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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (20925)	10/28/2004 10:07:50 PM
From: Sawdusty	Respond to of 110194

Haven't you heard, that's Iraqi Freedom! <ng>

To: yard_man who wrote (20925)	10/28/2004 11:53:00 PM
From: ild	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

Big Dealers Pressure Car Makers To Cut Production Higher Costs, Thin Margins Are Forcing Major Sellers To Keep Inventories Lean By KAREN LUNDEGAARD Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL October 29, 2004 Detroit's post-Sept. 11 strategy of filling dealer lots with cars and clearing them out with big discounts is losing support among the constituency that once profited the most: car dealers. Some of the nation's biggest auto-retailing groups, citing higher interest costs and thinner margins, in their new-car businesses, say they no longer will crowd their lots with slow-selling cars and trucks to help Detroit's auto makers avoid production cuts. General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are already making plans to cut overtime or lay off temporarily thousands of workers to avoid a repeat of this summer's inventory glut. Industry executives expect even more cuts. For consumers, the upshot could be higher vehicle prices next year, at least for models that have been selling with big rebates in recent months. GM has been offering up to $6,000 rebates on most of its 2004 sport-utility vehicles such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon during its October "TruckFest" promotion. In September, GM offered no-interest loans for as long as 72 months, up from 60 months previously. Yesterday, in an unusually blunt public criticism of Detroit, Mike Jackson, the head of AutoNation Inc., said the No. 1 U.S. auto retailer has had "intense discussion" with the big domestic auto makers about the need to reduce overproduction of vehicles. Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., AutoNation has 287 dealerships and posted $19.4 billion in revenue last year. more... online.wsj.com

To: yard_man who wrote (20925)	10/29/2004 1:20:34 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 110194

Presidential poll may track big changes in Dade If the latest Miami Herald poll is correct, the road to the White House no longer runs exclusively through Little Havana, it now winds its way through the streets of Wynwood and Allapattah and Homestead. And if that's true, President Bush is in trouble. The Herald poll shows Sen. John Kerry winning Miami-Dade County with 54.3 percent of the vote to 41.5 for Bush. Four percent are undecided. Splitting those undecided voters down the middle, Kerry goes to 56 percent, Bush to 43 and Ralph Nader will end up with less than 1 percent. If Kerry wins Miami-Dade County 56 to 43, then the likelihood of him winning Florida is very high. Here's why: In 2000, Al Gore beat Bush by almost 40,000 votes in Miami-Dade County. BIG NUMBERS According to the Herald poll, done by Zogby International, Kerry is positioned to win Miami-Dade by anywhere from 90,000 to 100,000 votes. A margin that large in Florida's most populous county would be hard for Bush to make up across the rest of the state. Now I realize if the poll's margin of error were to fall in the president's favor, Kerry would beat Bush, 53 to 46 percent (instead of 56-43). But even then, because of new voters, Kerry would still walk away with 50,000 more votes than Bush. But here is why the Herald poll rings true. Between 2000 and 2004, the split between Democrats and Republican is virtually the same in almost every category. THE CUBAN-AMERICAN VOTE In 2000, an overwhelming majority of Cuban Americans went to Bush and the latest Herald poll shows the same thing happening again. In 2000, the Jewish and black votes went overwhelmingly for Gore and the latest poll has them doing the same for Kerry. Among Anglos, Kerry is ahead, but Bush has tightened the gap. The one group that is radically different -- and it is why the poll makes sense -- is a shift among non-Cuban Hispanics, who are backing Kerry almost two-to-one. Overall, Hispanics -- both Cubans and non-Cubans -- still support Bush, according to the Herald poll, with 62 percent saying they will vote for the president and 35 percent saying they will vote for Kerry. DEMOCRATS IMPROVE Nevertheless, that is a tremendous improvement for the Democrats over 2000, when 73 percent of Hispanics favored Bush and only 27 percent voted for Gore. And almost all of those gains for Kerry have come from Mexicans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Colombians and Puerto Ricans among others. Many of whom are going to be voting for the first time. The raw numbers: In 2000, Bush won among all Hispanics by 135,000 votes. Based on the Herald poll, Bush's lead among Hispanics in 2004 will be closer to 95,000 votes. Narrowing that gap by 40,000 votes between 2000 and 2004 is a huge accomplishment for Democrats and shows the very real impact voter registration groups such as Mi Familia are having on this year's election. In six months, Mi Familia registered 66,000 new voters in Florida, many of them here in Miami-Dade and most of them non-Cuban Hispanics. The New Democrat Network, the Service Employees International Union and the Environmental Action Fund, are spending $1.6 million on ads directed at Hispanic voters, encouraging them to vote for Kerry. Indeed, this election could mark the end to the disproportionate impact that Cuban-Americans have held on presidential politics for the past 25 years. It has always been assumed that if a Republican captures 80 percent of the Cuban vote, they will win Florida. This is why politicians -- both Democrats and Republicans -- have catered to this Cuban-American bloc for so long on everything from the embargo with Cuba to travel and trade with the island to the wet foot/dry foot policy. But in this election, President Bush could get 82 percent of the Cuban vote and still lose because of the inroads Democrats made with other Hispanics. If that happens it will forever alter the perceived importance of Cuban-Americans voters. To see complete poll results, go to Herald.com. miami.com