Author: Serkadis

These Volkswagen Touareg “spy shots” actually show a scale model of the new SUV, which is being planned for a spring debut. The new Touareg will fit the Volkswagen family nicely, with the next generation planned with a front end similar to that of the new Golf and Polo.

Under the exterior, though, the Touareg has much in common with the Porsche Cayenne. On the engine front, we’ll see a new 3.0-litre V6 TFSI unit with 290 hp (from Audi origin), a new 3.0 V6 TDI Euro 6 and a new hybrid version for the environmentally conscious.

It was hoped that the Volkswagen Touareg would see a 2010 Geneva Motor Show debut, but it’s unclear if that will happen. Another alternative, making sense for the US market, would be a presentation at the New York auto show in April. In any case, the Touareg’s commercial launch will take place in the second half of this year.

Source | Autoweek.nl

Toyota managed to get itself in a lot of trouble and nowadays it seems that the Japanese automaker is sinking deeper and deeper into it. And if you’d expect somebody to lay a helping hand, you’re dead wrong. The recession turned everybody into a fighter.

General Motors, Toyota’s old partner from NUMMI, decided to kick the Japanese while they’re down and offer incentives to all Toyota and Lexus owners in the United States. According to GM spokesman Tom Henderson, this strategy came as a respo… (read more)

The moment has finally come! Ferrari fans worldwide now have the chance to see the first pictures of the team’s 2010 challenger, following the Scuderia’s car launch event in Maranello. With all F1 photographs not invited to the event, Ferrari disclosed the first official pics of their new car on their official site, alongside its livery for the upcoming season.

The livery was already shown by Ferrari – partially – during a promotional testing meeting that Fernando Alonso held earlier this mon… (read more)

Google has been trying to become more social, but it’s proving a lot harder than anything else it set out to do. The thing is, Google likes computers, it likes algorithms, likes cold hard facts and numbers. This approach doesn’t lend itself too well to any social service, at least for now, but Google is persevering. Last year, it introduced Soci… (read more)

Honda’s British division announced it will move on with the three winter finance offers until March 31, 2010. Across all three finance offers, customers have the flexibility of increasing the size of their deposit to reduce the monthly payments or opt for a shorter repayment term. Moreover, clothing and accessories from Honda dealers can also be included in each of the finance offers.

Therefore customers can still purchase the CBR1000RR Fireblade or CBR600RR sport bikes in both standard and C… (read more)

Fiat yesterday confirmed that all Italian manufacturing facilities will be closed for two weeks – the last week of February and the first one of March – in an effort to cope with decreasing demand and sales in its domestic market. This obviously leaves all the employees out of work, a measure that upsets industry minister Claudio Scajola who emphasizes that incentives would affect the auto sector on a long-term plan.

"It makes it more difficult," he told Reuters in a statement. &quo… (read more)

My favorite moment of the State of the Union address, as noted and captured by John Aravosis at AmericaBlog, was Justice Samuel Alito’s reaction to being mildly criticized.

One of the sillier customs of the SOTU Address (don’t call it a “speech”) along with the ritualistic, half-hearted, rapturous standing ovations is that the Supreme Court comes to sit there and do their impression of the Sphinx. They don’t stand, they don’t applaud, the just sit there. But it is a custom and it is to be rigorously observed.

But when Obama criticized the recent Citizens United vs. FEC decision as ignorning precedent and opening the floodgates to profligate special interests (especially corporate) spending…Alito, who next year will be there in his “Quaker State, NAPA Autoparts, Viagra, Black Velvet Whisky Robe“, was not amused:

Alito has now spoken more in the House Chamber than Clarence Thomas has in the Supreme Court.

Of course, the post-speech reaction of Chris Matthews, is always a “special” uh, thing, he claimed to have liked the speech so much that for at least an hour, he almost forgot Obama was a black guy. Tell you what Chris, next year he’ll enter the House Chamber with the musical accompaniment of “Sweet Georgia Brown” to help you out.

By Jessica E. Vascellaro, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Critics who blasted the first Google Books settlement have begun weighing in with objections to the modified agreement, which Google (GOOG) and authors sealed late last year to allay concerns that the first pact would give Google a monopoly in digital books.

Amazon.com (AMZN), one of the most outspoken critics of the original settlement, Wednesday filed an objection to revised one, raising many of the same objections it made to the first. In particular, the books giant argued that the agreement overreaches and violates the U.S. Copyright Act. “The (settlement) continues to give Google exclusive rights likely to lead to a monopoly,” it read.

U.C. Berkeley Professor Pam Samuelson submitted an objection on behalf of a group of academic authors. “We do not believe that the settlement of a class action lawsuit is a proper way to make such a profound set of changes in rights of authors and publishers, in markets for books, and procedures for resolving disputes as the (settlement) would bring about,” the letter read.

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Michael Schumacher has agreed to a 3-year deal with Mercedes GP, when finally deciding to return to Formula One racing. While insisting that he came back to win an 8th title in the series, the 41-year old German did admit that he may have to wait for a year or so to make it to the F1 crown.

Additionally, Schuey revealed that he may race some more in the Great Circus, meaning he may not stop at the end of 2012. By that date, the German ace would be 43, but he argued that this has nothing to do… (read more)

important reading on deflation – Thoughts on the End Game – John Mauldin – has 2 items of interest –  comments on book “This Time It’s Different” and Van Hoisington Quarter Letter – Thoughts from the Frontline

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Jeremy Grantham: Lessons learned from the past decade – Posted by Prieur du Plessis – Investment Postcards from Cape Town 

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Congress Is Politicizing the Fed – By RICHARD W. FISHER – The assault on Ben Bernanke is part of a larger trend that is undermining the central bank’s independence. – WSJ Opinion

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Shifting The Blame –  Regulations: Apparently believing the best defense is a good offense, the president wasted no time after his jarring loss on medical overhaul in upping the ante on another of his signature issues — financial change. … But Wall Street didn’t cause the collapse — government did . … What undermined the financial system was a fanatical application of rules aimed at getting banks to lend as much money as possible to facilitate homeownership among minorities.  It was the government, not Wall Street, that created the subprime market by compelling banks to make bad loans and urging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to cash out the banks by putting more and more of the toxic mortgages on their balance sheets. – IBD Editorial
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written before State of Union speech – Obama Ready to Short U.S. With Japan Inc. Talk: Amity Shlaes – hatip John Cervarich – Bloomberg

Stunned Wall Street Firms Don’t Want to Wage War on Obama – By Robert Schmidt – When Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and White House adviser Valerie Jarrett hosted a private dinner with the leaders of six banks to discuss financial regulation on Jan. 20, the bankers soon changed the subject. The president needed to stop demonizing Wall Street, they told Jarrett, according to three people familiar with the meeting. … After leaving the meeting around 9 p.m., the executives learned that Obama would ask Congress the next day to ban commercial banks from running proprietary trading operations, owning hedge funds, and rapidly increasing market share. … – Bloomberg 

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DICK BOVE: WE ARE ON THE PRECIPICE OF A POLITICALLY DRIVEN EQUITY CRASH – The Pragmatic Capitalist

Mortgage rate update – Scott Grannis -…As the second chart shows, the fundamentals driving these rates (i.e., 10-year Treasury yields and the spread between MBS and Treasury yields that investors demand in order to compensate them for the prepayment risk of mortgage-backed securities) suggest that we are unlikely to see rates go lower than they are now. Treasury yields are quite low from an historical perspective, and spreads are about as tight as they have ever been. … – Calafia Beach Pundit

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Is the Carry Trade Unwinding? – … By definition, the whole concept of “carry trade”, as it has come to be known, entails the heavy use of leverage.  … However, leverage removes patience from the investment equation. … While many commentators predicted that there would eventually be a rally in the dollar—even if it were nothing more than a “dead cat bounce”—that rally, which began in mid-November, intensified this week. … more – The Razor’s Edge at Ockham Research
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Sell High Coupons – Bet Against Some Fannie Mae Debt, Declaration Says – By Jody Shenn Investors should bet against some Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities because of the prepayment risk for those trading above par, said Jim Shallcross, who oversees $12 billion at Declaration Management & Research LLC. … Securities to “short” with contracts to sell them in future months include 30-year Fannie Mae mortgage bonds with coupons of 5.5 percent, 6 percent or 6.5 percent, said Shallcross, who is based in McLean, Virginia. … – Bloomberg

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Real estate bottoming? – Scott Grannis – … Note that the rise in commercial real estate lagged the rise in residential. CRE rose a bit less than residential during the heydays, but it has declined by much more. The commercial real estate market has been crushed. Both indices now are showing signs of having bottomed … – Calafia Beach Pundit

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Stop Whining and Hold on to Your House – By Marc Roth – Millions of homeowners are underwater. But don’t sell your house—when the market turns, property will rise in value again, writes Marc Roth – BusinessWeek

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attn math freaks: Andrew Davidson Insights – Does MBS Diversification Exist? – by Alex Levin – RiskCenter.com
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Underwater, but Will They Leave the Pool? – By RICHARD H. THALER – … the most interesting question may be this: Why is the mortgage default rate so low?  After all, millions of American homeowners are “underwater,… In Nevada, nearly two-thirds of homeowners are in this category. Yet most of them are dutifully continuing to pay their mortgages, despite substantial financial incentives for walking away from them. … Eric Posner, a law professor, and Luigi Zingales, an economist, both from the University of Chicago, have made an interesting suggestion: Any homeowner whose mortgage is underwater and who lives in a ZIP code where home prices have fallen at least 20 percent should be eligible for a loan modification … – NY Times

and here is their plan –
The Better, Cheaper Mortgage Fix – How to renegotiate all those bad loans at no cost to the taxpayer. – By Eric Posner and Luigi Zingales – Slate
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new type of fraud being ignored: hide payments to second lien holders in short sales. … Fraud Is Alive, Well And Flourishing In The Real Estate Industries – By Tom Lindmark – … The real kicker is that the subordinate lenders perpetrating this scam aren’t some penny ante actors but appear to be the big banks. … – BUT THEN WHAT
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prediction: To the reverse mortgage survivors go the spoils – by Neil Morse – … One of those, prolific in his comments but shy about being identified, sees opportunity ahead – at least for those still in business. “As many originators leave reverse mortgages, those that remain stand to benefit increasing their market share,” he says. “This means despite falling home values and rising interest rates, hard-working, professional originators should be able to not only survive 2010, but make modest gains in market share and overall loan originations.” … – Reverse Mortgage Daily

Eliminate Fannie Mae? The Impact on the Reverse Mortgage Industry – … While there is no easy answer to Fannie Mae, RMD looked into what sort of impact the elimination would have on the reverse mortgage industry.  At one point Fannie Mae was the only investor purchasing HECMs and its market share of the total market of outstanding reverse mortgage loans was approximately 90% as of December 31, 2008 according to an SEC filing.  After a drastic change in pricing strategy, lenders turned to Ginnie Mae for execution and for the most part haven’t looked back.  According to its 3Q filing, Fannie Mae saw its market share of HECM acquisitions fall to 20% during the quarter and to 10% in September 2009. … Reverse Mortgage Daily 
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Paul Jackson – What if We Let Foreclosures Happen? Would the World End? – … But at least one study is turning conventional wisdom on its head, suggesting that economic recovery will largely proceed with or without a housing rebound.  In a report released last Friday, a cross-functional research team at FTN Financial took a look at key regional U.S. economies in the second half of 2009, and asked whether consumer spending was held back in those states with horrid housing credit. Their findings? Housing performance was completely uncorrelated with consumer spending. … – HousingWire

DBRS Expects Re-Defaults to Drive Principal Forgiveness – by DIANA GOLOBAY – With more than half of all modified loans expected to re-default in 2010, servicers are likely to increase the use of principal forgiveness, as an option to bring these continually distressed mortgages current, rating agency DBRS said in commentary yesterday. – HousingWire
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MERS Cases: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – BY T. ROBERT FINLAY & NICHOLAS G. HOOD – … In fact, many defaulted borrowers continue to allege that the MERS system permitted numerous lenders and investors to play “hot potato” with their subprime loans, which they naively believe caused the nation’s current housing crisis.  Finding MERS’ nominee relationship incomprehensible, many defaulted borrowers filing lawsuits today, in an attempt to thwart, or at least delay, foreclosure, allege that MERS’ role as nominee illegally splits the loan from its security instrument, rendering the loan unsecured….  – MortgageOrb

Yes, you read correctly. For the third time in less than six months and the second time in January 2010, Japanese carmaker Toyota announced another recall, involving no less than 1.1 million vehicles. The new recall is connected to the over 4 million vehicles one announced last year, meaning the vehicles are fitted with the now infamous faulty floor mats.

The new recall affects 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.

This bri… (read more)

The German tuners at Hamann have just released their latest creation, the BMW X6M program, scheduled to make its official debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The new program for the M SUV, according to the few details revealed so far by Hamann, points to upgrades made in terms of both performance and styling.

The Hamann BMW X6M is powered by the standard engine which has been modified to provide up to 670 hp (493 kW) from 555 hp and 850 Nm torque between 1,500 and 5,650 rpm, up from the ini… (read more)

French mobile game publisher Gameloft has scaled back its investments in Google Android games. But the company is very excited about making games for the new iPad tablet computer from Apple. Michel Guillemot, chief executive of Gameloft, said he believes in the iPad because it has a great design and Apple has a strong ecosystem. Apple showed off Gameloft’s Nova first-person shooter game, optimized for the iPad, on stage today. Check out our video interview with Guillemot.

Michel Guillemot of Gameloft wants to make iPad games from Dean Takahashi on Vimeo.

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Looks like Mario wasn’t enough to give Nintendo a spectacular holiday season. Nintendo reported lackluster earnings for the first nine months of its fiscal year, with both profits and sales falling because of the recession, a strong yen, hardware price cuts, and weakening demand.

Earnings were $2.1 billion for the nine months ended Dec. 31, down 9.4 percent from a year ago. Revenues for the nine months were $13.1 billion, down 23 percent from a year ago. While those comparisons are disappointing, the company is still spanking its rivals Sony and Microsoft in the video game console wars.

Nintendo didn’t provide quarterly numbers. The nine-month figures are no surprise. Nintendo had a relatively weak game line-up during the fall, with the retread New Super Mario Bros. game as its only top notch release. But everything is relative, of course. A bad season for Nintendo means that Wii games merely dominated the top ten list of best-selling games (six out of ten titles) in the U.S. in December.

The Japanese company said it has now shipped more than 67 million Wii game consoles and 510 million games. The handheld DS, meanwhile, has sold more than 125 million units and 688 million games. Those are, of course, stunning numbers. But they aren’t enough to make Nintendo more upbeat.

The company left its forecast for the fiscal year unchanged. Overall, Nintendo expects to sell 20 million Wii consoles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, down from 25.9 million units a year earlier. DS unit sales are expected to hit 30 million and DS games are expected to top 150 million.

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I can see why you’re tempted. Some properties are looking very good value compared to what it cost to buy them only two years ago. But buy to let is harder than it used to be now, for lots of reasons.

You don’t want to see too much of this sign. Source: Flickr.com.

First things first: Are you sure that buying a property and letting it out is a good investment for you? Buy to lets are no longer the cash cows that they once were. Both house prices and rental rates may continue to fall. Some forecasters are predicting that until 2010 house prices will continue to drop by as much as 30%, especially as many Buy-To-Let landlords decide to pull out of property ownership before things get worse. One famous couple –Judith and Fergus Wilson — who were labeled by newspapers as Britain’s first buy-to-let billionaires — are expecting to start selling off their portfolio this year, as they approach retirement and face plummeting property prices.

Moreover, there’s a rumor that the UK government is going to make a variety of tax changes which will further eat into profits for private landlords. We all know that with the government’s massive budget deficits, all sorts of taxes will have to go up. This could include capital gains tax, which is an easy target as it tends to affect people who are already well-off and garner little public sympathy. Landlords are never a popular group in the best of times; moreover, buy-to-let investors are perceived as having benefited on the back of very high house prices that also seem to have prevent many people from getting on the property ladder at all. On top of all that, rental incomes are dropping; it is now normal for tenants to try to ask for price reductions in the listed amount of monthly rent.

Building repairs and other unexpected costs can eat into your profits. Source: Flickr.com.

A better way to answer the question is can you do something better with your money? Do you have debts, a mortgage on the property you already live in perhaps, that you should pay off first? What are the alternatives? Interest rates on bank savings accounts are very low at the moment, but they will probably be much higher within 2-3 years. It’s still possible to ake good money buying stocks and shares, although that takes detailed research or a lot of luck. Gilts and bonds are popular investment vehicles nowadays, but they have generally low returns. The most cautious investors are going for gold and other commodities, but even these are subject to volatility. If being a landlord still appeals to you, and assuming you have the 25-40% deposit needed to get a buy-to-let mortgage nowadays, you need to research your local market carefully. Look at what kind of mortgage you can get and carefully work out your expenses.

Like the camera references, this could just be another case of vestigial SDK weirdness — but for whatever reason, devs have noticed (and we’ve been able to reproduce) a “Touch to return to call” bar in the iPad emulator just like you’d expect to find on an iPhone during a traditional GSM call. It certainly seems like Steve would’ve bothered to mention during today’s festivities if you could do something crazy like pair up a Bluetooth headset and go to town (and you’d need a voice plan on top of that $29.99 data anyway), so who knows: either Apple’s just made every UI element as adaptable as possible regardless of whether it’s applicable to a particular device, they’re planning a higher-res iPhone down the road, or they’re integrating the bar into some VoIP action. Or… you know, none of the above.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iPad won’t handle GSM voice calls — or will it? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson has today delivered a statement affirming China’s willingness to allow Android devices to operate within the country without restriction so long as they adhere to the nation’s laws. This means that whatever China’s response to Google no longer obeying its censorship edicts may be, it won’t be to disallow Android — which kind of makes sense considering the growing roster of OPhones out there, all running a remixed version of the dessert-loving mobile OS. Then again, Google’s latest power play was to hold back Android handsets from entering China, so we’re not entirely sure how much the Mountain View outfit cares about the Middle Kingdom’s apparent benevolence.

China says Android can stay, misses Google’s point originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The tabloids are practically crapping their pants with outlandish tales of how the Black Widow that is Jennifer Aniston slithered Brangelina’s World like the Devil Reincarnated to sink her claws into her former husband. Despite the fact that most of America isn’t buying reports that the Sun has finally set for Hollywood’s Golden Couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are plotting to shut up “gossipers” who say they have broken up by making a public appearance together at the 2010 Oscars this March.

An insider close to the pair tells The Sun that Brand and Ange are busy color coordinating the tux and gown they’ll wear on Hollywood’s biggest night. ‘

“Angelina and Brad are still very much together. They’re even in the process of planning out their Oscar outfits – Brad didn’t want to clash with Angelina, who’s putting some serious thought into her choices…..”