After suffering through years of enormous losses and one of the biggest bankruptcies in U.S. history, General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM ) yesterday (Thursday) posted its first annual profit since 2004. The Detroit automaker said it earned $4.7 billion in 2010, compared with a $21 billion loss posted by the current GM and its pre-bankruptcy predecessor in 2009. "Last year was one of foundation building," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Akerson said in a statement . "Particularly pleasing was that we demonstrated GM's ability to achieve sustainable profitability near the bottom of the U.S. industry cycle, with four consecutive profitable quarters."