal tax rules prohibit a taxpayer from claiming a loss on the sale of stock if replacement shares are acquired within 30 days.

GM's shares fell to a 23-year low following Kerkorian's sale in December. The Detroit-based automaker has been struggling with declining U.S. sales and rising health care and materials costs. GM lost nearly $4 billion in the first nine months of last year.

GM was scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2005 on Thursday morning.

Kerkorian has lost approximately $350 million in the total value of his 56 million GM shares since he began buying up shares at an average price of $30.10 last spring. His latest move may indicate he believes GM is listening to his ideas for improving the company. In a speech to Wall Street analysts this month, Kerkorian's top aide Jerome York called on GM to cut its annual dividend in half and set profitability goals and a timetable for achieving them.

York said Kerkorian was interested in buying more GM shares and was optimistic about its recovery efforts, but he said it was time for GM to get into a "crisis mode."

GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has repeatedly said GM has a clear recovery plan, including a restructuring that will cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008. He also said GM's board must decide whether to cut the dividend. GM pays $2 per share annually in dividends.

In trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, GM shares rose 80 cents, or 3 percent, to $23.85. Kerkorian's SEC filing was released after the markets closed, and the shares rose an additional 15 cents in after-hour trading.

good news for GM stockholders, and Kirk is obviously seeing something he is still interested in at the tubes. good product unveilings are also helping investors to see the light.

good news for GM stockholders, and Kirk is obviously seeing something he is still interested in at the tubes.  good product unveilings are also helping investors to see the light.

haha my profile is back to the amount i put in

and that includes googles major explosion

why would kirk do this the day before financial earnings?

he should have known what they were prior to their release...