TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
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| Why Obama Was Right to Demand Wagoner's Head Obama’s decision to force the resignation of the CEO of General Motors (GM), Richard Wagoner, has caused outrage from all sides of the political spectrum. The right have criticized Obama for interfering in the running of a private company while the left are attacking him for “betraying” General Motors. While the outrage from the left is to be expected, and there is cause for concern that the government’s interference in corporate strategy may go beyond simply removing their CEO, the decision to make the bailout conditional on Wagoner’s departure is the best policy for taxpayers and the American economy. Critics of this decision have claimed that it violates the rule of law and have drawn parallels with the “[[AIG]] tax”. This is incorrect, since the problem with the AIG tax was that it was retrospective and included companies like Wells Fargo (WFC) which had been forced to take government money. In contrast, Wagoner (and GM’s shareholders) had the option of declining the money, and facing the consequences. Indeed, the whole point of this maneuver is to discourage unnecessary demands for bailout funds. Had this plan, which bears strong similarities to the “Volcker Doctrine” of the 1980s, been implemented last autumn, banks might have had second thoughts about the desirability of government support.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Auto MPG: The Economics of CAFE, Part One The Baseline Scenario submits: By James KwakCAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy – the average fuel efficiency that is calculated annually for every manufacturer that sells cars or light trucks in the U.S. and compared to standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, part of the Department of Transportation. (If you want to know more about how CAFE is measured, see the Appendix to this post.) Tuesday, President Obama proposed new, higher CAFE standards for models years up through 2016, by which point aggregate efficiency should reach 35.5 miles per gallon.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
'Cash for Clunkers' Programs Compared Research Recap submits: The United States Wednesday introduced a federal ‘Cash for Clunkers’ scheme, providing incentives for motorists to trade-in old vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models. The scheme is an example of a program, which has become popular as a response by many governments to the current crisis facing the automotive sector. Oxford Analytica looks at how these schemes have fared in Europe. United Kingdom. The UK scheme has government and manufacturers offering 1,000 pounds each towards the cost of a new car or van if owners trade in a vehicle more than ten years old they have owned for at least a year:Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Travel Centers of America: Undervalued Stock? Arohan submits: I have started looking into Travel Centers of America (TA) as a possible value play. The stock is currently trading at a little over $3 per share and at its peak a few years ago it had traded as high as $46 per share. The company has suffered the last year and half due to declines in the trucking volumes during the recession. The trick here is to figure out whether the company will be profitable again as the economy rebounds. On the surface, the financials appear to be really good with almost $182 million in cash and about $100 million in debt. As a reference, the current market capitalization of the company is short of $60 million. Its book value also seems to be in the $20 per share range compared to its share price of around $3.25. As you would imagine, this does not always tell the whole story. This company operates in an industry where working capital and cash flow can make or break a company. At first glance, the company appears to have been generating positive or close to zero cash flow every quarter (cash on hand has increased year over year but that could mean anything).Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
The Death of Shipping and BDI Is Premature In August and September the outlook for shipping and dry bulk shipping rates, was very poor even while the stock market surged up in September. This resulted in more articles predicting Stock market doom. But in October the rate has moved up, as world trade in the Atlantic is improving. The rate has moved up about 30% .Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |