Kerkorian Is Back, And This Time He Has His Sights On Ford.

Implications: Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian plans to make an offer to Ford Motor Co. that would expand his stake to 5.6%, saying Monday he sees signs the automaker's turnaround plan is working. 

Analysis:

He's back, and Ford is the object of his affection this time.

Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, through his Tracinda Corp., has amassed 100 million shares for a 4.7% stake in Ford just this month. Further, Tracinda says it plans to buy up to 20 million more shares at a premium to last week's closing price.

Kerkorian's move on Ford is a vote of confidence for Ford's management, led by CEO Alan Mulally and the company's turnaround prospects.

With his purchase of Ford stock, Kerkorian has now has purchased hefty shares in all of Detroit's three automakers.

Tracinda was Chrysler's largest shareholder before it was sold to Daimler in the 1990's. Kerkorian sued Daimler for the buyout of Chrysler but lost. Earlier, in 1995, Tracinda, in a deal with former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca and former Chrysler CFO Jerome York, un successfully tried to take over Chrysler.

Tracinda also owned a sizeable chunk of GM, one worthy of a seat on the board of directors which was occupied by Tracinda's York. However, Tracinda wound up selling its GM stock after GM rejected an alliance with Nissan, engineered by Tracinda.

Interestingly, Kerkorian's move comes on the heels of two other high-profile investors moves in the public dealer group sector, Warren Buffet with his investment 6.4% in CarMax and Edward Lampert's purchase of 37% of AutoNation shares.