Author: Serkadis

Masterflex AG – Gelsenkirchen, November 2009

The Masterflex AG has recently launched a brand-new “A” hose series that complies with TRBS (Technical Rule for Operational Safety) 2153. Some of the well-tried Masterflex standard hose types have met the requirements lined out in the new directive years before it came into effect. The new “A” series products such as Master-PUR L-A or some hose types for the food industry will further complement the range of applications compliant to TRBS 2153.

The new technical rule which became effective in April 2009 replaces BGR 132 and introduces new criteria for wire-reinforced hoses used in potentially explosive atmosphere zones.

One of the major changes induced by TRBS 2153 is the classification of bulk materials into two categories:

1. combustible bulk materials
2. non-combustible bulk materials

Provisions and procedures concerning the transport of non-combustible bulk goods have basically remained the same. Yet, this is not true for the transport of combustible bulk materials given the fact that TRBS 2153 sets higher requirements in terms of electrostatic properties/conductivity of the materials used.

If wire-reinforced hoses are to be employed in Zone 0/20, the user is required to carry out a specific hazard analysis. As before, it is recommended not to use hoses other than static dissipative models with a surface resistivity of < 10 to the 6 ohms. As to Zone 1/21, requirements have been tightened. Recommendations are to employ antistatic hoses with a surface resistivity of < 10 to the 9 ohms to convey combustible bulk goods. As compared to the previous regulation, the new technical rule does not introduce any significant changes as to Zone 2. It should be noted that TRBS 2153 is generally considered a mere recommendation. Users may deviate from the given provisions as long as they can prove the effectiveness of their solution.

Quickly adjusting the height of sit-stand workplaces 106850

Back pain, spinal disc problems and fatigue. Who doesn´t know this? A lack of movement and an incorrect sitting position often lead to posture damage and other pains. The use of sit-stand workplaces facilitates healthy, alternating work in a sitting and standing position.
For height adjustment, Ketterer offers a combination of bevel gear drives and synchronous telescopic spindles. This system offers you an ideal solution for combining functionality and design. The slim design of the drive units lets you save space by integrating them into almost every standard type of table foot. The new configuration makes it easy to incorporate them into the specific tube design of the customer. The work height can be set quickly and safely. Two synchronised spindles facilitate this at twice the speed of conventional systems. See for yourself and contact us!

Kadant AES, a division of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI), has extended its line of cleaning and conditioning products with the introduction of its Genesis™ modular shower system. The new shower system offers cost-effective modular components that can be added to the single-tube shower system as application needs change. The base module includes a single tube shower pipe and spray nozzles, and can be upgraded with internal stainless steel brushes, oscillation, and a second (outer) tube for optimal performance.

The Genesis modular shower system also features a slide bearing design with alignment keys, split polyethylene bushing, and shower pipe rotation to optimize nozzle spray angle. The stationary shower systems are upgradeable to oscillating shower systems using the EMO III or Genesis oscillators available from Kadant AES.

Kadant AES, based in Queensbury, New York, is a leading provider of products and technologies primarily focused on forming equipment applied to the wet end of the paper machine, the cleaning of forming, press, and dryer fabrics, and filtration of process water throughout the papermaking process.

Kadant Inc. is a leading supplier to the global pulp and paper industry, with a range of products and services for improving efficiency and quality in pulp and paper production, including paper machine accessories and systems for stock preparation, fluid handling, and water management. Our fluid-handling products are also used to optimize production in the steel, rubber, plastics, food, and textile industries. In addition, we produce granules from papermaking byproducts for agricultural and lawn and garden applications. Kadant is based in Westford, Massachusetts, with revenues of $329 million in 2008 and 1,600 employees in 16 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kadant.com.

The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our products, technologies, and customers. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such statements are set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” in Kadant’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 4, 2009. These include risks and uncertainties relating to worldwide and local economic conditions as well as the pulp and paper industry; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement and compliance with covenants; future restructurings; significance of sales and operation of manufacturing facilities in China; international sales and operations; competition; soundness of suppliers and customers; soundness of financial institutions; litigation and warranty costs related to our discontinued operation; our acquisition strategy; factors influencing our fiber-based products business; protection of patents and proprietary rights; fluctuations in our share price; and anti-takeover provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

… Is Also A Calibrator

Combines communication, configuration and multi-function calibration in a single instrument

The hand-held DPI 620 advanced multifunction calibrator from GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies now incorporates full HART® capability, making it the only combined HART communicator and calibrator currently on the market. The rugged and compact instrument, which is weather-proofed to IP 65, incorporates the latest application software and contains a complete library of registered HART device descriptions to support more than 1000 sensors. Upgrades may be simply downloaded free-of-charge, from the GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies website. Offering so many functions and features within one portable instrument, the DPI 620 has application in the oil and gas, power generation, utilities and process industries, as well as in the laboratory and on-plant.

As Mike Shelton, product manager at GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, explains, “Unlike competitive HART communicators which can only be used for configuration, commissioning and maintenance, the new DPI 620 is also recognized as one of the most accurate and versatile calibration systems available. Consequently, plant engineers and technicians can now considerably reduce the inventory of equipment they have to carry to perform maintenance and calibration tasks, as for the first time they can use a communicator which is also a calibrator.”

Lighter and smaller than competitive communicators, the new communicator/calibrator, with its full colour, high resolution touch interface, has a large internal memory, allowing it to store additional features such as procedure and datalog files. These can be transferred using USB, WiFi, memory stick or the instrument’s memory card, which can be up to 4GB, with its integral card reader. Features new to HART communicators include an integral 24V loop power supply to energise HART devices and loops and a menu-selectable 250 Ohm loop resistor, rather than a separate physical resistor, for use when a device is not connected or the loop is switched off.

The incorporation of a calibrator within the communicator means that there is no need to carry ancillary equipment such as multi-meters to measure mA when trimming sensors and there is naturally no need for secondary calibration equipment during sensor trim and device calibration, as the DPI 620 simultaneously sources and measures the primary variable, whether this be mA, pressure, V, mV ohms, frequency or temperature from RTDs or thermocouples.

The DPI 620 also has the capability to automate calibration procedures and document “As Found” and “As Left” results and can analyse device trends to support preventative maintenance programmes. It is available in a Windows CE version with standard Windows applications and file management and the computing power to view pdf files and jpeg images such as loop diagrams, data sheets, safety procedures, spreadsheets and to create text documents.

Naturally, the new communicator retains the world-class pressure generation and measurement capability of the existing DPI 620 calibrator. This means on-board pressure generation from vacuum to 100 bar pneumatic or 0 to 1000 bar hydraulic, at an accuracy of 0.005% FS.

Drilling from 3 millimetres diameter from a single source

In addition to the comprehensive range of indexable insert drills, the KOMET GROUP® is adding the KOMET® KUB DrillmaxTM solid carbide high-performance drill for small diameters to its standard catalogue range.

KOMET® indexable insert drills are used for bore diameters of 12 millimetres or more. Until now, solid carbide drills have been created on request and for smaller bore diameters as a special solution, as part of complete component machining. By adapting cutting geome-tries, cutting materials and coatings, these tools have met the most diverse, application-specific demands. This know-how has now been incorporated in a standard tool series which is available quickly from stock.

The new KOMET® KUB DrillmaxTM high-performance solid carbide drills meet the highest of demands. In future, the KOMET GROUP® will provide these tools for bore diameters of 3 to 16 millimetres and in length/diameter ratios of 5xD and 8xD. Adapting the carbide and coat-ing to the drill geometry ensures best machining results. Optimised, special flutes allow excellent chip clearance during a highly productive machining process. KOMET® KUB DrillmaxTM high-performance drills ensure process reliability and extremely high precision in any steel or cast metal machining application.

With its brands KOMET®, DIHART®, and JEL® , the KOMET GROUP® is a leading global manufacturer of precision tools for bore machining, reaming and threading. The group has been at the forefront of innova-tion in the sector for over 90 years – a tradition that began with the early indexable insert borers and continues today with their mecha-tronic tool systems. The company currently employs more than 1,600 staff in its 20 subsidiaries and is represented in around 50 countries.

Capacitec is the world leader in the manufacture of small, high temperature (up to 1832°F (1000°C) capacitive non-contact displacement sensors and systems.
Since the 1970’s this technology has been used in Europe, the US and Japan to solve the most demanding applications for the measurement of small displacements (less than 2mm) and small gaps (0.23 to 4mm) in extreme temperature environments. Accuracy of 0.25 microns is possible with resolution in the nanometer range. Producers of fixed and flexible solar panels, aircraft engines, plate glass, continuous flow steel, now use standardized high temperature Capacitec sensor solutions for in-process applications to control the quality of their production on a real time basis. Qualification testing of disc brakes, jet engine dynamics and high speed shaft rotations also rely on Capacitec sensors.
High Temperature Major Applications:
Disc brake testing
Silicon Wafer processing
Flexible Solar Panel coater head gap/parallelism
Metal and Glass forming
Jet engine thermal expansion
Mold separation
Turbine testing

The vibration welder VSP409 has been designed and manufactured using the most updated technologies. The vibration is circular. Contrarily to the existing common welders, the motion is got through the unbalancing of the shaft, that has a particular geometry. This is very important, as the customer can do the fixtures by himself. The mechanical and electrical solutions allow to work in good conditions and with a wide of regulation possibilities, fitting the welder to the most various welding problems.

The welder structure is very strong. The basement and the column are in painted steel. The motor that drives the central shaft, is a Brushless type with the innovative electronic placement set. The movement of the vibration head is pneumatic, controlled by a proportional valve and it takes place on high precision prismatic guides and with important mechanical characteristics.

One of the most important feature of this welder is certainly the cycle control system completely run by a microprocessor. It is possible to weld with time mode or with quote mode function controlled by an encoder with centesimal resolution.
In every phase of the cycle, head down, welding and compression, it is possible to set different thrust pressures.The microprocessor allows to save 10 welding programs.

Mobile and high-performance

The compact infrared thermal camera TV301 from the German measurement and testing equipment manufacturer Testboy offers you a big scope of services. The TV301 has a high aperture 2,5“ colour display and a resolution of 160 x120 pixels (= 19,200 pixels) as well as featuring a field of vision encompassing an area of 18×13°. A wide-angle lens extending the field of vision to 36×26° is supplied as standard. This enables precise determination of temperatures between -20 and +500°C. Recording of sensory data and image frequency take place at a rate of 50Hz. The TV301 also has a speech recording facility of 40 seconds per image, an isothermal analytical function, a movable measuring surface, eight colour palettes and an optical and acoustic temperature alarm. The TV301 features two high-performance lithium ion batteries each providing continuous operation for a period of 3 hours. The TV301 also features a class 2 laser pointer (wavelength: 635nm) which can be switched on as necessary in order to provide better alignment with the object to be measured. Its integrated flash memory enables up to 2,000 pictures to be stored. The measurements can be transferred to computer via USB cable and analysed with the Reporter software included as standard. This software also enables thermal images to be permanently archived on PC.

FRITSCH Particle Sizing Instruments offer state-of-the-art laser technology for an unique price performance ratio, for each particular area of application and utilization. An extra plus: the special, patented FRITSCH measuring method by laser diffraction inside the convergent laser beam. Your advantage: a simple continuous adjustment of the measuring area as well as up to now unknown number of measuring channels.

The ANALYSETTE 22 NanoTec offers with the measuring range of 10 nm to 2000 µm true entry into the nano range. This is achieved through the use of a second laser beam that is directed at the sample from behind, allowing for detection of the back-scattering light.

The patented capability to move the measurement cell within the beam path of the optical system during the measurement also results in a very high number of effective detection channels, which can be over 500 for the NanoTec model, which leads to a correspondingly high number of particle size classes and therefore a very high resolution. The special shape of the detector combined with intelligent evaluation software LaPaSS also allows information to be obtained about the particle shape.

The Laser Particle Sizer ANALYSETTE 22 NanoTec is an instrument with universal applications for the determination of particle size distributions and particle shape. It is used in research and development, as well as in quality control and process control. The ANALYSETTE 22 is the only instrument in the world with which particle size distribution and the particle shape can be analysed in a single measurement.

Through combination of corresponding components, you can configure a measurement system that is precisely adapted to your needs, with reliability and efficiency guaranteed by FRITSCH as a specialist in particle measurement technology.

FRITSCH Laser Particle Sizer: Sizing with competence.

Catch up on the state-of-the-art laser technology by FRITSCH!
www.fritsch-laser.com

Ethernet Direct Corporation, a primary provider of industrial networking and communication solutions, delivers Class 1 Division 2 certified industrial Ethernet switches to secure power and utility applications.

In the utilities environment, the presence of industrial wastes and evaporating water, gases or vapor, liquids, combustible dust and other ignitable substances are present. If cautionary measures are not properly taken into consideration, possible accidents in the environment may pose a risk. In the application, eelectronic devices including Industrial Ethernet switches installed in the plant must meet certain requirements and obtain special certifications in order to be used in these environments.

Ethernet Direct now delivers Underwriters Laboratories’ (UL) Class I Division 2 certified industrial Ethernet switches suitable for the electric utility operation. Passing strict regulatory approvals mean that customers and end-users can confidently install the industrial devices focusing on environmental security in addition to network security. From unmanaged to managed industrial switches, industrial media converters and industrial power over Ethernet switches, Ethernet Direct offers a variety of new product models with CD options.

Ethernet Direct now has the following product lines that are Class 1 Division 2 certified:
Industrial High Port Density Managed Ethernet Switch
Industrial Full Gigabit Managed Ethernet Switch
Industrial Extended Temperature Managed Ethernet Switch
Industrial Slim Unmanaged Ethernet Switch
Industrial Power over Ethernet Switch
Industrial Media Converter

To learn more about Class 1 Division 2 certified industrial devices, please visit www.ethernetdirect-tw.com or www.ethernetdirect.com

About Ethernet Direct Corporation
Ethernet Direct brings a control system engineering perspective to networking technology. The principals of Ethernet Direct come from process-control and PLC system backgrounds.

The Global Ethernet Direct team covers operations from Product know-how, design implementation, quality assurance, manufacturing, logistics, sales, marketing & technical support. We are well-positioned to fulfill customers’ needs and markets’ demands by providing a great variety of tailor-made products and services. When you work with us, you will experience confidence and dependability. By choosing Ethernet Direct, you have chosen excellence & long-term commitment.

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Hybrid, Europe, Hatchback, Volkswagen, Electric, Diesel

Volkswagen has just taken the cover off an all-new concept called the Up! Lite, a sinister looking diesel hybrid that gets (according to VW) 70 mpg combined. As in both City and Highway. Impressive, even if that only ends up being 90 percent accurate. In fact, should Volkswagen decide to green light the unfortunately named Up! Lite, it would be the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly four seat vehicle on the planet. Again, if the Up! Lite comes to fruition, we’ll all be impressed. Interestingly, this concept isn’t the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly car on earth is because another Volkswagen — the L1 from Frankfurt – is. But it only seats two.

Ready for the good parts? The aptly titled Up! Lite barely tips the scales at 1,530 pounds. There are Honda Goldwings flirting with that weight class. This svelteness is achieved via a mix of aluminum, lightweight steel and carbon fiber. For instance, the roof is made entirely from the expensive weave. And those amazing wheels consist of ten carbon-fiber spokes and an aluminum fairing. Nifty, no? The tiny, stylized winglettes replace conventional rearview mirrors and contain cameras instead of reflective glass. The same holds true for the interior mounted mirror, as has been replaced by a camera.

Up front, there’s an active air dam that opens up as needed. The extra cooling will help out the TDI hybrid drive lifted from the two-seater L1. This 800cc powerplant transmits power to the wheels using a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox. Even though the diesel engine is teeny, when coupled to the electric motor, the Up! Lite can reach 100 mph and hit 60 mph in 12 seconds. Not fast by any means, but good enough – especially for an ultra-high mileage vehicle. And it can haul stuff, too – including humans. Unlike the Up! Concept we saw in Frankfurt, the Up! Lite seats four people, and with the rear seats folded, it can haul 30 cubic feet of stuff. Not bad at all.

Overall, we’re pretty impressed by the looks and promise of the Up! Lite. In our estimation, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with blending a Honda CRX with a Volvo C30. Will the Up! Lite ever make it to production? Who knows. VW claims the first Up!s(?) will go on sale in 2011. We get the sense that any future decision will be based on how the two-door Up! does. But we get the feeling the Up! Lite might give the people more of what they want. Official press release after the jump.

Live photos copyright (C)2009 Jonny Lieberman / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source:Volkswagen]

Continue reading LA 2009: Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept teases with practical, lightweight innovation

LA 2009: Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept teases with practical, lightweight innovation originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s essentially what caused Dubai’s debt extravaganza to finally come to an end.

Far too much easy money flowed into Dubai during previous years, fueling a massive construction boom financed with debt. For awhile this debt looked sustainable to those involved because it was ostensibly backed by valuable property.

Yet when the global financial crisis hit, property prices fell in many parts of the world. Dubai property prices were hit especially hard.

As shown below by the skiing Emirati, Dubai property rates per square foot fell 45% from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009 according to Colliers International.

Thus just as many American’s went underwater on their mortgages due to the American property crisis, owing more to the bank than their house was worth, the same thing basically happened to the Nakheel property business of the Dubai state-owned conglomerate Dubai World.

Combined with near-term cash flow constraints, this finally forced Dubai World to admit to its creditors that it would not be able to meet all of its debt obligations.

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Filed under: LA Auto Show, Sedan, Hyundai

Cheap and inexpensive are not necessarily synonymous. Inexpensive is generally considered a positive thing. Cheap? Not so much. Hyundai automobiles have always been relatively inexpensive compared to their direct competitors. In recent years, the Korean company has worked extremely hard to rid itself of any talk of cheapness by improving quality, introducing an unprecedented 10-year/100,000 mile warranty and engaging in some remarkably clever marketing campaigns.

It wasn’t always so. Way back in 1983, Hyundai first entered the North American market when the Pony hatchback went on sale in Canada. Two years later, the replacement for the Pony, dubbed “Excel” went on sale in the United States. To say that the launch did not go well would be the understatement of the decade. While those early Hyundai models were indeed cheap, the company nearly met the same fate in this market as Yugo.

Unlike the abysmal Yugo, Hyundai persevered. The company kept redesigning its cars, making each subsequent generation better than the last and extending its warranties to generate confidence in its products. More than two decades later, Hyundai is introducing its latest challenger, the 2011 Hyundai Sonata, into what is arguably the most fiercely contested segment in the U.S. market – that of the family sedan. Check out our high-res galleries below, and then click through to the jump to read more of our impressions and check out Hyundai’s press release and specifications.

[Source: Hyundai]

Continue reading LA 2009: 2011 Hyundai Sonata debuts with style, four-cylinder only and less weight

LA 2009: 2011 Hyundai Sonata debuts with style, four-cylinder only and less weight originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve discussed in the past how Noble Prize winning economists have been worried about the impact of intellectual property laws, and how at least one Nobel Prize winning physicist is warning that strict intellectual property laws are harming science and innovation. Now we can add a Nobel Prize winning biologist to the list (his Nobel was for medicine). Sir John Sulston has written up a column for The Guardian explaining how intellectual property is “shackling” science:

The myth is that IP rights are as important as our rights in castles, cars and corn oil. IP is supposedly intended to encourage inventors and the investment needed to bring their products to the clinic and marketplace. In reality, patents often suppress invention rather than promote it: drugs are “evergreened” when patents are on the verge of running out — companies buy up the patents of potential rivals in order to prevent them being turned into products. Moreover, the prices charged, especially for pharmaceuticals, are often grossly in excess of those required to cover costs and make reasonable profits.

He goes on to attack the massive growth in things like gene patents, which has resulted in: “research on certain genes [being] largely restricted to the companies that hold the patents, and tests involving them are marketed at prohibitive prices. We believe that this poses a very real danger to the development of science for the public good.” He points to the long history of how scientific advance has come from collaboration and the sharing of knowledge, rather than the hoarding of it, and fears where things are heading now that knowledge is so often locked up:

For science to continue to flourish, it is necessary that the knowledge it generates be made freely and widely available. IP rights have the tendency to stifle access to knowledge and the free exchange of ideas that is essential to science. So, far from stimulating innovation and the dissemination of the benefits of science, IP all too often hampers scientific progress and restricts access to its products.

We keep hearing more and more people who recognize all of this speaking out against what is happening. But the politicians only seem to listen to the lawyers and the lobbyists who have every incentive to ignore the reality around them. How do we change that?

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Noisy neighbors, traffic jams, and long checkout lines would find their way onto anyone's list of daily irritations.  But when it comes to really raising people's blood pressure, nothing can compete with hidden fees, according to a new survey by Consumer Reports.  In fact, companies taking money in sneaky ways was rated more than twice as annoying as another classic irritant: inaccurate weather reports. 

Corporate misbehavior apparently smells so bad to consumers that hidden fees even far outpaced unscooped dog poop. 

Negative interactions with companies dominated the rankings – which should be no surprise to regular Red Tape readers.  "Not getting a human on the phone" ranked second (Visit GetHuman.com for help with that), and "incomprehensible bills," cracked the top five.

"We were surprised by that. I guess that the Al Rokers of the world are safe," said Mark Kotkin, director of survey research at Consumer Reports. "But a lot of the electronics industries and financial industries were hit pretty hard, at least the billing part of those companies."

Rounding out the top five were two driving-related gripes: tailgating and cell phone use by drivers.

The survey was conducted in September and results are published in the January issue of Consumer Reports. The magazine asked a random sample of 1,125 Americans to score 21 gripes on a 1-to-10 scale, 1 meaning an experience “does not annoy you at all” and 10 meaning it “annoys you tremendously.”

Of course, the survey was slightly tongue-in-cheek and not comprehensive. Just a few of choices that were missing from the list:

*The White House party crashers
*Britney Spears
*Ex-girlfriend Facebook friend recommendations
*Christmas music in November
(You can add yours below)

But it's still telling that hidden fees and customer service frustrations prevailed by such a wide margin, considering the competition that was on the list.  It included: Waiting for repair people (9th), Very slow drivers (12th), and poor airline service (16th). 

Several technology-related irritants were also included: unreliable Internet service (7th), Spam (10th), and passwords and PINs (20th).

(To see the full chart, visit Consumer Reports)

Women, older adults more irritated
Perhaps a mere statistical curiosity, but the survey appears to confirm a few stereotypes about gripers: Women and adults over 50 were more prone to irritation.  In particular, women took more offense than men to items like speeding drivers and products that shrink but cost the same, while older adults expressed plenty of techno-frustration about passwords and cell phone usage.

Kotkin said the list of choices was intentionally designed to exclude family issues and employment issues (such as gossipy co-workers), in an effort to make the survey more relevant to consumer issues.

While the survey was conducted partly for pure entertainment value ("it was something lighter and fun. Fun is not normally part of Consumer Reports," Kotkin said) companies could take the results to heart.  The second-biggest gripe, inability to get human help, could be easily solved by hiring more staff, he said.  Firms looking for an edge during tough economic times could easily endear themselves to shoppers through improved service.

Consumer can learn something, too, he said.

"There are some things you can control by going to the right vendor, like bad cell phone service or spam," he said.  "People do have choices."

Do you agree with hidden fees as top irritant?  What’s missing from the list? Tell us below.

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Electronic Arts is reminding gamers that the Call of Duty franchise isn’t the only big soldier-based FPS on the block. They’re bringing back the Medal…

The Black Friday mad rush definitely gave those sales a big leg up for the holidays and those new releases didn’t get much air time on the shelves – t…

The Fed’s beige book is out, and it does make some positive noises about the economy, though nothing significant enough to lift this market.

Outside the “slight uptick” the Fed is seeing in various areas, banks are still seeing “steady or deteriorating loan quality.”

This is the kind of news that explains why despite the recovery, “problem” institutions remain at 15-year high.

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See Also:

• Credit Corrosion Continues With Bank Delinquencies At A Record
• CMBS Update: $32.6 Billion In October Delinquencies (504% YoY Increase)
• Gartman: Here’s Why Credit Card Delinquencies Fell To 1.1%

The evidence of foul play ahead of Dubai’s debt announcement last week appears overwhelming.

A whopping 75% of debt owners might have sold ahead of time.

Which means that whoever was left holding Nakheel bonds was truly out of the loop.

WSJ: According to Data Explorers, a company that tracks how much of a company’s stock or bonds are out on loan, about 75% of institutions holding the sukuk sold their position between the end of August and the end of November.

“It’s an extraordinary sell-off in a bond so close to maturity, when there was no indication of a problem refinancing. The data suggests they had some information that it was a good time to sell,” said Data Explorers managing director Julian Pittam.

Read more here.

See here why Dubai was the most obvious bubble ever (in retrospect) >>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dubai Sheikh Calls International Investors A Bunch Of Suckers
• Jim Rogers Is Amazed Everyone Didn’t Know There Was A Bubble In Dubai
• Why Dubai Was The Most Obvious Bubble Ever

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Minivan/Van, Toyota

When the new third-generation 2011 Toyota Sienna shows up in dealerships next February, parents should head straight to their closest dealer after dropping the kids at soccer. Notice we didn’t say “Moms.” We said “parents.” Although other minivan makers have attempted to butch up their people movers in the past, those efforts have been mostly lamentable. Toyota, on the other hand, has actually made a van (there’s nothing mini about this new Sienna) that arguably looks sporty enough to chip away at the undeserved mommy-mobile stigma of the class. Don’t let that purse tray dissuade you.

And if NASCAR dads drag their feet a bit before heading over to trade in the old Previa or Chevrolet Suburban, they may choose the sportier SE in the showroom come April. While even the base Sienna will boast a design theme that looks surprisingly assertive, the SE adds an aggressive body kit and 19-inch six-spoke wheels to go with its stiffer suspension and remapped transmission programming. There’s also a different grille and clear tail lamps. Unfortunately, there won’t be a TRD supercharger underhood or even a cold air intake or freer-flowing exhaust to up the power, but on looks alone, this thing might have what it takes to broaden the appeal of minivans to the XY set.

Debuting at the LA Auto Show today, the 2011 Sienna looks like a more macho 2009 Sienna cross-bred with Toyota’s Venza crossover. The family resemblance is striking, particularly from the rear. Nifty details are to be found all around – things like the cleverly hidden high-mounted rear wiper. Toyota promises that this third-generation Sienna will also drive more like a sedan while still swallowing people and cargo with equal ease.

We’ve had an advanced in-person look at this model, and the seven or eight people who find themselves filling the seats inside this new Sienna figure to be impressed by the Lexus-like interior with its new three-tone color scheme, ample use of wood, and clever luxury touches. Particularly “wow” inducing are the wooden swoosh across the dash, the second row seats with their integrated retractable leg rests that slide a long way forward to grant access to the power-operated 60/40 Split & Stow third row, and the 16-inch dual view LCD screen for rear seat entertainment. Yes, sixteen.

Built on a revised version of the outgoing platform, the 2011 Sienna has the same wheelbase but is slightly shorter, lower and wider than its predecessor. It will be available in five different trim levels: Sienna grade, LE, SE, XLE and Limited. All-wheel-drive will still be available on V6-powered LE, XLE and Limited models. That V6 is the same 3.5-liter Dual Variable Valve Timing with intelligence (VVT-i) unit available today, with 266 horsepower. The engine is stout enough to give the Sienna a 3,500-pound tow capacity while returning mileage of 18 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. Also available in Sienna and LE will be the VVT-i 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine with 187 horses and a slight bump in mileage to 19/26.

We’ll have lots to say about this new Sienna after our first drive in a couple of weeks, but for now, you can read more about it in the press release we’ve pasted after the jump and check out high-res shots in our gallery below.

[Source: Toyota]

Continue reading LA 2009: 2011 Toyota Sienna could wear a Lexus badge

LA 2009: 2011 Toyota Sienna could wear a Lexus badge originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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