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- Earnings Preview: Ford Motor Co. [view article]
- Ford's Financial Services Business About to Enter the Red [view article]
- This Week's Key Earnings Reports [view article]
- Global Battery Equity Index [view article]
- Ford and GM Living on Borrowed Time [view article]
- The US Auto Crisis [view article]
- Tuesday Options Outlook: WB, F, AIG, DFS, EMC, INTC, VIX [view article]
- More Indications Of A Steady Commercial RE Market [Housing Tracker] [view article]
- Sell and Short Recommendations for a Bearish Market [view article]
- Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
- Big Three Automakers: Recapitalization or Bankruptcy? [view article]
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- When Truckers Can't Afford Trucks, What Do They Buy?
- Earnings Preview: Ford Motor Co.
- The US Auto Crisis
- Ford's Financial Services Business About to Enter the Red
- This Week's Key Earnings Reports
- More Indications Of A Steady Commercial RE Market [Housing Tracker]
- Tuesday Options Outlook: WB, F, AIG, DFS, EMC, INTC, VIX
- Ford and GM Living on Borrowed Time
- Big Three Automakers: Recapitalization or Bankruptcy?
- General Motors: General Malaise
- Full List of Articles »
Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
As the market continues to go down, shipping, which used to be a safe haven, now looks like it may be subject to a downward trend. Here's a pretty good podcast that discusses what to during this down market and what's going on with coal, steel, bulk shipping, and agriculture.the main idea is that individual investors dont have to act like institutional investors and this market and may be better holding cash than trying to beat the market.
www.greenfaucet.com/sh...
Reply
renting
Auto Sales Dismal: GM and Chrysler Oddly Optimistic [view article]
The Chrysler thing is sad for me. I became a Chrysler man after reading IACOCA and still love the ability to get fault codes by simply turning the key on, off, on, off, on. I've fixed so many little problems on high mileage cars this way. And our 2001 300m is still a joy to drive even with 135k miles. And it has been completely trouble free. I even had it to 130 mph in eastern Montana a few times and it was really great!But their small car (neon) was a textbook lemon, and we drove their convertible in Hawaii a couple of months ago. That thing is a pig. It makes our 300, which is bigger and more powerful, feel like it handles like a sports car, even with original shocks!
The new challenger is something I drool over but, ultimately, it is just a car. It was a good run and they made some great stuff and some absolute dogs. I mainly drive my Scion xBox to work and band gigs anyway so I won'd shed a tear over this, except for the workers... Reply
Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
The market is already reacting. PCAR is down about 30% and BNI is up about 10% YTD. ReplyIs There Any Hope for the Big Three Auto Makers? [view article]
For any of a wide variety of reasons, our government can't afford to allow our domestic auto manufacturers to fail. So we will very possibly see more bailouts like the one that took place several years ago at Chrysler.The bigger question remains... What are they going to do with the rest of our busted economy unless they change their attitude toward domestic energy production, and QUICKLY...? Reply
Challenge for Ford and GM: To Stay in Business [view article]
I just returned from France, where I rented a Renault Clio (157 inches long) and drove more than 400 miles on France's extremely well maintained highways (for which I paid a lot in tolls). Regular gas (95 octane) was 1.60 euros per liter, which works out to about $9.50/gallon at the current exchange rate. I paid more for the fuel than for the car rental, even at 31 mpg (I did the conversion from liters/km). The price of fuel is comparable in other western European countries -- both Ford and GM have a major presence in the UK and Germany, and sell fuel-efficient (and very small) cars there that they don't offer in the US. Maybe they should think about balancing the Tahoe and the Excursion with some of these vehicles; they might sell better than GM would expect, particularly in major cities like Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. They wouldn't have to offer them in every dealership, since there is probably no market for such vehicles in Houston or Montana. These moves might not save Ford and GM from bankruptcy, but they would give potential car buyers some additional alternatives if and when they check out a showroom. ReplyGlobal Battery Equity Index [view article]
Great Analysis. However, I would add LG Chem from S Korea and Continental from Germany because those are two of the publicly traded companies that are known to be in the running to supply batteries to GM for its upcoming entry. Replypg
Challenge for Ford and GM: To Stay in Business [view article]
If GM and Ford seriously sat down and met the fuel rule, they might finally be ahead of the curve instead of way behind. By dragging their feet, and trying to lower the bar, all they are doing is fooling themselves. Consumers will choose better, not worse fuel efficiency, as the market can attest to. GM and Ford are sadly mistaken if they think they have a choice in this. In that case, the sooner they go, the better. Replygordon
Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
we have known since 1973 (or earlier) that there is nothing more efficient than a steel wheel on a steel rail. nevertheless - thanks to d.d.eisenhower and the trucking industry lobby we use rubber tires. remember the 1920's in los angeles - they had the best interurban light rail system in the country, then these were bought up by union oil, genaral motors & firestone acting in concert, the rails were torn up & sold for scrap (the nipponese needed the iron to make bombs for china) & the system was replaced by stinky diesel buses. in 1967 we had the w&od railway in my neighborhood, a nice little freight carrying commuter railroad, but then the rails were torn up & sold for scrap & the right of way became a powerline r.o.w. so - shortsightedness never ends.> jack Reply
Global Battery Equity Index [view article]
Jack, for whatever reason JCI isn't listed under BBergs Batteries/Battery Systems classification. It could be because of their diversified product base and would probably fall under the auto parts classification. Replygordon
Global Battery Equity Index [view article]
i looked for johnson controls in your list but didn't see it.> jack Reply
Global Battery Equity Index [view article]
You may want to include ultra and super capacitor companies in the index. they are small now but will have an important role to play in the future, due to the ability to rapidly cycle and support multiple deep discharges. The materials science of energy density is making great strides. ReplySome Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
Actually I think burying deep into the lithosphere on the edge of a convergent tectonic plate is the best bet. That will eventually send it into the Earth's core where it came from. Plus it will give all the out-of-work drilling companies something to do when we run out of oil. ReplyIs Anything Worth Owning in the Auto Industry? [view article]
Gearhead, just to add to your comment about the Prius sales and how long it stays on the lot.Toyota does things differently then the American auto makers. They do not produce a car until it is actually sold to a dealership. And a dealership obviously doesn't buy a number of cars without a clear rough estimate of typical demand.
While other automakers produce cars all the time, leave them at the plant until they are sold, and when no one buys them they shut the plant down for 2 weeks and send everyone home, Toyota is different. They produce cars that are already sold to dealerships and use overtime to produce any excesses if needed.
There is a reason why Toyota cars dont stay on dealership lots very long. Reply
Some Consequences if Oil Prices Stay High [view article]
Also, regarding shooting nuclear waste into space via rocket; Nuclear waste is extremely heavy, heavier than lead. Massive rockets would be necessary. Along with the risk of scattering nuclear material if there were a rocket explosion as said above. Burying it in a deep hold under Yucca mountain, or similar place, seems the best solution at this point. ReplyIs There Any Hope for the Big Three Auto Makers? [view article]
I have been a supplier to the big six for 15 years. They all have their own way of doing business and their own personality.GM is the worst of the bunch. They are a bureacratic nightmare. They manage their people and their suppliers by intimindation. No one is allowed to make a decision without upper management approval that just bogs everything down. Upper management is inaccessible and won't empower anyone.
Commons sense is not to be found at GM. They move people around so much that no one ever finishes a project they started.
Without a major shake up of upper management they will go down the tubes and in my humble opinion they deserve everything they get. Reply