| Earnings Preview: Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines (LUV) is expected to report Q3 earnings Thursday, October 15 before the market open with a conference call scheduled for 11:30 am ET. GuidanceAnalysts are looking for EPS of (4c) on revenue of $2.54B. The consensus range for EPS is (9c)-(1c), and $2.51B-$2.57B for revenue, according to First Call. In its Q2 earnings conference call, Southwest stated its outlook for next three quarters would be "cautious" due to the economic environment, and it couldn't "predict a profitable Q3." Despite that, Southwest's shares have risen over 35% since the company's last earnings report, well above the airline sector's 27% increase. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Toyota: Scion iQ to Debut in U.S. as a Hybrid Hatch TheCarConnection.com submits: The Toyota iQ is a popular minicar in many parts of the world, and we've known for a while that Toyota (TM) was planning to market it as a Scion in the U.S. The timeline for the iQ's launch, however, has been the subject of rumor and speculation: at first it was thought to be 2011, then it was bumped up to 2010, and now we don't know when it's going to drop. However, we may get some firm answers to those questions next week at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. According to InsideLine, Toyota will reveal the Scion iQ next Monday, January11, at NAIAS. Interestingly, it's expected to debut in the U.S. as a hybrid five-door hatchback, with a sedan variant to follow. (That makes the iQ the new Toyota hybrid we've been expecting.) Fuel economy will run around 60 mpg, and with pricing in the $15,000 range, the Scion iQ could be a spunky little brother to the more mature, $20,000-ish Toyota Prius. Down the line, expect to see three-door hatch and convertible models, both featuring traditional combustion engines. The first iQs may hit U.S. showrooms by late 2011.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Car Sales Are Looking Strong Calafia Beach Pundit submits: Car sales dipped in February, but over the past year they are up 13.7%. Nothing moves in a straight line, but it seems to me that the upward trend here is clear (especially if you abstract from the temporary gyrations caused by cash-for-clunkers program last August). The bounce we've seen in the past year is about as strong as any we've seen coming out of prior recessions.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
What to Expect From a General Motors IPO Trader Mark submits:The General Motors "rebirth," whenever it happens, is going to be a very interesting event. This Fortune article has some pros and cons of the company and its prospects as a financial entity (I don't necessarily agree 100%), but what it is missing are the huge UAW concessions given over the past few years. While the old guard is grandfathered (and hence it will take quite a while for labor costs to drop dramatically), the auto companies negotiated a tiered wage system so that new blue collar hires are going to be making just a tad more than your local Walmart (WMT) associate (for what I consider to be much harder work). Not to mention a huge amount of debt was discharged in the bankruptcy, which is a huge advantage, and the fact GM is a big player overseas (esp. Asia) where the real growth is.On a tangent, obviously I see a lot of parallels with the auto companies and many layers of our government. In fact the public sector, despite being a fraction of the size of the private, now has more union workers than the entire U.S. private sector. [Jan 24, 2010: For the First Time, More Union Workers Work in Government versus Private Sector] The idea of a union itself is not harmful, but eventually it reaches a size and scope where it becomes as powerful as the forces it originally organized against. We saw this in the auto companies "then," and we now see this throughout government and its affiliates, such as public education where pay for merit is attacked as unfair (which again parallels the situation in many auto companies over the past 30 years). But since the government need not run at break even (forget a profit!) it is much more debilitating; after all, the auto malaise went on for decades. Meanwhile the two class system grows between public and private workers; the geographical area around Washington D.C. has become the center of American wealth. [Mar 11, 2010: [Video] America's 3 Wealthiest Counties Now Ring Washington D.C.] Obviously we are nothing like Greece.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Unexpected Jump in Rail Freight Carloads? Wildebeest submits: The Association of American Railroads [AAR] released the latest weekly rail freight traffic report today: WASHINGTON, D.C. – Aug. 5, 2010 – The Association of American Railroads today reported that for the week ending July 31, 2010, U.S. railroads reported the highest traffic levels of 2010 for both carload and intermodal traffic. U.S. railroads originated 300,292 carloads for the week, up 9.4 percent compared with the same week in 2009, but down 10.6 percent from the same week in 2008. In order to offer a complete picture of the progress in rail traffic, AAR reports 2010 weekly rail traffic with comparison weeks in both 2009 and 2008. Note that U.S. rail traffic fell sharply in fall 2008, when the financial crisis took hold.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |