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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (203612)	5/21/2009 11:26:53 PM
From: Galirayo	Respond to of 306849

All Cost, No Benefit by Jerry Taylor Jerry Taylor is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Added to cato.org on May 20, 2009 This article appeared in the USA Today on May 20, 2009. The Obama administration's plan to require new passenger vehicles sold in 2016 to get an average of 39 miles per gallon or better (30 mpg or more for SUVs, pickups and minivans) is likely to be all cost and no benefit. If the proposed fuel efficiency standards were in place today, Edmunds.com reports that only two cars — the 2010 Toyota Prius (50 mpg) and the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid (42 mpg) — would meet the standard. Angry environmentalists might thus find themselves key-scratching "gas guzzlers" such as the 2009 Honda Fit (31 mpg), the 2009 Mini Cooper (32 mpg) and the 2009 Smart ForTwo (36 mpg). There is little dispute that, as a consequence, cars would become more expensive and industry profits more scarce. Even the Obama administration concedes that automotive costs would increase by $600 per car on average and that industry revenues would decline by $13 billion to $20 billion a year. Others offer larger figures, but it's difficult to peg costs with any certainty. What do we gain by this? Very little. We wouldn't reduce our reliance on foreign oil: If we reduced global demand for crude oil, the most expensive-to-produce oil would go away first, and that oil is not in the Middle East. It's in North America. Jerry Taylor is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. More by Jerry TaylorConsumers would not be better off: If gasoline prices remained in today's neighborhood (that is, near their historical average, adjusted for inflation), the fuel savings from these new hybrids would not offset the higher sticker prices. Moreover, many consumers would be forced to buy cars they don't want. Greenhouse gas emissions might not decline much, if at all. U.S. emissions would likely decline, but reduced U.S. demand for crude would mean reduced global crude prices, which in turn would increase demand for — and consumption of — oil outside the USA. Eventually, most if not all our reductions might be offset by increases elsewhere. Finally, drivers and passengers would be less safe. Plenty of hard evidence suggests that smaller, lighter cars equal more highway injuries and fatalities. Reduced fuel consumption is not an end unto itself. It is a means to an end. These means wouldn't achieve the advertised ends. cato.org

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (203612)	5/21/2009 11:49:20 PM
From: Sr K	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

This looks like a 5/15 OE squeeze. Most regular settlements were Wednesday. The put holders have to buy to cover. Anybody know what May OI was at OE?

To: Jim McMannis who wrote (203612)	5/22/2009 4:10:48 AM
From: Travis_Bickle	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

The puts haven't been following the stock price, maybe today it will be better. One week to go before they file. The Obama administration is preparing to send General Motors Corp. into bankruptcy as early as the end of next week under a plan that would give the automaker tens of billions of dollars more in public financing, the Washington Post reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. Under the draft bankruptcy plan for GM, the company would receive just short of $30 billion in additional federal loans, the report said, but added that the figure is a starting point in negotiations and could change. A bankruptcy filing would come in spite of a breakthrough deal between GM, the United Auto Workers union and the U.S. Treasury that would pave the way for lower labor and health-care costs at the struggling automaker. marketwatch.com Since they will be in default of their obligations a week from Monday, that should read "as late as the end of next week."