TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Peak Autos: Good News for Parts, Used Car Dealers Gregor Macdonald submits: Some of the best economic discussions I’ve had this month were with my automechanic. We’ve discussed solar power. Land use laws. Housing development. And yes, trends in new and used auto sales. We are both firmly in agreement: new auto sales in North America peaked this decade and are unlikely to see those levels again for a long, long time. 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 |
Optimistic About Ford Zacks.com submits: Ford Motor Co. (F) (Analyst Report), the only member of the Detroit Three that evaded bankruptcy, recently announced that it would enhance its production level by 16% y-o-y to 485,000 vehicles for the third quarter of this year. The raise comes on top of a planned 10% increase to 460,000 units announced last month. Ford will manufacture an additional 15,000 cars and 10,000 trucks compared to its previous production schedule. It will focus on cars such as Mustang and Focus as well as on pickup trucks.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Canada's Transat: A Play on the Rising Loonie? Larry MacDonald submits: Transat A.T. (TRZAF.PK) is Canada’s largest travel tour operator. It stands to benefit from a higher Canadian dollar (which makes trips to foreign destinations cheaper, thereby increasing demand for travel/vacation packages outside of the country). Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Shorting Winnebago, Realty Income: Not a Good Idea Colin Peterson submits: I mentioned Winnebago (WGO) as a possible short. Their reports disclose a large potential liability (>$100MM) for repurchase of recreation vehicles. I asked investor relations whether that dollar amount was the total dollar amount of vehicles they could be required to repurchase, or if it was calculated as the maximum loss they could incur (repurchase price minus resale price) if forced to repurchase them? Turns out it is the former, which is not as bad. They only had $20,000 in losses from these repurchases in fiscal 2009. This is the type of trade I have to be careful about because I think that RVs are obscene, but clearly tons of people don't. I also mentioned Realty Income (O) as a possible short. This is an Ackman idea. They do seem to have a bad tenant mix - lots of freestanding buildings with mom&pop tenants. However - unusual for a REIT - they seem to have no secured debt whatsoever. No mortgage debt, no secured bonds. Presumably, they can lever up and stick it to the unsecured bondholders by mortgaging the properties, which would allow them to keep raising the dividend. Also the whole hedge fund herd is going to short it, and then be covering whenever their gold positions sell off. Blah. I like my Regency Centers (REG) pair trade better. So, while both of these could be decent shorts - I mean, I wouldn't buy them - I'm holding out for something better.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |