Today is an anniversary for motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson that it would just as soon not remember.


Quote from the article:

On February 3rd a year ago, with the stock market hurtling toward its March lows, Harley (HOG, Fortune 500) announced it had sold $600 million in five-year notes at a nosebleed interest rate of 15%. Yes, 15%, because the company needed the money to fund its finance company and had to pay what the market demanded. The market, in this case, included Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire-Hathaway (BRK.B) had been husbanding cash for years, and who was pleased to give $300 million of that money to Harley at 15%. The other $300 million was put up by Davis Advisors, a mutual fund company whose Chris Davis saw Harley notes as a fine investment for his funds (which, by the way, also own Harley stock). The annual $90 million of interest those notes carry certainly didn't help out Harley's 2009 results, though a recession that was killing sales of discretionary goods would have led to a financial wreck in any case. For the year, Harley reported shipments that were down 27% from 2008 and ended up with a $55 million loss -- its first red ink since 1993.

Source: Harley's amazing downhill ride