GM was considering new cost-cutting measures in the face of a withering decline in its stock price this week and Ford was mulling further production cuts.. More than 191 million Ford shares traded hands, more than three times normal volume. GM, after watching its stock plunge 31 percent Thursday, finished the week down 46 percent. GM fell 19 percent at one point to $4 a share -- its lowest point since 1949 -- but recovered to $5.40. GM ended the day up $0.13 a share to $4.89 up 1.9 percent. More than 76 million shares traded hands, twice the normal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 128 points or 1.5 percent. It suffered its worst week in history, as did the S&P 500, which was down 1.2 percent Friday. GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said in a statement Thursday that 'bankruptcy protection is not an option GM is considering. It would not be in the interests of our employees, stockholders, suppliers or customers, and we believe speculation about a possible filing is exaggerated and unconstructive.' Since the beginning of the month, GM's shares have fallen by about 50 percent to their lowest levels on news that September industry auto sales fell by 26 percent to below 1 million for the first time in more than 15 years. Investors have mounting concerns that both Ford and GM won't have enough cash to operate next year. Gimme Capital said Ford could have just 9 to 12 quarters of liquidity. GM and Ford Motor Co. were also hurt Thursday by an announcement by Standard & Poors that the ratings agency again might downgrade their credit further into junk status. Citi downgraded both companies from hold to sell and a temporary ban on short selling on financial stocks, which included the two automakers, expired at midnight Wednesday. GM said this summer it was raising $15 billion in new liquidity by the end of 2009, including cutting spending $10 billion and raising $5 billion in asset sales and borrowing. J.D. Power and Associates also raised fears Thursday that the global auto industry was in danger of collapse and sharpy revised its forecast for sales this year and in 2009. Talk of possible bankruptcy at GM heated up after a Merrill Lynch analyst said in a July 2 report that such a move by GM is 'not impossible.' Analysts estimate that GM is burning through $1 billion a month amid a sharp decline in large truck and SUV sales. GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner sought to quell similar speculation in July when he said bankruptcy was not an option. Wagoner said in July that the automaker has 'no thoughts whatsoever' of bankruptcy. 'We're still kicking,' Wagoner told the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce. 'We have no plans whatsoever to ride off into the sunset.' In an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose in August, Wagoner was asked if he ever imagined the company's market capitalization would fall to $10 billion, as it was then. Wagoner said no. 'I'm equally sure, as happened just last fall after we announced the significant labor agreement break, the stock really shot up quite a bit. So I do believe that as we show more and more that we can get through this challenging time in the U.S., that we'll see a fair reaction from the market,' Wagoner told Rose. By any measure GM's decline in value has been staggering. The company's market capitalization high was in 2000, when it was $52.7 billion. Today, it's about $2.8 billion. After the 1929 stock market crash, GM's market cap was $4 billion. Adjusted for inflation, GM was worth $51 billion in today's dollars in 1929. GM and Ford's employees have lost more than $2 billion in the value of company shares held in their retirement plans since Jan. 1. You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662 - 8735 or dshepardsondteom.