|
|
Home LeaseTrader
Contact Us
Site Map
|
|
 |
|
| Consumers finally have a new option when it comes to car leasing. An option that takes away the feeling of being trapped in a lease. |
|
|
Burst the oil bubble 
Regulators sleep while speculators treat market like a 24-hour casino. By Byron Dorgan Skyrocketing gas prices have Americans outraged — and rightfully so. Nothing in the fundamentals of supply and demand justifies a doubling of oil prices in a year. I and others have pushed for investments in renewable energy, conservation and expanded domestic production, but we also need to bring immediate relief at the gas pump. The most effective way to put instant downward pressure on gas prices is to crack down on oil speculators. There is a carnival of speculation in the energy futures market. Speculators make money hand over fist while American families get stuck with the bill each time they fill up their tank. Skyrocketing gas prices are damaging our economy. Every day, 20 times more oil is traded than delivered. Because of the way energy trades are regulated (or not regulated), speculators control vast amounts of oil by putting down as little as 5% of the purchase cost. In short, speculators use money they don't have to buy oil they'll never get. The market is treated like a 24-hour casino while the regulators are asleep. Some say oil speculation isn't a problem, that it doesn't affect gas prices. But plenty of experts disagree. An international investment firm recently said, "We are seeing the classic ingredients of an asset bubble." They called it "oil dot-com." I agree. I believe in markets, but the energy market is broken. It's our job to fix it so legitimate trading is protected. I've introduced legislation to wring the excess speculation out of the marketplace, and to restore the market's original purpose of allowing producers and consumers of energy to hedge their risks. My legislation, called the "End Oil Speculation Act," would shut down casino-like betting. It does not affect legitimate hedging, but it would require energy speculators to put 25% down on their trades, instead of just 5%, and would convene an international group to ensure speculators can't go offshore to hide their trading. We have a choice. Do we sit back and watch this energy bubble grow as it hurts our economy, or do we take steps to stop the speculation that is driving up energy prices? This is one bubble that I can't wait to burst.
Oil speculators have U.S. consumers over a barrel Are speculators really driving oil prices? The truth is no one knows because their practices are hidden. That needs to be fixed. But the true cause of the price spike is much more obvious, much harder to address, and much less useful for political pandering. 
Focus on their role distracts from tough decisions on dependency. Having previously placed the blame for rising energy costs on Big Oil, OPEC, greedy refiners and various other vilified price gougers and corporate misfits, Congress is now focused on a new culprit: speculators. Specifically, the hedge funds, pension funds and other large institutions that buy and sell oil futures contracts with no intention of actually taking delivery. They do so purely as an investment. Both presidential candidates, eager to capitalize on anger over $140-a-barrel oil, want to increase the scrutiny of trading practices. That's a good idea because the speculators' world is so opaque that nobody can say with any confidence what effect speculation is having on prices. Common sense suggests understanding the problem before attacking it. But some members of Congress, including the author of the piece below, see political gold in leaping before looking. They want to place limits on the ability of some traders to buy and sell oil. This is just the latest effort to do anything that seems quick and easy, because creating a truly effective energy policy is so hard. To blame speculators for high oil costs is, at best, to treat symptoms rather than causes. Speculators can drive up prices only when supplies are tight to begin with. They are a kind of canary in the coal mine. What's more, few good ways exist to limit speculation. One distinctly bad idea under consideration is to have the Commodity Futures Trading Commission divide oil traders into "legitimate" and "non-legitimate" camps. The former, including traders buying futures for airlines and other energy-dependent industries as a hedge, would be able to buy with few restrictions. The latter, those who don't need oil but see it as good investment, would be limited in some way. This amounts to a form of rationing, with bureaucrats ruling on who can buy what, even as speculation continues on foreign markets beyond their reach. It makes as much sense as banning people without driver's licenses from buying ExxonMobil stock. Some ideas, such as decreasing the amount that traders can borrow, could have merit. And improving transparency makes a good deal of sense. Traders can buy and sell oil futures from each other without listing on an exchange, which makes it hard to track who is buying what. This invites price volatility. Markets don't like uncertainty. It can also make it easier for unscrupulous traders (remember Enron?) to manipulate the market. Requiring oil futures to be traded on regulated and transparent markets such as the New York Mercantile Exchange would be a useful move. But practically, there might be limits to what can be done. Oil is bought and sold around the world. Greater regulations here could drive trading abroad unless foreign markets impose similar rules. Whatever role the speculators play, you can be sure of this: Neither they nor any of the usual suspects are the sole cause of today's problems, nor is there any single solution. The real culprit is surging demand both at home and abroad. Until the nation begins weaning itself from oil dependency, it will only waste time and money in an unproductive blame game.
Thieves drill for gas in car tanks 
Thieves drill for gas in car tanks Ever-rising prices drive criminals beyond siphoning By Jeff Karoub - The Associated Press DETROIT --Dale Fortin is getting a new kind of customer at his Detroit auto repair shop, customers who have not just been in a fender-bender or had a windshield smashed by a rock. The soaring price of crude oil has turned gas tanks into a cache of valuable booty, and Fortin has replaced several tanks punctured or drilled by thieves thirsting for the nearly $4-a-gallon fuel inside. "That's the new fad," he said. "I'd never seen it before gas got up this high." While gas station drive-offs and siphoning are far more common methods of stealing gas, reports of tank and line puncturing are starting to trickle into police departments and repair shops across the country. Some veteran mechanics and law enforcement officers say it's an unwelcome return of a crime they first saw during the Middle East oil embargo of the early 1970s. Gasoline prices surged just before the long Memorial Day holiday weekend and crept a hair higher overnight Monday to a new record national average $3.937 for a gallon of regular, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Given their height, Fortin said pickups and sport utility vehicles are more vulnerable to the thieves who puncture the tanks and use a container to catch the fuel. Plastic tanks are typically the target, he said, since there is less chance of a catastrophic spark, and they are easier to drill into. A design change may also be contributing to the preference for a drill rather than a siphoning hose. The tanks in many vehicles now have check balls, which prevent spills in a rollover accident. They also make siphoning more difficult. In recent weeks, police in Denver arrested two suspects in connection with about a dozen cases of damaging tanks and stealing gas. Denver Police Detective John White sees this "new way of siphoning gas" as a bigger problem. "What made this particular method so dangerous and concerning for us was the way in which they were doing it - using cordless drills to puncture holes in these tanks," he said of the rash of cases his department has investigated this spring. "The heat, friction generated could have easily sparked a fire. It just made for a dangerous situation for the suspects and the community." Tank puncturing has yet to reach the radar screens of law enforcement organizations such as the National Sheriffs' Association, or the Automotive Service Association, a group that represents independent garage operators. Still, at least one insurance company has taken notice: AAA Mid-Atlantic issued a news release earlier this month that cited a case in April in Bethesda, Md., involving a thief who broke the fuel line underneath a car and sapped 5 gallons of gas. Montgomery County police said a bus in the same parking lot had 30 gallons of diesel stolen. "These are crimes of opportunity," said AAA spokeswoman Catherine Rossi. "Right now, some people think that stealing gas is a way to get rich quick. It becomes a question of whether you're leaving yourself open to the possibility that someone can get to your car without being seen." The cost of replacing a metal tank on passenger vehicles is between $300 and $400, and the plastic tank common on newer vehicles would be at least $500. Bruce Burnham said thieves have hit the Budget Truck Rental business he owns in Shreveport, La., about a half-dozen times in the past three years. The thefts started shortly after Hurricane Katrina when prices spiked, then stopped for a while, then restarted about a year ago. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader
Ford will sell Volvo to the Chinese, Volvo says it will cut 2,000 jobs 
Ford Motor is in negotiations with a Chinese company to sell its Volvo cars division, the Swedish business publication Dagens Industri reported today on its Web site. A Russian investor is also believed to be interested in acquiring the division, the report said. Media reports have suggested that the Chinese company involved in talks is Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. A Ford spokesman said: "We have been consistently saying since the end of last year that Volvo is not for sale. We are focused on improving Volvo's business results." Ford's new major shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, with a 6.49 percent holding, has stated he would like to see the cash strapped U.S. automotive giant divest itself of Volvo which it acquired for 50 billion Swedish crowns in 1999. Ford's CEO Alan Mulally began a strategic review around a year ago with the sale of Volvo thought to be among his goals. However the company has denied this. A number of automotive companies have been connected with a purchase of Volvo over the last year, including Germany's BMW and Japan's Mazda. The Volvo brand has shown good growth over the last few years and has a revamped model line-up. Analysts believe Ford is holding out for a good market price. Volvo says it will cut 2,000 jobs Volvo Cars, owned by the struggling Ford Motor, said today it would cut 2,000 jobs across its operations in an effort to trim costs. Volvo said it planned to cut its work force by 1,400 white-collar staff and 600 blue-collar workers to offset the impact of a weak auto market and surging raw material costs. The company has long been struggling with negative currency swings, mainly due to a weaker dollar, as well as steep rises in steel prices, but recently the situation had worsened, it said. "Previously, this had been balanced with the help of cost reduction and efficiency programs," it said in a statement. "However, with a continued declining U.S. market, continued price increases on raw materials, and weaker market conditions in Europe, the situation has deteriorated." Ford in November took Volvo, which reported a first-quarter pretax loss of $151 million, off the auction block and said it planned to integrate its subsidiary more closely into purchasing and development efforts and that it would focus on improving Volvo's cost structure. Volvo said the staff cuts announced today were part of a scheme to cut costs by 4 billion Swedish crowns ($662 million). Most of the job cuts announced today would be carried out in Sweden with 1,200 employees given notice at its operations in Gothenburg on the country's west coast. Thompson Financial contributed to report ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader
Porsche 911 Turbo 630hp, 0 to 60 @ 3.2 sec, Hamann Stallion: 
You wouldn't be mistaken for thinking that the Porsche 911 Turbo was already one of the fastest, best-performing sportscars on the road today. But that's where uber-tuners like Hamann – who've tuned everything from the Mini Cooper to the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti – come in to confound expectations and shatter assumptions. Not satisfied with "only" 480 horsepower, the Hamann Stallion packs a whopping 630 of its namesakes. To achieve that 150hp boost in output, Hamann swapped out the variable nozzle turbochargers and replaced them with... bigger variable nozzle turbochargers. They've also fitted a new stainless steel exhaust, a new air filter and, of course, tinkered with the ECU. But they didn't stop at the engine. Hamann also chopped the roof down by 8 cm (about two and a half inches), bolted on a new aero kit and fitted huge 20-inch three-piece modular rims. They've also done up the interior in ostrich skin, applied some racing stripes and, oh yeah, also Lambo'd out the doors. The result? Well, the suddenly ordinary Turbo hits sixty in 3.9 seconds, but the Stallion cuts that down to 3.3. Not too bad for a day's work, but we dare not ask how much all these mods would cost over the price of a stock Turbo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader
Quiet cars threaten not just the blind, NHTSA hears 
WASHINGTON -- Hybrid cars and other quiet vehicles post threats to more than the 1.1 million legally blind Americans, according to leaders of groups that represent people who have lost their sight. Quiet vehicles also threaten children, cyclists and as many as 20 million Americans who are visually impaired but not legally blind, said Mark Richert and Deborah Kent Stein. Richert is director of public policy for the American Foundation for the Blind. Kent Stein represents the National Federation of the Blind. They were among witnesses at a public hearing held here today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on risks created by the increasing number of quiet vehicles -- mainly hybrids that switch to all-electric mode at low speeds. Richert said rapid growth in the population of older Americans, many with vision troubles, means the problem will get worse. Kent Stein called for a minimum sound standard for all vehicles. She said it should mimic the noise made by traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines, so pedestrians can tell when vehicles are speeding up or slowing down. But a consensus may be difficult to find. NHTSA officials have said they don't want to worsen the problem of noise pollution. Bob Wilson, an engineer from Huntsville, Ala., who was in the hearing room audience, told Automotive News he doesn't think adding sound to hybrid vehicles is an effective remedy. He said the answer probably lies in some kind of wireless communication between pedestrians and drivers of quiet vehicles. Wilson runs a company that is working on ways to rejuvenate the batteries of older hybrid cars. He complained that hybrid owners did not have a voice at today's hearing. NHTSA Deputy Administrator Jim Ports said the agency is eager to hear from interested parties and is accepting written comments on the issue. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents the Detroit 3, Toyota and six other automakers, was scheduled to present oral testimony today. The alliance favors research into ways to provide safe mobility for blind people and others, said Robert Strassburger, the group's vice president for safety. "We don't know" whether adding sound to vehicles is the answer until that research occurs, he told Automotive News. An SAE International panel has been studying the issue since late last year. It is scheduled to make a report by year end. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader
GM raises prices 3.5%, launches 0% sale 
DETROIT -- General Motors told dealers in a teleconference today that it would be launching a 0 percent financing sale starting Tuesday, June 24, while raising prices "across the board" for GM's 2009 models. GM executives also told dealers that they plan on making some production shifts and that they hired Citibank to help review the Hummer brand's future. Attempting to boost June sales, GM's Mark LaNeve told dealers in a conference call that GM would be starting what it calls a "72 Hour Sale." The sale starts June 24 and runs through June 30. LaNeve is GM's vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing. The sale will offer customers 0 percent interest for 72 months for most Chevrolet and Buick-Pontiac-GMC products, GM told dealers for those brands. As of 1 p.m. EDT, GM had not yet addressed the premium and Saturn dealers. GM will also offer an additional $500 bonus cash to a customer who purchases a vehicle rather than leasing, say dealers who listened to the conference call. According to dealers, LaNeve also said that GM would be raising prices on average by 3.5 percent for most 2009 vehicles. Dealers say LaNeve said the price increases would be across the board. 'We all knew' increases were coming "Some of that is because they're adding more content, but some of it is because commodities are going up and the dollar is weaker," says a dealer who listened to the call, but declined to be named. "We all knew price increases were coming." Dealers say LaNeve said that GM would be adding a third shift at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM builds the Pontiac G5 and Chevrolet Cobalt compacts at Lordstown. GM will go on maximum overtime at its plants in Orion Township, Mich., and Kansas City, Kan. GM builds the Pontiac G6 and the Chevrolet Malibu mid-sized cars at Orion and builds the Malibu and Saturn Aura at Fairfax. GM will also increase crossover production, dealers say. GM will add 3,500 GMC Acadias and 7,000 Buick Enclaves to the mix by year-end. GM builds those vehicles at the Lansing Delta plant near Lansing, Mich. Finally, LaNeve told dealers that GM has hired Citibank to help it complete its study of the Hummer brand. On June 3, GM's CEO Rick Wagoner announced that GM is conducting a strategic review of the Hummer brand and is open to "all options" from revamping the product lineup to a partial or complete sale of the brand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader
|