Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zoeie who wrote (38503)	11/23/2008 6:26:47 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

Good point, and I have placed my bets that they will cave to the big 3, and the reasoning is simple. It is their union worker base and the dem need to look like they are for the Joe 6 Pack everyman. They will appear to save the day, and I can see the tears of the people at various union halls when the deal is a go. The press coverage will be huge. So they will sell it by putting the screws to management, via bonus/pay restrictions and whatever else they can think of. I think they (big 3 ceo's) should be fired, bwtfdik? The big 3 have to take the deal, without it they are toast. There is no choice here.

To: zoeie who wrote (38503)	11/24/2008 8:59:03 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 48461

Zoeie, there is 1 Calif member of congress who is a car guy. I knew I had read it, just had to find it again> roadandtrack.com The Road Ahead Write Your Congressman: Politics and car craziness coexisting; introducing R&T's new Editor. By Matt DeLorenzo, Editor-in-Chief November 2008 The only constant in life is change. After 20 years behind the wheel of Road & Track, Thos L. Bryant has graciously turned his seat over to me. After serving this magazine as Detroit Editor for eight years and nearly two as Deputy Editor, I'm both eager and honored to steward Road & Track with its rich legacy and vibrant outlook. All of us here are committed to delivering our unique and passionate perspective on the things that matter to auto enthusiasts in print and on the web. Congress has not been known for being a wellspring of automotive enthusiasm. While some bemoan a "do-nothing" Congress, oftentimes the real trouble starts when they try to "do something" about any issue, witness the 55-mph speed limit and the unintended consequence of giant gas-guzzling SUVs resulting from two-tier fuel economy standards that favored trucks. However, we've found a kindred soul in Rep. John Campbell, a Republican from California's 48th district right here in our backyard. He represents over 1 million constituents in a district covering a good chunk of Orange County, from Newport Beach to Dana Point. He has a Ferrari F430 Spider and a Porsche Carrera 4 as well as a split-window Vette, a '64 Thunderbird and a '58 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, in its day the most expensive American car on the road. Of course, you'd expect these kinds of cars in the garage of a former car dealer who hawked brands ranging from Mazda to Saturn. The youthful and energetic 53-year-old effectively retired from the car business when he ran for the California State Assembly in 2000 and won, was later elected to the State Senate and finally landed on Capitol Hill after a special election in 2005. "I worked in the car business, but was interested in politics as a hobby," says Campbell, "and now the two have flipped." You'd think with a group as large as 435 members of Congress that Campbell would find a cadre that shares his passion for the automobile, but he says the enthusiasts in our nation's capital are few and far between. There are some members who own interesting cars, but beyond that, seem to have little interest in the issues dealing with automobility, other than whacking either the auto or oil companies when it's politically expedient. As a result, Campbell has made some odd alliances, principally with John Dingell, a Detroit-area Democrat who is a staunch defender of the domestic auto industry. Both men believe that tightening fuel-economy standards and other mandates have hamstrung the competitiveness of the Detroit Three, and are looking for innovative ways for public policy to synch up to realities of the marketplace. Take flex-fuel vehicles, for instance. Campbell says there is pending legislation in both houses, the Open Fuel Standards Act, which will require automakers to offer flex-fuel capability in 50 percent of their models by 2012 and 80 percent by 2015. It's an attractive-sounding goal, but overall an empty gesture when you consider that it's easier to find a snow shovel in a Southern California hardware store than it is to buy E85 at a local gas station. Campbell has introduced a companion measure that requires oil companies to make alternative fuels more widely available. While he has no doubt that federal safety and emissions standards have done much for the public good, he also sees these standards as locking out the innovative spirit found in the early days of the auto industry. Whether you build a few or a few thousand automobiles, the rules are essentially the same. There's no doubt that automakers the world over are trying to develop hybrids and other alternatives, but they also are focused on surviving. Campbell believes that if some of the crash-test requirements and other mandates are relaxed for carmakers producing less than 500 units per year, that there could be a cottage industry created akin to that in England, where small concerns like Morgan, Noble and the like are allowed to exist alongside larger makes. He believes that not only would we see more Teslas creating pure electrics, but also independent designers, like Henrik Fisker, creating coachbuilt specials similar to the grand classics of the 1930s. Buyers of these vehicles would be required to sign waivers understanding that these vehicles are not built to the same standards as regular production vehicles. Likewise, any maker going above the 500-unit threshold would be required to build cars that meet all federal standards. It's a fresh approach that embraces the kind of innovation and daring that produced the truly great cars in the past and could create the next transportation breakthrough or new classics for future generations.

To: zoeie who wrote (38503)	11/24/2008 10:01:17 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

A few ideas, you know how I trade ABB and there was a piece in Barrons re SWZ, the Swiss Helvetia fund that has ABB in it's portfolio, both up nice today. Also GAB, a closed end that has been mentioned here many times, another cheap way to play a rebound. You can usually buy closed end funds well below nav net asset value. The pump continues tonight> Japan, Australia and South Korea show sharp advances as investors react to Dow's 400-point gain, U.S. government's rescue of Citigroup. Resource stocks show double-digit gains behind leap in crude-oil prices.