Author: Serkadis

Marvelous Entertainment posted a rather unfortunate earnings forecast for the quarter and things aren’t looking so marvelous for the publisher. But instead of taking it out on the workforce by sacking people left and right, key executives

Oaktree Capital Management has sent out its latest letter to investors.

The hedge fund  CEO, Howard Marks, writes a long, 12-page, letter in which he predicts anemic growth because “the rally in financial markets worldwide has outpaced the fundamentals.”

Here’s a summary of the points he makes:

— The economy is like a stalled car being pulled by a government stimulus tow truck. “The tow truck will want to let the car down one of these days and go on its way. Will the car be able to move on its own? We can only wait and see. I think it’s more likely to sputter along than it is to move forward energetically.”

— Rock-bottom rates on Treasurys push people to undertake riskier investments. Will economic recovery continue if rates go to market levels? “Removing the props of elevated government spending, debt guarantees and artificially low interest rates will limit [the recovery’s] vibrancy.”

— Slow job growth, sluggish incomes, spending that grows slower than incomes, and scarcer consumer credit likely will combine to limit the consumer’s ability to energize the economy. “There’s a maxim that “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American consumer.” I’d prefer to see consumers save rather than return to over-spending – it’s healthier for families and for the economy in the long run, providing reserves in case of emergency and capital for investment. But I won’t be shocked if they don’t.”

— It will be hard for commercial real estate to again command its pre-crisis prices, or for it to be financeable or refinanceable at those levels. “It seems inescapable that over the next few years: 1. Higher vacancy rates and lower rents will keep net operating income from returning to the peak levels of the last cycle. 2. Property buyers won’t go back to finding sufficient risk compensation in pre-crisis cap rates. And 3. Financial institutions aren’t going to lend the same high percentage of property purchase prices as they did 3-4 years ago.”

— Lots of trouble in sight in local and state governments. Especially New York and California, two states with massive deficits.

— Growth in jobs in the recovery will be slow, and that unemployment and underemployment will remain stubbornly at higher levels than in the past.

— I think we’ll continue to see declining relative costs in the U.S., to the betterment of our competitiveness but the detriment of our workers. In order for U.S. goods to be competitive, our costs will have to come down, and with them our relative standard of living.

— Strong inflation is usually associated with higher levels of prosperity and stronger demand for goods than I foresee. And inflation often presupposes pricing power on the part of manufacturers, which I also don’t see. “‘Stores of value’ like gold hold value only because people agree they will. The same goes for currencies. Profligate spending, runaway deficits and declining world position could reduce the role of the dollar as a reserve currency, again cutting into its purchasing power.”

— I’m certainly in no position to predict a decline in the purchasing power of the dollar (that is, a bout of strong inflation). However, I do think it’s very much worth worrying about.

Marks also says he worries about three “big picture” concerns:

1. I worry about long-term problems that are being left untreated, such as our massive deficits and our under-funded Social Security, Medicare and education systems.

2. I worry about the long-term impact of government involvement in business decisions like,
telling companies what they should pay top employees.

3. I worry about the rising tide of populism and anti-business sentiment. We’d better remember that “what’s good for business is good for America.”

Read the full letter below.

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See Also:

• Elliott Management: The Party Is Over, Companies Are Hanging By A Thread
• UK Inflation Explodes In December, Central Banker Will Be Forced To Write Letter Explaining Why
• Bill Miller: We Don’t Make Investments On Simplistic Marc Faber Theories

Morgan Stanley’s Paolo Batori reminds investors that most emerging markets carry nowhere near the credit risk of Greece, and that despite global sovereign debt concerns sparked by Greek turmoil, there are some good deals to be found in the debt of off-the-radar CEEMEA (Central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) nations — Such as Ukraine, Poland, and yes, Dubai.

Morgan Stanley: Concerns over Greek debt sustainability have caused increased volatility for risky assets, and market participants have tried to assess if CEEMEA credits are natural targets of contagion. We do not expect this to materialise. Greece is coping with concerning debt dynamics caused by idiosyncratic factors. CEEMEA countries have stronger fundamentals. Only extreme credit scenarios, which would put all the EU accession processes at risk, could generate considerable selling pressures in CEEMEA, in our view. We do not envisage this scenario as some viable solutions are available to the Greek government.

…

Sovereign credit – we stick to high beta [basically the debt of smaller, more volatile nations] and take advantage of RV [relative value] opportunities. Low-beta credits are set to suffer from a temporary increase in volatility, while high-beta ones are likely to remain resilient if the recent correction does not turn into an inversion of the trend (our baseline scenario). Ukraine and Dubai offer very good value and it is worth holding long positions there. As stated, better fundamentals should avoid a notable contagion of Greece on the CEEMEA region. However, heavier positioning and less compelling spreads could cause some choppy trading sessions for higher-rated credits if uncertainty over the Greek debt sustainability persists. We would fade any notable spread widening, but we focus on attractive relative value opportunities for now. Indeed, Poland EUR 2025 [Polish euro bonds due 2025] looks very cheap, particularly when compared to Poland 2020.

(Via Morgan Stanley, CEEMEA Investor, Paolo Batori, 26 January 2010)

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See Also:

• Demand For Greek Debt Jumps 1000% After Government Adds Just 0.3% Yield
• EU Leaders Plan Emergency Moves to Prevent Greek Domino Effect
• Greek Minister Tries To Dump The Debt Problem On Retail Investors, Sending Bond Yields To Worst Level Ever

2010 Joyce Awards Program Supports Five Midwest Cultural Institutions to Commission New Works by Artists of Color

The Joyce Foundation is proud to announce the 2010 Joyce Awards winners in the Midwest cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/Saint Paul.

Since 2003, the Joyce Awards program has been the only granting opportunity exclusively supporting artists of color in major Midwestern cities.

Joyce is awarding five outstanding arts organizations grants of $50,000 each to support new works in dance, music, theater, and visual arts.

Winners in each artistic category include:

• DANCE: Ordway Center for the Performing Arts (Saint Paul) to commission African American choreographer Uri Sands to create a new dance work inspired by the paintings of African American artist Ernie Barnes;
• MUSIC: Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago) to commission the African American stringband the Carolina Chocolate Drops to create “Kingdom Coming,” a new multimedia collaborative performance piece that celebrates black heritage from Vaudeville;
• THEATER: Steppenwolf Theatre Co. (Chicago) to support a new play based on the biblical book of Job by African American playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney;
• VISUAL ARTS: The Milwaukee Art Museum (Milwaukee), in partnership with the Chipstone Foundation, to support news works by African American visual artist Theaster Gates for a multimedia exhibition/installation that includes pottery, sculpture, video and music.
• VISUAL ARTS: Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis) to commission Iranian American artist Ali Momeni to create two new media installations to launch the museum’s inaugural year of contemporary art programming.

“The Joyce Foundation is proud this year to grant five Joyce Awards to very talented artists and the vibrant cultural institutions that will present these works,” stated Ellen S. Alberding, president of the Joyce Foundation.

“Their artistry illustrates the diversity and creativity that lies within our area and is part of what makes the Great Lakes region so special.”

Since its inception in 2003, the Joyce Awards has supported cultural institutions in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Award winners have not only presented their works to the institutions’ traditional audiences; they have also worked with community groups, school children, and public art projects.

The goal is for these commissions to produce vivid, new works of art that strengthen cultural venues and draw people of diverse backgrounds to experience the rewards of participating in the arts as well as elevate the visibility of creative works by minority artists.

Applications are reviewed by independent arts advisors from outside the Midwest and reviewed and approved by the Foundation’s board of directors. Joyce Awards of $50,000 are made directly to arts organizations and are awarded in dance, music, theater, and visual arts.

Each award supports the work of the individual artist as well as significant community engagement efforts. Organizations have up to three years to complete their proposed projects.

For more information on applying for a 2011 Joyce Awards or to learn more about the Joyce Foundation, please visit joycefdn.org or call 312-782-2464.

About the Joyce Foundation

Based in Chicago, the Joyce Foundation supports efforts to strengthen public policies in ways that improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region.

Cultural funding supports projects that bring diverse audiences together to share common cultural experiences and encourage more people to see the arts as integral parts of their lives.

The Foundation also makes grants in the areas of Education, Employment, Environment, Gun Violence Prevention, and Money and Politics.

Last week, YouTube announced that it would try out movie rentals on the site by putting up five movies from the Sundance Festival online and asking for $3.99 per streaming. This could be a major revenue avenue for YouTube, which has been struggling to become profitable ever since Google acquired it for a hefty sum.

There are even rumors that th… (read more)

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On the possibility of Fannie and Freddie going away, one clever rep wrote to me and asked, “Do we really need FNMA, FHA, and FHLMC when it is all government run anyway?  They could start a new entity named “Federally Regulated Committee to Normalize Mortgage Securities”, or “FRCNMS” – pronounced “FRICKEN MESS”.

In fourth grade, at Hoover Elementary School, Mark Pipes goofed off one too many times. Mrs. McDaniel made Mark bend over, grab his ankles, and she proceeded to beat his rump with a wooden pointer. The rest of us in the class didn’t quite know how to react seeing one of our brethren disciplined this way. “The herd was spooked”, and needless to say I remember it over 40 years later. I wonder if the FHA herd is spooked out there, hearing more news of the FHA Mortgagee Review Board (MRB) permanently withdrawing FHA approval for Strategic Mortgage Corporation, ProMortgage, Americare Investment Group, which does business as Premier Capital Lending and TopDot Mortgage. The MRB suspended FHA approval on Home Mortgage Inc. (HMI) for six months. In addition to losing its FHA approval, TopDot faces action from Ginnie Mae.

You know it’s a slow news day when I start dredging up IRS forms, and put a great joke at the end. But in this case, these might be worth a gander, as they are the instructions for reporting points paid to the IRS, and the definition of points. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1098.pdf

Are some companies using the new GFE as a marketing tool?  Sure they are, although exactly how HUD will view them remains to be seen. “If another lender rejected your loan because the GFE was filled out wrong, come to XYZ Mortgage! As long as your borrower cancels that loan, you do not have to wait to submit it to XYZ. We’ll help you fill out the GFE correctly, and get your loan funded fast. We’re 48 hours from receipt of your complete file to a decision! For personal assistance completing your GFE, contact your Account Executive …” And from another company: “If a loan is rejected due to not meeting the new GFE requirements, the new loan needs to be created the same day the old one is cancelled. Then an email needs to be sent to PQR Mortgage with the old and new loan numbers asking for the lock to be transferred.  If it is past 24 hours since the loan was rejected then you must create a new loan and lock at current market pricing.”

Although this news only impacts servicing companies, it does have potential ramifications for smaller lenders. The FHA has issued guidance to its approved servicers on how to assist borrowers facing “imminent default.” Previously, these homeowners were ineligible for such assistance until after they had missed payments. Servicers will now have additional options for those borrowers who seek help before they go delinquent, which hopefully increases the likelihood that the borrower will be able to retain their home, and servicers can use forbearance and the FHA’s Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP) to assist borrowers facing imminent default.

more news on Wells wholesale, Franklin Amewrican, Fannie Mae DU, US and China rates, disclosures, and joke of the day … <<< CLICK HERE TO DONTINUE

Science Daily: Climate change wreaked havoc on the Earth’s first rainforests but they quickly bounced back, scientists reveal. The findings of the research team, led by Dr Howard Falcon-Lang from Royal Holloway, University of London, are based on spectacular discoveries of 300-million-year-old rainforests in coal mines in Illinois, USA.

Preserved over vast areas, these fossilized rainforests in Illinois are the largest of their kind in the world. The rocks at this site – in which the rainforests occur – contain evidence for climate fluctuations. During cold ‘ice ages’, fossils show that the tropics dried out and rainforests were pushed to the brink of extinction. However, rainforests managed to recover and return to their former glory.

Dr Falcon-Lang, from the Department of Earth Sciences, worked with colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution and Illinois Geological Survey. In their paper published in the journal Geology, they show that rainforest species all but vanished at the height of the ice ages. Yet they also reveal that the coal beds that formed shortly after, as the climate warmed, contain abundant rainforest species.

Falcon-Lang said, ‘These discoveries radically change our understanding of the Earth’s first rainforests. We used to think these were stable ecosystems, unchanged for tens of millions of years. Now we know they were incredibly dynamic, constantly buffeted by climate change’.

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New York Times: Negotiators have all but completed a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests, and in some cases, other natural landscapes like peat soils, swamps and fields that play a crucial role in curbing climate change.

Environmental groups have long advocated such a compensation program because forests are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. Rain forest destruction, which releases the carbon dioxide stored in trees, is estimated to account for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

The agreement for the program, if signed as expected, may turn out to be the most significant achievement to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks, providing a system through which countries can be paid for conserving disappearing natural assets based on their contribution to reducing emissions.

A final draft of the agreement for the compensation program, called Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD, is to be given on Wednesday to ministers of the nearly 200 countries represented here to hammer out a framework for a global climate treaty. Negotiators and other participants said that though some details remained to be worked out, all major points of disagreement — how to address the rights of indigenous people living on forest land and what is defined as forest, for example — had been resolved through compromise.

A final agreement on the program may not be announced until the end of the week, when President Obama and other world leaders arrive — in part because there has been so little progress on other issues at the climate summit meeting, sponsored by the United Nations.

“It is likely to be the most concrete thing that comes out of Copenhagen — and it is a very big thing,” said Fred Krupp, head of the Environmental Defense Fund.

For poorer countries, the payments will provide a much-needed new income stream. For richer nations, the lure of the program is not cash but carbon credits that can be used to cancel out, in part, their industrial emissions under a carbon trading system, like the cap-and-trade plan currently under consideration by Congress.

Forests “have become a pot of money or a get out of jail free card,” said Peg Putt, a consultant to the Wilderness Society. “Either way, there’s the prospect of financial benefit now, as opposed to just being told, ‘Do the right thing,’ like it was two years ago.”

The new plan represents an important shift from earlier United Nations climate programs, like the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in which countries committed to curbing their industrial emissions but got no credit for reducing emissions through changes in land use.

The agreement is also being closely watched in Congress, where climate legislation passed the House in June and is currently stalled in the Senate.

Under the cap-and-trade system preferred by Democratic leaders and the Obama administration, companies that cannot meet their greenhouse gas pollution limit could buy extra permits by investing in carbon-reduction programs abroad. Plans to preserve forests under REDD would presumably qualify.

The forest program “offers the opportunities for U.S. companies to reduce emissions at lower cost, which is very important politically,” Mr. Krupp said.

Under the final draft of agreement, other habitats that absorb carbon dioxide — like peat bogs, which store large amounts of carbon dioxide in their soil — could be eligible for payments. This prospect has environmentalists scrambling to calculate the carbon storage capacity of other resources like swamps and fields, not for the sake of preserving beauty or biodiversity, but for their potential financial benefit.

“Why is everyone thinking about forest and peat land while overlooking oceans, the biggest carbon store on the planet?” said Dan Lafolley, marine vice chairman for the World Commission on Protected Areas of the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “It would be a travesty if Copenhagen addressed forests but not other carbon stocks.”

The potential for payments has even pitted advocates for some types of forest against advocates for other types.

“Were not sure in Copenhagen there will be a definitive mechanism for monetizing forests, but if there is we think all forests should be included,” Steve Kallick, director of the Boreal Conservation Pew Environment Group, who studies northern forest stocks and noted that by some measures, boreal forests store twice as much carbon dioxide per unit as tropical forests.

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Greenwire: The scene was one for the history books. Kevin Conrad, representing the small tropical nation of Papua New Guinea, stood up at the 2007 climate negotiations in Bali, Indonesia. He gave the United States two options: Either lead or “get out of the way.” The dramatic moment broke a deadlock at the time.

Today, some analysts believe that a plan to save the world’s rainforests, championed then by Conrad in Bali, could again carry the day — this time at international climate talks in Copenhagen in December aimed at drafting a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol.

While the United States and China continue to hedge on their broader commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, negotiators have made steady progress on the plan, known by its acronym REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

The underlying concept seems simple at first glance. Industrialized countries pay to lock carbon into developing nations’ forests. The money, if directed as intended, would provide a long-absent motive for local landowners and indigenous populations to abstain from clear-cutting their trees to create ranches, plantations and farms. Conservationists hope it will save the rainforests where decades of other efforts have fallen short.

“We have to value forests when they are alive and standing. Presently, we only value them when they’re dead,” Conrad told reporters yesterday. He spoke after a high-level meeting at the United Nations yesterday, attended by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and key world leaders.

A deal with appeal to rich and poor nations

Those who have watched REDD’s development since it was first placed on the international agenda by Papua New Guinea in 2005, say that it may provide the best hope for a concrete deal that includes nations both rich and poor.

“I regard it as having the potential to be at center stage in Copenhagen as a mechanism for breaking logjam and enabling an overall agreement,” said Annie Petsonk, international counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund. She said yesterday’s meeting was encouraging because many prominent leaders attended and declared the importance of REDD in the broader framework.

REDD is powerful because it is one of the quickest and cheapest available options for slowing the trajectory of rising temperatures in the atmosphere. Deforestation causes nearly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of the world’s entire transport sector. Indonesia and Brazil are, respectively, the world’s third- and fourth-largest emitting nations. In Brazil, deforestation is responsible for 70 percent of emissions.

“Protecting tropical forests is one of the most affordable ways to reduce climate pollution,” Glenn Hurowitz, Washington director of the nonprofit Avoided Deforestation Partners.

According to figures cited at the U.N. meeting, a ballpark of $22 billion to 36 billion dollars of global investment in REDD by 2015 — a relatively small amount in the grand climate financing scheme — could cut global deforestation rates by a quarter.

That low cost is a big carrot for the United States. At a bargain price of about $5 a ton, REDD credits could either slash expenses in meeting emissions targets or afford lawmakers the flexibility to propose more lofty aims. For example, the cost of the climate legislation passed by the House, sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), would rise by 89 percent without its international offset options, most of which would come from tropical forest projects, U.S. EPA estimated.

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According to CNBC, General Motors has finally sold off its Saab unit after months of failed bids.

The buyer is Spyker Cars, a dutch car company that no one here has probably ever heard of.

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See Also:

• That Was Fast: Here Comes The GM IPO
• Saab Buyer Backs Out Of GM Deal
• Is Saab Dead?

In the background of much of the debate over how policy makers should respond to the economic downturn have been the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century.

Whether or not this is familiar to you, you definitely want to watch “Fear the Boom and Bust,” in which Keynes and Hayek face off in a hip hop battle. In the video, both economists come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there’s a “boom and bust” cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it.

It was put together by economist Russ Roberts and filmmaker John Papola from Econstories.TV.

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See Also:

• John Maynard Keynes On What The Stock Market Will Do
• Richard Posner: The Chicago School Is Dead

On The Early Show Tuesday, Ayla Brown, the “very available” daughter of new Mass. Senator-elect Scott Brown, chatted about her basketball career, her new album and her experience on the fifth season of American Idol more than three years ago.

Courtesy of the White House Press Office…

Event marks the continuation of White House Music Series by celebrating Black History Month

 The 2010 White House Music Series begins on Wednesday, February 10th, when the President and First Lady will host “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” – a concert celebrating Black History month. Participants include Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir and others. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah will serve as emcees for this concert which will feature songs from the Civil Rights Movement as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings. The President will make opening remarks at this concert held in the East Room which will be pooled press and streamed live on http://whitehouse.gov starting at 5:15 p.m. ET.

 The concert will be televised on February 11th at 8:00 p.m. ET on public broadcasting stations nationwide as part of WETA Washington, D.C.’s “In Performance at the White House” series. NPR will also produce a one-hour concert special from this event for broadcast nationwide on NPR Member stations throughout the month of February, beginning February 12th. The special will be available on www.npr.org/music.

 As part of this special event, Mrs. Obama will host “Music that Inspired the Movement,” a workshop that several of the event’s performers will lead for 120 high school students from across the country on Wednesday, February 10th from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET. The students will come to learn about the continuing relevance of music from the Civil Rights Movement to today’s generation and its original impact in the 1960s. This event will be streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov and students all over the country will be invited to watch and engage in the workshop. This event will be held in the State Dining Room and is open press but space is very limited so please RSVP to [email protected].

 First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the White House Music Series last year with a Jazz Studio, and since then has hosted a celebration of Country Music, a Fiesta Latina and a celebration of Classical Music. Many of these events included evening performances as well as daytime educational workshops designed to educate and inspire talented young people to use their gifts to develop a future for themselves in the arts community whether as a hobby or as a profession.

CompTIA is the computer industry group that oversees common certifications such as A+, Network+, and Server+, and its certifications have always been good indefinitely.

Not anymore. In a policy change announced this month, CompTIA dropped a bombshell on the hundreds of thousands of people who hold its certifications: those credentials are now good for only three years—and the change in policy is retroactive.

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David Rosenberg taunts current stock market weakness in his latest daily, while at the same time building himself a nice giant hedge by promoting Canadian stocks as cheaper alternative to U.S. ones. Thus if U.S. market keeps rallying he can at least point to his Canadian investments which would likely be rising at the same time in such a scenario.

Still, it’s true that Canada has had a far easier time of things over the last few years. Just beware the potential for a giant housing bust:

David Rosenberg (Emphasis added): In terms of income orientation, the TSX dividend yield is 2.7%, which is a 70 basis point pickup over the S&P 500. And with respect to valuation, the Canadian stock market is close to fair-value on a Shiller normalized P/E ratio versus a near-10% overvaluation south of the border (data back to 1965). On a price-to-book basis, the TSX (1.9x) is 20% less expensive than the S&P 500 (2.4x).

In terms of macro fundamentals, and believe me, I am not that bullish at all over the economic outlook, but at least in relative terms Canada seems to be posting a more “organic recovery” than is evident in the United States, notwithstanding the prospect of a “blowout” GDP number this Friday. The Canadian economic revival has been far less reliant on aggressive monetary and fiscal support, though there is no doubt that the moves here to revive the housing market have perhaps been too good to be true, as home prices have surged to record highs. But what is critical is that there is no job crisis in Canada, which is why the political atmosphere, proroguing aside, is far less poisonous in Canada at the present time.

Since September, Canada has posted nearly 70,000 net new jobs and every one of them has been in full-time positions, which means that the corporate sector here is beginning to make more of a commitment to the labor market. This is where the organic trends in personal income are derived from – in the U.S., there have been 350,000 losses and companies continue to rely on part-time help and temp agencies to fill whatever labor requirements there are.

He’s also bullish on the Canadian dollar vs. the U.S. one, which provides an additional reason for Americans to send their money north of the border. Just keep in mind he works for a Canadian asset manager.

As the chart below illustrates, the Canadian dollar’s fair-value line is pointing north, indicating that through the interim peaks and valleys, the loonie is in a fundamental bull market.

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See Also:

• Rosenberg: Strip Out The Banks, And Revenue Growth Is 0% Over Last Year’s Depression Levels
• Rosenberg: Where Is Obama On Fannie And Freddie?
• David Rosenberg: The Market Is Becoming Discriminating, A Rising Tide Will Not Lift All Boats

AFS Trinity Power Corporation announced that it is considering Delaware as a potential location for the future development and building of its Extreme Hybrid vehicles and will offer two pre-production AFS Trinity 150* MPG SUVs to state officials and legislators for testing purposes.

"Delaware has embraced automotive technology dedicated to reducing greenhouse gases and American oil dependence. As a result, the state is attracting leading developers of plug-in hybrids and other next gene… (read more)

Nosy partners beware. A new iPhone application, iTrust, promises to stop snooping spouses and friends from secretly checking an iPhone user’s text messages and emails.