Kirk Miles

Demand More for Your Auto Bailout Dollar; Oil Patch Should Bounce Back Long Term

Thank you for your thoughtful and insightful commentary on the proposed bailout of the American automobile industry. I liked how you approached the issue not as a simple yes or no to the bailout, but more of constructive commentary as to how the terms of any loans to the automobile companies can be amended to create a sustainable industry dynamic and to best benefit the country as a whole. I agree that U.S. automakers are to blame for much of the problems our economy is experiencing by producing sub-par products that increased our dependence on foreign oil and pushed consumers to foreign products. In the end, I do not believe the question is if the automobile industry will receive more money from the government. Based on its track record, the question is more when and under what terms.

I agree with your ideas that they must make a natural gas powered car and that they should strive to make cars that get over 40 MPG. That is the most sustainable approach and it also benefits every person in the country by reducing our emissions However, I do not agree that every vehicle must get over 40 MPG or that “every vehicle they make must be natural gas, hybrid, or electric”. Engines and batteries have not reached the level of technology that they are capable of being reliably installed in every vehicle. Did you forget about commercial vehicles that must be used to tow heavy loads? How can you expect vehicles like that to use a less powerful hybrid or electric engine or to achieve such a high gas mileage? Additionally, until there are better ways of getting natural gas to every consumer, it does not make sense for a large percentage of vehicles to be powered exclusively by natural gas.

Once again, thank you for taking a different approach to this issue than many other people do. It is so easy to say no without giving any sort of alternative. Hopefully, the federal government will pay attention to people like you and realize that there are better ways to approach this problem and use this money to actually improve our automobile industry rather than temporarily slow its failure.

The Economy's Worst Is Still Ahead of Us

Thank you for your interesting piece about how the market has not reached its bottom. It is interesting to see how often Wall Street is dominated by a group think mentality. I feel that all it takes for a temporary spike in the stock market is for a handful of analysts to come out with a positive outlook on the market and everyone else will buy into it. Are these people not supposed to be some of the brightest in the country? Are they incapable of looking at some of these facts and realizing that, although we do not know exactly when the market is going to turn around, it probably is not at this exact moment? Looking at the past week, it is shocking to see how irrational the market has been. Consumer confidence fell to an all time low (almost 15 points below the Street’s estimate) and yet the market rallied nearly 900 points. Additionally, the United States GDP declined for the first time since 9/11 and real consumer spending fell for the first time since 1991, and the most since 1980. I am not sure which part of this news indicates to investors that the market has bottomed out.

If what you and Roubini say is true, and that hundreds of hedge funds will go belly up and the Option ARM loans result in a second financial crisis, those optimists are in for a rude awakening. On that note, I wish you had gone into greater detail about why the hedge funds are going to fail or when the Option ARM loans are going to begin resetting. The prediction that the hedge funds will go belly up loses some of its credence when you do not back it with any reasoning, only repercussions. You explained the Option ARM loans well, but by not including an idea of when to expect that crisis to begin, all you did is raise my blood pressure. However, those two do not take away from the fact that this was an eye opening piece about where the market has the potential to go. I am hoping none of your predictions come true, but look forward to continuing reading your blog in the future.