| 'Mark to Model' Redux Old Trader submits:One would have thought that, given the debacle in last fall's markets, it would be QUITE some time before that method of valuing assets would be used by banks, or other lenders. It seems that one would be mistaken, however, according to an article in Monday's (Oct. 26) FT.Two of the largest banks involved in ship financing, HSH Nordbank, the world's largest shipping bank, and Deutsche Schiffsbank, Germany's second largest, are set to use the Hamburg Shipbrokers' Association's "Hamburg Ship Evaluation Standard" in computing the value of the ships that form the collateral for loans, rather than using "market value".Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Boeing's Dreamliner Is Finally Ready for Its First Test Run Jim Delaney submits: Today is the day! After over two years of component problems, delivery delays and almost every other snafu that could befall its delivery, Boeing (BA) has set today for the first test flight of its new 787 Dreamliner. The actual flight should be approximately 4-5 hours in duration taking off from Paine Field in Everett WA, where BA is based and ultimately landing about 30 miles away at Boeing Field, just south of Seattle. The 50% of the 787 that is made of composite material has caused the most consternation with “delamination” occurring in where the different components are joined together by things not so composite like nuts and bolts and rivets.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Airline Employee Pay Raise Demands: Not Just Pie in the Sky Jim Delaney submits: During the depths of the credit crisis, when there were more homeowners defaulting on mortgages than lattes being sold at Starbucks, just about the only people flying were the Ryan Binghams of the world. [FYI: Bingham was the character played by George Clooney in “Up in the Air” who worked for a downsizing firm. (You’re welcome.)] Things have turned a bit for the flyers of big silver birds as revenue began increasing around the turn of the year with Continental (CAL) reporting in early January that its December traffic was up 6% YoY for that month and that 83% of the seats on its planes were full. Hunter Keay, an airline analyst at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets, remarked, “It looks like the pace of recovery is gaining momentum. The question now is whether it’s sustainable.”Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Ford: The Fundamentals Look Great ChartFacts submits:The Retail Sales numbers released last week showed that auto sales volumes were up 21.5% from the previous year in April. That was great news for an industry that was looking at 35% to 40% annual declines only a year ago. And, it looks like the recent strength should continue. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Motorcar Parts of America Is Cheap, But Is It Quality? Steve Alexander submits:Business SummaryMotorcar Parts of America (MPAA) remanufactures vehicle alternators and starters ("cores") for the auto repair market, focusing primarily on the "do-it-yourself" (DIY) segment. MPAA sells over 90% of its remanufactured units through auto parts retail chains such as AutoZone (AZO) and Pep Boys (PBY), where they are sold under private labels. The remainder of sales come from professional installation warehouses, sold under the brand names Quality-Built, Talon, Xtreme, and Reliance. MPAA takes used, non-working cores that are turned in by customers for a credit, dis-assembles them for parts, and then re-assembles a new, working core using those parts and new ones. 96% of remanufactured cores in 2010 were replaced by used cores, and MPAA can usually produce 100 remanufactured cores from 120 used ones. Unusable leftover parts are sold to scrap yards.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |