Author: Serkadis

The live video streaming space is pretty crowded at the moment, but it’s still seeing some very healthy growth. Despite revenue numbers being smaller than they’d like, live streaming services are competing at an increasing pace constantly trying to out do each other. The chat component for these sites has always been important and the move now is to unify the different chat services the site supports, making for a more seamless experience. Justin.tv is the last to do so, enabling its users to chat using their Facebook, Twitter or MySpace accounts, as well as their Justin.tv ones.

“Our new Unified Chat makes it simple for any Twitter, Facebook or Myspace user to start chatting without the need to create a Justin.tv account. Now, when you start to chat you will be presented with a new sleek way to sign in to your Justin.tv account or connect to other services with 1-click,” Justin.tv’s Caleb Elston writes. “We are also unifying chat for all users into the same view. Our old chat system kept Justin.tv, Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace chatters in separate and distinct rooms,” he added.

Before entering a chat, users will now be asked to log in with one of the supported services as an alternative to using their Justin.tv accounts. Only Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are supported for now, but it’s likely that this covers a sig… (read more)

If you’re still reading a fantasy sports blog this late in the NFL season, then at least one of the following things is true:

A) Your team is still alive in Championship Week;

B) Your team is no longer alive, but you’re in denial about the fact that Ahmad [expletive] Bradshaw flattened you in the semis;

C) You’ve been searching for any comments section where you can ask start/sit questions, hoping to get a thoughtful response from a community of angry strangers; or…

D) You have a fetishist dating site to promote and no marketing budget with which to do it.

If A is true, congratulations. But there’s still work to be done. It’s time to get a ring. If B is true, then you have our sympathy. At least Bradshaw is legit. He continues to climb in the weekly ranks, despite playing on a half-broken foot and no healthy ankles. If C is true, then you’ve finally found the appropriate blog post. By all means, please discuss your start/sit dilemma in comments.

And if D is true…well, c’mon. Have you not taken enough from this community already? You know we can’t resist the sweet, sweet temptation of wealthy cougars.

Below you’ll find a rough draft of my position ranks for Week 16. Adjustments will be made prior to the release of the official, unalterable Yahoo! staff ranks on Thursday.  Like Brad and Brett, let’s talk this thing out…

QUARTERBACKS

• There are two significant factors to consider when ranking Colts for Week 16. The first issue, of course, is the Jets defense. They’re awfully good. New York has limited opponents to 159.8 passing yards per game, the lowest total in the NFL. Darrelle Revis(notes) has been a plague, eliminating elite receivers all season.

The second problem is that Indianapolis has clinched home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, so there’s no obvious need for the team to play its starters for the full 60 minutes. History suggests that Peyton Manning(notes) will eventually get some rest, but it won’t necessarily happen this week. Head coach Jim Caldwell has said, "We’re still going to base [playing time] on the health of each and every one of our players, as to what their situation is." Caldwell hasn’t yet spelled out the plan for healthy players. He’s really no help. In the end, the difficulty of the matchup is enough reason to downgrade Colts. Fear of lost snaps is justified, too.

• Brad Childress reportedly "unleashed an expletive-laden outburst" toward Brett Favre(notes) on Sunday, which sounds fantastic. I’ve had that dream. Clearly there’s some discord in Minnesota. Favre is ranked here as if the Vikings will actually have something at stake in the Monday night game at Chicago, but Sunday’s results in New Orleans and Philadelphia could alter Minnesota’s approach. If the Saints win (which seems overwhelmingly likely) and the Eagles lose (which is certainly possible), then the Vikings will have clinched a bye, yet they’ll have no shot at home field advantage. 

• Alex Smith is coming off a messy game (177 yards, TD, 3 INTs) against a serious Philly defense. But he’s at home and facing Detroit in Week 16. The Lions have allowed a league-worst 31.2 points and 268.6 passing yards per game, and they rank 29th in sacks and 28th in interceptions. The week sets up nicely for Niners.

• Brady Quinn(notes) has been placed on injured reserve due to a right foot injury. Also, Brian Brohm(notes) is expected to start for Buffalo. Those things seem worth reporting, even though they shouldn’t have fantasy impact outside of 14-team, two-quarterback leagues. Here’s the money quote from the Brohm link: "[Perry] Fewell said recently that Brohm didn’t know the offense well enough to run if effectively." 

• For now, New Orleans head coach Sean Payton sounds like a man who intends to play his starters through the end of the regular season. Here’s a quote from his Monday press conference, via the Times-Picayune:

"We’re not resting them. We’re playing right now. There are only two weeks left in the regular season, and we’re full speed ahead with this game that we’re playing. I’m not really dealing with the hypotheticals,
I’m just staying focused on this game right now."

The Saints will secure home dome advantage when they annihilate the Bucs on Sunday. No matter what Payton says now, he’s still free to reconsider his position on Drew Brees(notes)‘ playing time in Week 17. 

RUNNING BACKS

• DeAngelo Williams(notes) injured (or re-injured) his left ankle in the Week 15 win over Minnesota, and he wasn’t able to return to the game. Jonathan Stewart(notes) was sensational in relief, rushing for 109 yards on 25 carries and finding the end zone twice. Tyrell Sutton(notes) made an impressive cameo appearance, too, gaining 21 yards on three touches. (Arian Foster(notes)-esque numbers!) Stewart is obviously ranked here as if he’ll get a full workload against the Giants. The Panthers haven’t yet said anything meaningful about the severity of Williams’ injury.

• Beanie Wells(notes) reportedly "appeared to be a bit woozy" following a shot to the helmet in Arizona’s Week 15 win over Detroit, but coach Ken Whisenhunt declared, "it wasn’t anything." Wells has carried 32 times for 189 yards and two scores over his last two games. He’s an obvious start in the matchup against St. Louis, the NFL’s 27th ranked run defense.

• Michael Turner(notes) re-re-aggravated his ankle sprain on his first carry against the Jets, and his postgame comments weren’t exactly loaded with hope: "I’ve got to start out all over again. How many weeks has this been now? I just have to keep trying." In Week 16, Jason Snelling(notes) and Jerious Norwood(notes) will face Buffalo, the league’s worst run defense; it can be easily argued that I’m too low on that pair.

• Perhaps a 286-yard rushing performance is a signature significance event. Only two players in NFL history have ever topped Jerome Harrison(notes)‘s Week 15 effort. But that game told us at least as much about Kansas City’s defense as it told us about Harrison; my primary takeaway was that Cedric Benson(notes) is a fantastic start against the Chiefs in Championship Week. There are still trust issues with the Browns, despite the friendly matchup (OAK). 

• You can’t reasonably expect a significant workload from Brian Westbrook(notes), assuming he returns against Denver. Here’s coach Andy Reid: "Obviously he’s not going to play the whole game. [We will] make sure we keep track of how many plays he plays, if it comes down to that." 

WIDE RECEIVERS

• Despite clinching their division, Arizona has no plans to rest anyone, not after the sluggish performance against Detroit. Larry Fitzgerald(notes) overcame the knee issues and delivered a useful fantasy line in Week 15. But if any Cardinal is going to rest at any point, it should be him.

• Reggie Wayne(notes) presumably has to deal with Revis this week (see above), which explains his drop to No. 21. Pierre Garcon(notes) checked out early against Jacksonville with a hand injury, so he’s a risk for inactivity in Week 16. 

• Percy Harvin(notes) is an old man. He’s dealing with migraines and bulging disks, and he reportedly went to the Mayo Clinic for maintenance on Tuesday. He wishes his grandkids would visit him at the senior center more often, but he understands they’re busy. Don’t ask Percy about his troubles, because he’s got nothing to say:

Harvin declined to talk about his neck after the game and would not even confirm that the report was accurate.

"I’m not allowed to talk about it," he said. "I’m fine. I came out of the game good."

• Hakeem Nicks(notes) suffered a hamstring injury on Monday night, but it doesn’t sound too severe. That was really the only thing that went wrong for the Giants. New York has no margin for error, so it would be a mild surprise if Nicks can’t go in Week 16.

• Deion Branch(notes) was targeted 10 times in Week 15, starting in place of the injured Nate Burleson(notes) (ankle). Those targets only led to four receptions for 28 yards, however. There’s really no upside this week against the Packers; Matt Hasselbeck(notes) has only thrown four TD passes on the road this year. 

Green Bay is going to maul Seattle, by the way. Just throwin’ that out there. It’s a great week to own a share of the Pack’s passing game. 

—

Photo via Getty Images

Last night the Senate got 60 votes on the second of three crucial healthcare votes.

It’s looking very much as though healthcare in America is about to be radically overhauled.

But how are we going to pay for this radical expansion of coverage?

1) We hope and pray that with some cajoling and haggling we’ll “bend the curve down” of future healthcare costs, to use a favored expression.

And..

2) Taxes!

For example, the government will collect a new fee on any elective cosmetic surgery, like nose jobs and breast enhancements. But that’s just one way.

Fortunately, the Senate has put out detailed material on the bill, including all the new taxes coming our way.

Check out all the new taxes in the healthcare bill –>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Healthcare Bill Does Nothing To Solve The Looming Medicare-Induced Fiscal Crisis
• Healthcare Stocks EXPLODE Higher After Big Vote On Reform
• Sorry, Haters, The Healthcare Bill Actually WILL Reduce Costs

Filed under: Car Buying, Hybrid, Sedan, Hatchback, Toyota

Toyota has released pricing for their extensively upgraded 2011 Sienna and although the starting prices were down a bit compared to the current models, we can’t say the same for the Prius and Camry. Tacked to the bottom of the Sienna presser was a chart showing that prices will be going up for the 2010 hatch and its 2011 sedan sibling. The new-in-2009 third-gen Toyota Prius will be $400 dearer, with base MSRPs ranging from $21,400 for the level I model all the way up to $28,070 for the level V. Those prices don’t include delivery, processing and handling charges of $750.

The 2011 Toyota Camry prices will go up $200 across the board, while Camry Hybrid prices rise $250 to a starting price of $26,400. The base Camry with a stick now starts at $19,595, while a top-of-the-line V6 XLE is still under thirty grand, at $29,245. Those figures are up by about one percent for the Camry and 1.7 percent for the Prius. The 2011 Toyota Camry will go into production on January 6 in Japan with U.S. production starting February 1. The 2011 models should start showing up in dealerships by the end of January. The Prius price increase becomes effective January 24, 2010. Make the jump for the full details.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading 2010 Toyota Prius and 2011 Camry pricing rises a bit

2010 Toyota Prius and 2011 Camry pricing rises a bit originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The most divisive issue in American politics, abortion, may yet ruin the chance of healthcare reform.

—-

AP WASHINGTON — Twice now, abortion was almost a dealbreaker. This time, it was a dealmaker. But of hundreds of deals cut so health care legislation can stay alive, the hardest to keep may be the Senate’s abortion compromise — achieved after 13 hours of negotiation. The volatile issue remains the biggest threat to getting a history-making bill to President Barack Obama.

Deals are the lifeblood of legislation. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana got $100 million more for her state, Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman stripped the bill of a government insurance plan and Ben Nelson won a slew of favors for Nebraska — all in exchange for their votes.

Nelson was also pivotal in the abortion compromise. The abortion-rights foe cast the 60th vote Monday to prevent Republicans from burying the bill.

Abortion is an issue that doesn’t usually lead to common ground, since interested groups have radically opposed views. That makes the Senate compromise — which seeks to prohibit the use of tax dollars for abortions — rare, even surprising. It’s also why, as Senate Democrats move to negotiations with the House, other deals in their bill may stick more easily.

House liberals are starting to accept that they probably won’t get a government insurance plan. But abortion opponents in the House nearly stopped health care once before, and they are poised to try again to preserve their more restrictive approach. It could be a dealbreaker.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., represented abortion rights supporters in the negotiations only to face criticism from women’s rights groups, not just abortion opponents. Now, Boxer is urging lawmakers to take a second look. “You have both sides criticizing it, which means that we did what we had to do, we compromised in a fair way,” Boxer said.

Hours before the Senate’s abortion compromise came together last Friday, it looked like things would fall apart. Three Democratic officials familiar with the talks detailed how events unfolded. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because the talks were private.

Obama’s health care remake extends coverage to 94 percent of Americans, not including illegal immigrants, and tries to slow increases in medical costs. But in the Senate, Nebraska’s Nelson stood in the way. Among his chief objections was his belief that the Senate’s restrictions on government funding for abortion were too lax.

The negotiations began at 9:30 a.m. Friday in a suite of offices in the Capitol occupied by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Steps from the Senate floor, Reid’s spacious lair is shielded from inquisitive media. There would be suspense, shuttle diplomacy, hugs, and a call from Obama aboard Air Force One before the day was done.

Among those taking part were Reid, Nelson, Boxer, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina. Nelson and Boxer did not negotiate face-to-face but set up camp in different offices. Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, shuttled back and forth.

By the middle of the day, Nelson’s home-state concerns had been addressed, and the focus turned to abortion. Federal law bans taxpayer funding of abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. For months, the debate has been how to apply those principles to a new stream of federal subsidies under the health care bill. Senators had previously voted to reject Nelson’s attempt to incorporate the more restrictive House language in the Senate bill.

Two alternatives were under discussion in Reid’s office. Abortion opponents wanted no coverage in health plans receiving federal subsidies under the bill. Mirroring the House, women would have to buy a separate policy for abortion coverage. Abortion rights supporters wanted to allow plans to offer coverage, but individuals could opt out and get a partial rebate of their premiums. The two sides were deadlocked.

“I don’t know how we’ll ever solve this,” Schumer said, according to one official who was present.

Then Nelson and one of his senior aides decided to try something different. States would be allowed to decide whether or not abortion could be covered by health plans operating in a new insurance marketplace under the bill. Plans covering abortion would have to collect a separate premium for the procedure, directly paid for by the person buying coverage. Premiums for abortion would be kept in a separate account.

Nelson believed it would solve the problem of segregating taxpayer funds from money for abortions. He told people he felt the discussion had degenerated to minutiae, so “we were arguing about a staple,” said an official involved. Nelson meant it was acceptable to abortion opponents if supplemental abortion coverage was stapled to an insurance policy, but not if it was spelled out in the body of the policy itself.

By evening, the two sides took a break to consult with their respective constituencies. Nelson left Reid’s suite, planning to return at 8:30 p.m. He called a leading anti-abortion activist in Nebraska, but was not able to get a commitment for the deal.

At 9:00 p.m. Nelson had yet to return. At 9:15, still no Nelson. Reid and Schumer started getting nervous. Finally, at 9:30, Nelson turned up. He and Boxer signed off on the deal within a half hour. Nelson came into Reid’s office to say he’d hold off on a formal endorsement until the text of deal was released in the morning.

Reid and Nelson started to say goodnight, and wound up hugging each other. Nelson hugged Schumer next and then left.

Obama, aboard Air Force One on his way back from the climate summit in Copenhagen, called with congratulations. Reid put the president on speaker phone so Boxer and Schumer could hear.

After the deal became public Saturday, Nelson was slammed by former allies opposed to abortion. He tells people he feels like he’s been bitten by the family dog.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Democratic Party Is Imploding Over The Abortion Issue
• The Healthcare Bill Does Nothing To Solve The Looming Medicare-Induced Fiscal Crisis
• Healthcare Stocks EXPLODE Higher After Big Vote On Reform

Our pal Yoni Freedhoff noted a great product for sale on eBay that, we, too, just couldn’t resist mentioning. It is, supposedly, an anti-obesity vaccine being sold by an eBay user appropriately named Bumglo, who shockingly has 100 percent positive feedback.

Weight loss vaccine for cosmetic use only

The eBay listing calls the product a “Germany Vaccine,” and one month’s treatment is going for $145. It includes 20 milliliters of the Sculptural Metabolize treatment and syringes to use to give yourself a 2.5 milliliter injection in the rump twice a week for four weeks.

The listing says it’s been used successfully hundreds of thousands of times worldwide and that there are scientific studies to back that up, but of course there are no links or details about where such studies might have been published or what sorts of results you might be able to expect.

It’s heralded as a non-surgical alternative to liposuction and says that it’s an effective way to achieve spot fat reduction and “precise control exactly which fatty areas are dissolved.” Of course it doesn’t explain how it’s possible to shoot yourself in the arse and have the product know which fat you want dissolved, but that’s neither here nor there.

We dug a little deeper and found a website in Spanish that is selling what looks like the same product. The admittedly probably really bad translation says this product is “not a medicine” but is an “excellent product to reduce fat levels in our body.”

What’s in the miracle cure?

The website says that the product contains three different ingredients that help boost metabolism and burn fat: hydroxycitric acid, benzamide and acetylcholine.

Hydroxycitric acid is a derivative of citric acid found in some tropical plants; studies in animals and in the lab have shown some promise for the acid in changing fat metabolism, but there’s no evidence it can really help people lose weight or fat.

Benzamide is a derivative of benzoic acid that is used in a wide variety of medicines, from pain relievers to antipsychotic drugs. And acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter that activates muscles, among other things.

The website’s translation says scientific sounding things like this, in reference to benzamide:

It is a drug whose components are strings of amino acids that work by increasing the catabolism of triglycerides deposited the body as adipose tissue, helping to break the intercellular junctions of adipocytes in a generalized manner, and to carry this fat “deposit” to lymphoid tissue venous and then remove it through the urine.

In other words, it’s claiming it makes you pee fat. I think.

This could be a great Christmas gift for the person on your list who likes getting regular shots in the posterior for no good reason. If you happen to know someone like that.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

From the RSS feed of CalorieLab News (REF3076322B7)

Anti-obesity vaccine promises to help you “loss weight”

Article Tags: Met Office, UK Winter Forecast 2009/10

AA reports busiest night in 25 years – 700 breakdowns coming in every hour today; 2,000 motorists were trapped by the snow on the Basingstoke ring road; More than 100 people spend the night in Buckinghamshire department store; Eurostar resumes limited service – four days after its trains were crippled by cold; Delays and cancellations at major airports including Heathrow and Manchester; Overnight temperatures drop to -14C in the Scottish Highlands and -9C in Cheshire

Furious motorists have accused local authorities of putting lives at risk by failing to keep major roads clear of snow and ice after some of the heaviest pre-Christmas snowfalls in a decade.

Thousands of drivers were trapped in their cars overnight and many more vehicles were abandoned after heavy evening snow showers created chaos across Britain’s transport network.
With anger growing at the inability to learn the lessons of the big February freeze, the AA – which experienced its busiest night for 25 years – said councils should have acted ‘sooner’ and ‘more thoroughly’ to make roads safe.

Click source to read FULL report

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Read in full with comments »   

Some good news on the consumer-spending front:

American consumers have begun to work off the mountain of debt they have accumulated over the past two decades (small progress, but a start).  Also, rock-bottom interest rates have reduced the burden of carrying this debt. 

Taken together, these two factors free up money for saving and spending, both of which will eventually help put the economy back on solid footing again.

First, from Ned Davis Research, a picture of overall consumer credit as a percent of GDP, which is finally dropping.  A heck of a long way to go, of course.

Next, a look at two household debt burden ratios, as analyzed by Asha Bangalore of Northern Trust.  These are showing modest improvements:

Consumers are strapped in a tight financial spot — this observation has appeared in many macroeconomic commentaries for several months.  There is good news from the Fed regarding this matter.  The Fed’s estimate of financial obligations of households for the third quarter shows a decline in the financial burden, stemming from lower interest rates and a reduction of consumer debt.  During the first quarter of 2008, the household financial obligation ratio stood at 18.86% of disposable income, which fell to 17.76% in the third quarter of 2009.

Next, the debt-service ratio for consumer debt among homeowners, again from Asha Bangalore.

The financial obligation ratio of homeowners with respect to consumer debt and auto leases has fallen sharply to 5.7% of disposable income from 6.28% in the first quarter of 2008 (see chart 3).  The reduction in financial obligations of households is a positive development because it encourages saving.  Eventually, the saving shortfall of the U.S. economy has to be eliminated to ensure long-term prosperity of the nation.

Of course, it’s worth noting what will happen to these debt-service ratios if interest rates ever spike again (they’ll go up).

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: The Great Debt Mountain
• The Real Problem: Our Debt Mountain
• Buffett: Debt Mountain Could Turn America Into A Banana Republic

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are getting closer and the buzz is already starting to build up. Those who just can’t wait to see how it unfolds have a reason to be pleased, Google has introduced the 3D models for all the venues in Google Earth, enabling people to check out the locations well before the games begin, which should either make the wait easier or maybe harder to bare.

“[W]e’ve introduced photorealistic 3D building models for all nine venues of the Winter Games. Producing these models is a multi-step process involving both aerial and ground-based imagery,” Bruce Polderman, product manager for Google Earth wrote.

Google Earth has amassed quite a few 3D locations, so this by itself isn’t exactly that special or unexpected. But Google went the extra mile for these particular locations and has built all the models in-house. It also went to great lengths to ensure that it got its hands on the best imagery available to build the models themselves and also for the texturing.

It managed to acquire some quality aerial photos of the region, not that it would have been much of a hassle for a company like Google, which has now made its way into Google Earth and Maps as well. It also acquired some ground images of the nine locations where the events will be held and used all th… (read more)

Back in 1992, I remember going to the Echelon Mall in Voorhees, New Jersey.

It was a five minute drive from my home in Cherry Hill and I always looked forward to it.

The mall had every imaginable store you could think of, several fountains, rides and games for kids, a movie theater, and even a gigantic arena-sized arcade called Exhilarama.

Check out the dead mall >

Those were the 1990s. Those were the days.

Today, the Echelon Mall is now called the Voorhees Town Center and even a name change can't aid a dying beast.

Someone, somewhere thought it'd be a good idea to bulldoze half the mall, put up condos and housing, and give the mall a more "exclusive" feel. The problem is: who wants to live at a mall?

Only two "anchor stores" remain at the mall, the food court is half vacant, and there are literally no stores of quality in the mall aside from a GameStop, Victoria's Secret, and Verizon Wireless.

What began as a revitalization project for a dying mall was cut short by a lack of credit and funding for constructing the project. Tons of big box stores and condos were supposed to go up around the newly re-designed mall but alas, nothing has come to fruition.

Scanning the terrain, you'll quickly realize why commercial real estate is such an epic disaster.

Click here to tour a dead mall ->

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Apple's Latest Genius Retail Move: 'Express Shopping' Pre-Wrapped Holiday Gifts
• Why Ethnic-Specific Shopping Malls Are Doing Fine
• Malls: R.I.P.

We just announced a new session at upcoming SharpBrains Summit:

Monday January 18th, 2010, 3.30-4pm: The Future of Cognitive Health Tech – Intel’s Perspective
Two researchers at Intel Corporation and the Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre will provide an overview of why and how Intel Corporation is supporting R&D initiatives to help develop home-based automated applications to assess, monitor and help maintain cognition among older adults. They will also share key lessons learned so far, and outline challenges and potential guidelines for the field at large based on ethnographic research and first-hand product development.

* Margaret Morris, Senior Researcher, Intel’s Digital Health Group
* Muki Hansteen-Izora, Product Research and Incubation Division Strategist, Intel’s Digital Health Group

Muki Hansteen-Izora, Senior Design Researcher and Strategist with the Product Research and Incubation division of Intel’s Digital Health Group. Muki is also the Intel lead and co-PI for the Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre’s Cognitive Function research strand, which is investigating how interactive media and gaming technologies can support cognition in older populations. Prior to joining Intel, Muki served as a lead researcher at Philips Research Labs. He holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and completed his graduate training in Learning, Design, and Technology at Stanford University.

Margaret Morris, Senior Researcher in Intel’s Digital Health Group. Margaret studies the ways that emerging technologies can enhance mental and physical wellbeing. She conducts ethnographic research to identify needs and works with engineers to develop and evaluate exploratory prototypes. Prior to joining Intel in 2002, she studied technology adoption in Sapient’s Experience Modelling group. Margie completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of New Mexico, her clinical internship at the San Francisco VA Medical Centre, and her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. She has a B.A. in English from Haverford College.

To learn more and register: click on SharpBrains Summit.

Filed under: Ford

Residual values tell you a lot about a vehicle. If a car or truck has good quality and has plenty of customer demand it will have high residuals. If it’s a lemon on wheels, clogging the rental lots, it will carry poor residuals. Detroit automakers have fared poorly in residual values for quite a few years, but it appears Ford may have taken a big step towards correcting that problem.

Ford is gleefully touting the results of the ALG January/February 2010 Residual Value Forecast for a good reason; the residuals of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles went up by $1,310 versus the January/February 2009 numbers. The residual values are based off of a formula that shows how much 2010 vehicles will be worth 36 months after purchase and Ford maintains the increase in residuals has a lot to do with the success of its latest redesigns and improved quality.

Proof of Ford’s improved 36-month value scores comes in a comparison of the Fusion versus the Toyota Camry. The Fusion is now reportedly worth $687 more than the Camry after three years. The Ford Flex enjoys an even more decisive win versus the Toyota Highlander, as the boxy Blue Oval-branded wagon will reportedly be worth $1,800 more in three years. The 2010 Taurus scored the biggest increase, but not against the foreign competition. The smartly restyled sedan is worth $4,862 more after three years than the invisible 2009 Taurus. Both the Taurus and the Super Duty won the Kelly Blue Book Best Residual Value award in their respective segments.

A big reason Ford’s residual values have skyrocketed in only one year is due to the automaker’s improved status amongst customers. Fresh data from research firm Compete, Inc reportedly shows that the Blue Oval has surpassed Toyota in overall customer consideration for the past three months. Ford hasn’t passed Toyota in Compete’s customer satisfaction index since the firm began collecting data in 2002. Hit the jump to read over the Ford press release.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Ford brags about largest residual value increase in industry – $1,300+ year-over-year

Ford brags about largest residual value increase in industry – $1,300+ year-over-year originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The punchbowl stays!

—-

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures are retreating from their highs after a report showed economic growth in the third quarter was not as strong as previously forecast.

Stocks are still set to rise for a second straight day Tuesday as investors remain confident a recovery is under way.

The U.S. government said the nation’s economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, smaller than the previous estimate of 2.8 percent.

Overseas markets climbed following a report Britain’s economy did not contract as much as previously thought.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up 30, or 0.2 percent, at 10,372. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are up 3.10, or 0.3 percent, at 1,111.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures are up 7.25, or 0.4 percent, at 1,832.75.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Q3 GDP Revised All The Way Down To 2.2%, Much Lower Than Expectations

Revised Q3 GDP came in a 2.2%, which was below the 2.8% analysts had been expecting. It’s also well lower than the 3.5% that was initially reported.

Here’s the full announcement from the Commerce Department

——

Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property
located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the third quarter of
2009, (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), according to the “third” estimate
released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  In the second quarter, real GDP decreased 0.7 percent.

      The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for
the “second” estimate issued last month.  In the second estimate, the increase in real GDP was 2.8
percent (see “Revisions” on page 3).

      The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from
personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, federal government
spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from
nonresidential fixed investment.  Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

      The upturn in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected upturns in PCE, in exports, in
private inventory investment, and in residential fixed investment and a smaller decrease in
nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by an upturn in imports, a downturn in state and
local government spending, and a deceleration in federal government spending.

_______________
FOOTNOTE.–Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise
specified.  Quarter-to-quarter dollar changes are differences between these published estimates.  Percent
changes are calculated from unrounded data and are annualized.  “Real” estimates are in chained (2005)
dollars.  Price indexes are chain-type measures.

    This news release is available on BEA’s Web site along with the Technical Note and Highlights
related to this release.
_______________

      Motor vehicle output added 1.45 percentage points to the third-quarter change in real GDP after
adding 0.19 percentage point to the second-quarter change.  Final sales of computers subtracted 0.08
percentage point from the third-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 0.04 percentage point from
the second-quarter change.

      The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents,
increased 1.3 percent in the third quarter, 0.1 percentage point less than the second estimate; this index
increased 0.5 percent in the second quarter.  Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross
domestic purchases increased 0.3 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent
in the second.

      Real personal consumption expenditures increased 2.8 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to
a decrease of 0.9 percent in the second.  Real nonresidential fixed investment decreased 5.9 percent,
compared with a decrease of 9.6 percent.  Nonresidential structures decreased 18.4 percent, compared
with a decrease of 17.3 percent.  Equipment and software increased 1.5 percent, in contrast to a decrease
of 4.9 percent.  Real residential fixed investment increased 18.9 percent, in contrast to a decrease of
23.3 percent.

      Real exports of goods and services increased 17.8 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a
decrease of 4.1 percent in the second.  Real imports of goods and services increased 21.3 percent, in
contrast to a decrease of 14.7 percent.

      Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 8.0 percent
in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 11.4 percent in the second.  National defense increased
8.4 percent, compared with an increase of 14.0 percent.  Nondefense increased 7.0 percent, compared
with an increase of 6.1 percent.  Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross
investment decreased 0.6 percent, in contrast to an increase of 3.9 percent.

      The change in real private inventories added 0.69 percentage point to the third-quarter change in
real GDP, after subtracting 1.42 percentage points from the second-quarter change.  Private businesses
decreased inventories $139.2 billion in the third quarter, following decreases of $160.2 billion in the
second quarter and $113.9 billion in the first.

      Real final sales of domestic product — GDP less change in private inventories — increased 1.5
percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.7 percent in the second.

Gross domestic purchases

      Real gross domestic purchases — purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever
produced — increased 3.0 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 2.3 percent in the
second.

Gross national product

      Real gross national product — the goods and services produced by the labor and property
supplied by U.S. residents — increased 3.0 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 1.0
percent in the second.  GNP includes, and GDP excludes, net receipts of income from the rest of the
world, which increased $25.7 billion in the third quarter after decreasing $7.4 billion in the second; in
the third quarter, receipts increased $15.7 billion, and payments decreased $10.0 billion.

Current-dollar GDP

      Current-dollar GDP — the market value of the nation’s output of goods and services — increased
2.6 percent, or $90.9 billion, in the third quarter to a level of $14,242.1 billion.  In the second quarter,
current-dollar GDP decreased 0.8 percent, or $26.8 billion.

Revisions

      The “third” estimate of the third-quarter increase in real GDP is 0.6 percentage point, or $17.3
billion, lower than the second estimate issued last month, primarily reflecting downward revisions to
nonresidential fixed investment, to private inventory investment, and to personal consumption
expenditures.

                                         Advance Estimate     Second Estimate      Third Estimate
                                                 (Percent change from preceding quarter)

Real GDP…………………………….      3.5                 2.8                 2.2
Current-dollar GDP……………………      4.3                 3.3                 2.6
Gross domestic purchases price index……      1.6                 1.4                 1.3

                                        Corporate Profits

    Profits from current production (corporate profits with inventory valuation and capital
consumption adjustments) increased $132.4 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of
$43.8 billion in the second quarter.  Current-production cash flow (net cash flow with inventory
valuation adjustment) — the internal funds available to corporations for investment — increased $28.4
billion in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of $30.5 billion in the second.

     Taxes on corporate income increased $15.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase
of $35.6 billion in the second.  Profits after tax with inventory valuation and capital consumption
adjustments increased $117.3 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $8.2 billion in
the second.  Dividends decreased $6.1 billion, compared with a decrease of $62.1 billion; current-
production undistributed profits increased $123.5 billion, compared with an increase of $70.3 billion.

    Domestic profits of financial corporations increased $82.8 billion in the third quarter, compared
with an increase of $28.5 billion in the second.  Domestic profits of nonfinancial corporations increased
$27.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $29.8 billion in the second.  In the third
quarter, real gross value added of nonfinancial corporations increased, and profits per unit of real value
added increased.  The increase in unit profits reflected decreases in both unit nonlabor and labor costs
that more than offset a decrease in unit prices.

    The rest-of-the-world component of profits increased $22.0 billion in the third quarter, in contrast
to a decrease of $14.6 billion in the second.  This measure is calculated as (1) receipts by U.S. residents
of earnings from their foreign affiliates plus dividends received by U.S. residents from unaffiliated
foreign corporations minus (2) payments by U.S. affiliates of earnings to their foreign parents plus
dividends paid by U.S. corporations to unaffiliated foreign residents.  The third-quarter increase was
accounted for by a larger increase in receipts than in payments.

    Profits before tax with inventory valuation adjustment is the best available measure of industry
profits because estimates of the capital consumption adjustment by industry do not exist.  This measure
reflects depreciation-accounting practices used for federal income tax returns.  According to this
measure, domestic profits of both financial and nonfinancial corporations increased in the third quarter.
The increase in nonfinancial corporations reflected increases in utilities, information, “other”
nonfinancial, retail trade, and transportation and warehousing that were partly offset by decreases in
wholesale trade and manufacturing.  Within manufacturing, the largest decrease was in “other” durable
goods, and the largest increase was in motor vehicles.

    Profits before tax increased $157.9 billion in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $90.6
billion in the second.  The before-tax measure of profits does not reflect, as does profits from current
production, the capital consumption and inventory valuation adjustments.  These adjustments convert
depreciation of fixed assets and inventory withdrawals reported on a tax-return, historical-cost basis to
the current-cost measures used in the national income and product accounts.  The capital consumption
adjustment increased $9.7 billion in the third quarter (from -$128.6 billion to -$118.9 billion), compared
with an increase of $16.3 billion in the second.  The inventory valuation adjustment decreased $35.2
billion (from $18.1 billion to -$17.1 billion), compared with a decrease of $63.0 billion.

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See Also:

• Goldman: Prepare For The De-Stimulus, When Fiscal Restraint Turns Into A GDP Drag
• Third Quarter GDP Growth Revised Down To 2.8%
• Don’t Be Snookered By That +3.5% GDP Report

Filed under: Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials

Visteon, the automotive supplier currently going through bankruptcy proceedings, is seeking to rid itself of pension obligations for 21,000 current workers and retirees. It wouldn’t mean the end of pensions for the workers, but the payments would be taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), and that would mean diminished benefits.

Visteon contributes to four pension plans, three of which is it attempting to drop. The company owes $544 million to those three plans, and although it will make $260 million in payments over the next five years its obligations will grow if it cannot free itself. If it does get clear, pensioners will collectively lose $100 million in benefits because of caps on what the federal body can guarantee.

The PBGC wants Visteon to keep making pension payments, but its now in the hands of the Delaware judge handling the bankruptcy. Visteon has presented a few different options for reorganization, but each has met with resistance from one or more involved parties, including the plan to pay $8.1 million in bonuses to executives and the structure of it’s post-bankruptcy stock allocation. The company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 by the middle of next year. Pension recipients will hope they do it with their funds intact, but that isn’t looking likely.

[Source: Detroit News | Image: Bill Pugliano/Getty]

REPORT: Visteon seeking to end pensions of 21,000 workers, retirees originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Disturbingly, analysts now expect record profit margins for U.S. companies by the end of 2010. It's one thing to expect a recovery, but forecasts may have gotten out of hand.

As Morgan Stanley highlights in their 2010 Global Outlook, given the sky-high margin forecasts, there isn't much room for positive earnings surprises in 2010 due to higher than expected profitability. If there will be any upside surprises, it will more likely have to come from better than expected sales.

Morgan Stanley: 2010 margins are not likely to beat bottom-up expectations. Our economists are forecasting nominal GDP to exceed its 2007 peak by year- end 2010. This would be consistent with ex financials margins reaching their prior peak level, particularly given the unprecedented cost control through the current cycle. But corporates have been quick to cut costs, and we think at least 80% of the cost out story is done. The surprise on margins is that current expectations are achieved (rather than significant upside relative to expectations). 2010 will be about top line surprise, if any.

Yet in terms of revenue forecasts, analysts might actually be a bit too conservative, as shown below. Thus profit forecasts might not necessarily end up incorrect. It might just be that margins come in lower than expected, but sales a bit higher.

(Via Morgan Stanley, 2010 Global Outlook, Jason E. Todd, CFA)

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See Also:

• Morgan Stanley: The Commodity Currencies Will Get Crushed
• Morgan Stanley Just Walks Away From Five San Fran Office Towers
• Morgan Stanley: Apple Is Going To Rule The Mobile World

To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,  

• A client wrote that she appreciated our wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and not the generic Happy Holidays.   I’m Jewish and believe me, I’m not offended when people wish me a Merry Christmas.  Really.  If you want to be politically correct and wish me Happy Holidays, go ahead, but please don’t do it on my behalf. I like the Christmas spirit!  I like Salvation Army people dressed as Santas, I like Christmas parties, I like the lights on people’s houses, and I like Christmas trees.  Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you can still like everything about it.  
• We recently read that the FDIC’s 2010 operating budget will increase 55% from 2009, mostly due to bank failures. The receivership funding component of the 2010 budget will be $2.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion in 2009.  And all you people looking for jobs, we can’t think of a better place to look!
• We tell people that we’re not forensic accountants, but we can smell a rat when we see one.  We once were reviewing some audited financials, and, hey, it sure looks like the font on the Audit Opinion is different than the font on the balance sheet and income statement!  These creeps also had the exact same number, down to the dollar, for loans held for sale in 2007 and in 2008.  A coincidence?  We don’t think so! A quick call to the audit firm confirmed our suspicions, and for all the magic possible through Adobe and scanning and all that stuff, we were still able to spot the fraud pretty easily.
• If you’re a person “of a certain age”, next Sunday  is a very important date.  It’s the 62^nd anniversary of Howdy Doody’s first appearance on television!  Assuming Howdy was, say, 6 years old then, that would make him 68 today.  Weird to think of him collecting Social Security and maybe taking medicine for his cholesterol.
• We love movies, and there’s nothing quite like a great movie. But we finally came face-to-face with the reality of why books will never be replaced by movies. We’ve read The Great Gatsby 3-4 times over the years, and we consider it one of the two great American novels.  Maybe the single great American novel.  Anyway, since reading it last, we rented the movie version starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby.  We liked the movie, but it kind of ruined the book when we re-read it recently.
  If you remember the scene where Nick Caraway first meets Gatsby, you remember conjuring up your own image of the man.  The image in your mind would have been different than anyone else’s, as we each had our own picture of what he looked like and how he came across.   Each reader lets his own mind give him a mental picture of the way he stood, his clothes, his smile, his sense of detachment, the longing for Daisy in his voice.  Reading allows you to weave your own  imagination into the scenes and characters of a book, but if you see the movie, Gatsby will always be Robert Redford for you.   Redford was actually perfect in the role, but isn’t something lost when you can no longer bring your own imagination to bear when reading a book? Movies, sadly, eliminate your ability to use your own imagination and weave your own magic.
• The Drug Wars in Mexico are devastating that country, and apparently, marijuana is a major part of the cartel’s business.  So here’s an obvious idea: Instead of spending billions fighting drug lords, instead of the drug lord’s corrupting politicians everywhere, and instead of 5,000 people being killed every year in this war, why not legalize marijuana in Mexico ?  Wouldn’t that be a huge blow to the illegal drug business there?
• When F. Scott Fitzgerald mailed in the manuscript for The Great Gatsby, he wrote his publisher, Max Perkins, “I think my novel is about the best American novel ever written.” Isn’t that a wonderful thought? Can you imagine doing something so exquisitely perfect that you could say something like that?
• We just received the Wells Fargo 2010 calendar, but, um, like, the stagecoach driver for April is African-American, and one of the stagecoach drivers for October sure looks like a woman.  We appreciate that Wells is politically hip, but please, did Wells really have African-American and female stagecoach drivers in the 1800’s?

• Here’s a wonderful video that anyone Jewish will love and that everyone can laugh at and enjoy:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1uZ_W7atDE
• A number of you wanted to know how to contact DataQuick to learn more about their Collateral Valuation product.  They’re at DataQuick.com (that’s a hard one) and the person to contact is Heidi Russell ([email protected]).  Valuations are still an issue, and we like their product.
• You know how all stocks trade above, below, or right at their tangible book value?  Citigroup trades at about 80% of tangible book value, Bank of America trades at 130% of book.
• We were doing a FOCIS-plus in Southern California the other day, and we were at a restaurant that had a Christmas-y fake snow scene.  And it was 80 degrees out!  Everyone here in Northern California loves to make fun of Southern California ,  but we love it down there. How can you not love a place where it’s 80 degrees in late December?
• In 2003 we did tons of Broker-to-Banker conversions, and then it died around 2005 or so.  Interestingly, we’re back doing it again.  Probably because of all the new compliance issues that will be affecting brokers soon.
• There are lots of good metrics to help you measure your performance, but if you want to do a real quick check on your productivity, take the number of units you close each month and divide it by the number of salaried employees.  Well run companies close at least eight units per employee, and the top performers are at 12 or better. 
• Paul Tuttle, the intellectual founder of Modern Hedging Theory, has a very interesting blog at http://unfundedliabilitiesandclasswar.blogspot.com/. It’s always compelling reading. In his recent posting, he points out that Vallejo , California spends 74% of its budget on public safety, the City Manager of this fairly small city earns more than $400,000 a year, and the average firemen is paid $170,000.  Proving that there are no free lunches, the City had to file for bankruptcy earlier this year. And Paul also points that the City Council dealt with their fiscal crisis by cutting services rather than cutting salaries.  How do idiots like this manage to get elected???
• Detroit is the poster child for troubled cities, and along with the demise of the auto industry, some blame has to be aimed at the City Council for agreeing to onerous pay packages for city employees.  A general rule-of-thumb is that with benefits, an employee costs you 30-35% above his base salary.  But in Detroit , union employee benefits cost 68% of their base wage! Please note that we don’t blame the unions.  Their job is to get the best possible deal for their people.  We blame the City Council for not standing up to these unions!  By the way, they have a great new Mayor in Dave Bing who totally gets what needs to be done there.  Perhaps there’s hope for Detroit after all.
• You all know what benchmarking is, right?  It’s taking really successful companies and trying to mimic their performance numbers.  It used to be easy for mortgage bankers when you could look up the metrics for North American Mortgage, Countrywide, American Residential, Arbor Mortgage and maybe a 5-6 other public entities which did SEC filings you could access.  Now, it’s hard to think of a single mortgage banking company (we don’t count mortgage REITs) to benchmark to.
  This is why a big part of our FOCIS-plus Reviews is showing clients what their peers are doing, and making it possible to see how they’re doing compared to more successful companies.   In our reviews around the country, we see certain consistent metrics among the most profitable companies, and, sadly, we see consistent patterns among the struggling ones. Our clients seem to find it pretty useful to find out what they’re doing differently, what they’re doing wrong, and what highly successful companies are doing that they’re not.
  
• You know the Franklin family of mutual funds? Their parent company (with the too-clever symbol BEN) just raised their dividend by 5% and agreed to pay a one time $3 a share dividend. Rising dividends are, of course, a vote of confidence by the Board that earnings, capital and liquidity are strong. We’re not recommending stocks here, but Franklin has raised its regular dividend every year since 1981.  With that record, their own stock has probably outperformed lots of their mutual funds.
• If you haven’t prepared your budget for 2010, you still have a week or so!  And not having one till mid-January is better than not having one at all.  Some of you won’t believe this, but something like 9 out of 10 of the highly profitable companies we see have a budget that they monitor performance against.  Show us a company struggling, and we guaranty you that 9 out of 10 of them don’t have a budget.   This isn’t exactly benchmarking, but there is definitely a correlation there.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

Garrett, Watts & Co.  

Helping mortgage lenders increase revenues, control costs, and better manage risk.

• Mike McAuley      ([email protected])
• Corky Watts         ([email protected])
• Joe Garrett         ([email protected])