Can you lose money in GM bonds? You bet your Chevy

— -- Q: Is there a chance I could lose my money invested in General Motors bonds that mature in 2012?

Just last week, in the first of a series of progress reports, GM CEO Fritz Henderson revealed just how fragile the company is, saying a bankruptcy is more probable than not.

Certainly, yields on GM's debt seem attractive. Some GM debt maturing in 2011, for instance, has a coupon rate of close to 10%.

But you are accepting extremely large risk. A bankruptcy wouldn't be good for investors. The high probably of a failure at GM is a big reason why its debt has such low credit ratings. Moody's, for instance, rates GM debt a C, indicating a low potential recovery if the company were to file for bankruptcy protection.

Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Click here to see previous Ask Matt columns.