Tell that to all the "market analysts" on Fox, MSNBC, Fox Business News, etc.. as that's the term they've been using for several weeks now.
The only property in which a shareholder might be a participant is in a proportionate share of a company's positive equity (i.e. assets minus liabilities). If this figure is 0 or lower, the shares are by definition worthless, although market sentiment (as here with GM) might place a positive value on the shares in anticipation of the assets once again exceeding the liabilities at some future date.
Incorrect. Once the stock hits ZERO, it is worthless. Once the stock hits ZERO and the company goes through bankruptcy, the stock is worth ZERO and the stockholder has ZERO recourse to retaining or obtaining any future value in that stock issue. By all accounts (again, of the "experts" on the business news networks) the shareholders in GM are about to get completely wiped-out in bankruptcy court. Anyone who purchases GM Stock now is a complete fool.
Say what you will, those are the facts.
The shareholders are most certainly about to get wiped out. However and by definition, any stock is worth what someone is willing to bid for the shares. Right this minute, GM shares are worth $0.75 (temporarily), and that number is very distinctly not zero, no matter how many times you care to capitalise the word.
You need to lose the notion that shareholders are unsecured debt holders; this is simply false-to-fact, no matter what those dildoes you listen to say to the contrary. Shareholders have no claim on company assets when liabilities exceed assets, period, stop, end.