scfranklin94

Obama's Sweeping Changes for America's Cars

So I should buy a Porsche Turbo now before it gets legislated out of existence...

Whatever Happened to Bankruptcy?

James - propping up failing businesses only puts off the inevitable. Not that I'm a big fan of his, but Krugman is already calling for the next decade to be like Japan in the 1990's - deflation and economic contraction. So we can either spend money to keep people in make-work jobs with zero economic growth for a decade, or we can either let the market run it's course and try to set ourselves up for the best chance for economic growth.

Has General Motors Earned a Bailout?

The automotive industry manufacturing capacity is overbuilt by 20 to 30%. All of the Big 3 need to downsize their workforces, but they can't afford to do that and still pay their defined-benefit pension programs.

No one has protected my retirement investments from risk of loss, other than myself. Why should I pay taxes to keep auto workers pensions whole, while mine gets shafted?

The US economy is going into a long down turn, we should quit fighting it and get used to a lower standard of living.

Consider 'Pull' Rather Than 'Push' for the Auto Industry

Let the car companies go into bankruptcy; wipe out the stockholders and allow the companies to downsize their dealer networks. GM should only have Chevy and Cadillac after the reorganization, Buick, Pontiac, and GMC should go the way of Oldsmobile. Not all the jobs will be lost; just those that are unproductive.

The Biggest Problem Detroit's Big Three Face

Allow the companies to go bankrupt; this is the only way GM and Ford can downsize their bloated dealership networks. Hopefully the entities that emerge from bankruptcy will have a way to make a small car for a profit. If we support GM and Ford now, we better be prepared to write another check for every year going forward. The main problem is that the companies have more retirees than workers, but their pension plan is dependent on current car sales to meet liabilities - it will never work.

Crude Oil and Hummer: An Inverse Relationship

If demand remains low, there is a possibility that crude oil could fall to $50 for a year or more. Given that Americans have the shortest memories on the planet, one could probably buy up Hummers on the cheap now and resell them six months later for a profit.

Forget $100 a Barrel - Oil Will Plummet to $30

Jason, since it's going to $30, why don't you sell me some $50 european calls for this winter? Please, do yourself a favor and learn something about energy supply and demand before you post.