TheRod

Just How Sensitive Is the Economy to the Auto Industry?

I think Congress needs to force a consolidation - you know something that should have happened a couple of years ago -

Ford looks and smells more sound than the other two -
Keep Chevy, Caddy, and GMC Trucks, kill all other GM op's -
At Chrysler - kill all except Chrysler Minivan and leading 2 models at Jeep

Forge all under "USA Motors" and these remaining lines need to be moving quickly towards Nat Gas fuel

Give this new entity $25B to get going on -

Airlines: Profit Forecasts Gaining Altitude

Dude - Gates A18 and A19 in Atlanta's Hartfield Int'l Airport is known as the crossroads of the world - literally -
That intersection in Terminal "A" last Saturday could not have been busier -
Sitting there waiting for my flight made me think all this stuff about the economy being screwed up - was pure unadulterated BS -
That place was packed!!!! - College football game goers, grandkids, Grandmas, NASCAR fans, resort goers, golfers, even my Las Vegas flight was full - every seat -

Don't miss these airlines and their highly reduced oil prices, combined with the high oil "fees" the airlines imposed throughout the summer -
Big profits coming there - 300mm people in this country now

Citi Examines Its Carrots and Sticks

Under the Citi deal, Citi was not taking, nor paying for, the ($10B Rev / $2B profit) unit of Wachovia Securities, Evergreen Mut Funds, Wach Retirement, and Wachovia Ins Svc's.

Under the WF deal, WF was taking all and paying for all -

Don't look at these as "apples to apples" deals (numerically)
Don't expect Citi to offer same if it isn't buying the same -
If a bidding war were to prevail, the carve out piece will distinguish the Citi Bid

Friday's Employment Report: A Sobering Dose of Reality

These unemployment #'s are unindicative of reality - Construction labor (non illegals) in this country are generally flying under the radar of employment accounting due to the fact that most are 1099's - contract labor -

When they got their last paycheck we didn't know it in Labor Dept stats - but they too will contribute their part to the end of the Age of Consumerism -

These 1099's won't help the economy until some sanity returns to Housing/Banking -

So when you see the 6.1% Unemployed - it's probably another 0.8%
or a total right now of 6.9%.