It’s scary enough to hear that any company has been saddled with a target price of zero.  Now, try to resist the urge to buy bomb shelter supplies, as the company in question is not some crappy startup, but the giant General Motors.

Deutsche Bank’s Rod Lache is the analyst who issued this devastating prediction.  He thinks that, “Even if GM succeeds in averting a bankruptcy . . . the company’s future path is likely to be bankruptcy-like,” according to Greg Bensinger and Sarah Thompson.

Other analysts have followed Lache’s lead (setting $1 targets instead of $0, at least), and GM’s stock has plummeted 24.17 percent so far today as a result.  The entire market isn’t having a nice time of things, either, with the Dow down 0.70 percent.

On the bright-ish side (since it’s almost impossible to imagine GM going out of business), the prospect of a government bailout looms, with Obama’s chief of staff implying that he supports the idea.  But shareholders probably wouldn’t appreciate the effect, and gosh knows what such a thing would do to the national debt and taxpayers.

Circuit City’s seeking bankruptcy protection, too, in case you’re curious.