Author: Serkadis

The latest adaventure of Kratos didn’t disappoint as the latest NPD chart reveals that Sony Santa Monica’s God of War III was the single-best selling SKU for the month of March with over 1.10 million units sold.

The Icelandic volcano that began disrupting flights early Thursday in the UK is spreading deeper into Europe, promising to cause more trouble wherever it goes.

The Belfast Telegraph reports:

Another Met Office review is expected to determine flight arrangements until 6pm tonight but aviation analysts warned that flights would be disrupted for days to come as airlines battled to clear the backlog and ensure planes were in the right place to run a normal service.

It had been hoped that a number of flights between Northern Ireland and Scotland would be allowed to go ahead, but a spokesman for George Best Belfast City Airport said no flights would leave before midday.

Bloomberg also reports that air traffic could be disrupted through the weekend. And Sky News reports that while the ash will soon depart from the UK, Scandinavia could get slammed next.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Here’s The Real Impact Of The Volcano Ash Crisis In Europe
• Travel Warning: Here’s What You Need To Know About The Icelandic Volcano Halting European Travel
• Is Europe About To Scream?

Filed under: Performance, Europe, Videos, Ferrari, Military

Ferrari brought out the big guns last night for the official presentation of the new 599 GTO. A big gun in its own right, it was presented by the company’s chairman Luca di Montezemolo, chief executive Amedeo Felisa and vice-chairman Pierro Ferrari, son of the legendary Enzo. Which is a good thing considering the venue: Modena’s Ducal Palace military academy… the same location, incidentally, that sister company Maserati chose to unveil the Quattroporte Automatic over three years ago.

The grand gala, which also involved the participation of Ferrari factory test drivers and military cadets in front of a crowd of 500 clients, almost seems like overkill. Never mind that the fastest road car ever built by Ferrari speaks for itself, and that the supercar is set for an additional unveiling at Beijing Motor Show later this month. But the 599 GTO, according to reports, is already sold out. All 599 examples of it. Which means that, even if you’ve got the £300,000 asking price, the closest you’re likely to get is via the video after the jump. Check it out. (It’s actually dubbed over in English this time!)

[Source: Ferrari]

Continue reading Video: Ferrari 599 GTO already sold out before presentation at Italian military academy

Video: Ferrari 599 GTO already sold out before presentation at Italian military academy originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In today’s note, Gluskin-Sheff economist David Rosenberg is back talking about deflation:

Deflation remains the primary trend, notwithstanding the bounce in commodity
prices that surely are going to act as a significant margin squeeze for retailers.
The headline CPI inflation rate came in at a mere +0.1% in March and the core
was unchanged.  When oil prices first broke above $80/barrel back in 2007, the
inflation rate was closer to 4%.  Then again, the unemployment rate was below
5% and CAPU rates approaching 80%, not near-10% and 70% respectively as is
the case today.  

The economy may be doing better but it could take years to absorb all the slack
evident in the labour, product and housing markets.  The core rate of inflation is
all the way down to +1.1% and the combination of base effects, the lagged
impact of the strong U.S. dollar and the continued decline in residential rents
suggest that this trend will break below 1% by May and could evaporate totally
within a year.  As it now stands, the three-month trend in the core CPI is 18 basis
points below zero, something that has not happened in 50 years.  

There are no shortages of complaints that the disinflation trend is being skewed
by lower rents.  Our response:  rent matters a lot in the consumption basket and
the fact that it is deflating is a sign of stress in both the labour market in terms
of still punishingly high unemployment rates and the effects on income, as well
as in the housing market (i.e., near record high apartment vacancy rate). 
Not only that, but core CPI excluding the rent influence was at +0.1% MoM and
has still hooked lower to +1.7% on a YoY basis and the trend is still on a firm
downtrend. 

The second chart below shows the smoothed CPI index from the
Cleveland Fed– down to 1% YoY, which is a fresh record low.  The bottom line is
that core goods CPI has fallen 0.1% now for two months in a row and the core
PPI for finished consumer goods is pointing to further deflation here in the
coming year, especially as the lagged impact of the firming in the greenback
since last fall.     

The deflationary pressure was widespread across sectors last
month:  Restaurants and toys were both down 0.1%. Appliance prices fell 0.3%
and furniture by 0.3%.  Clothing prices fell 0.4% and are down now for three
months running.  Recreation services (i.e., movie theatres) dropped 0.6%.  Home
improvement, despite how great it was in the retail sales report, also deflated by
0.3% in March.  The prices of housekeeping supplies fell 0.2%.  Autos and parts,
IT services as well as telecom were roughly flat.  So you see, this was hardly a
report that relied solely relied on rental rate declines.  

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Yes, it certainly seems like this market, with its day-in and day-out gains is bubblicious.

But if you’re looking for signs that investors haven’t completely abandoned rationality, BTIG’s Mike O’Rourke offers the following:

Currently, a great deal of market focus is on technical and sentiment indicators hitting extreme levels, i.e. RSI, low Vix, low Put/Call, New Highs, etc. Some solace can be taken in the fact that AAII’s 62% Bullish reading while optimistic is still not in “Sell” territory, but as we noted a few days ago we expected it to get there in coming months.  Another fact in which investors may also find some comfort is that despite the S&P 500’s 8.6% gain year to date and a 16+% rally off the February 5^th low, in the 71 trading days year to date, the S&P 500 has not registered a single up 2% day.  In fact, there were only 2 sessions where the index added more than 1.5%, and one of those was the first trading day of the year.  For context, of the 252 trading days in 2009, 27 posted gains greater than 2% and 28 sessions posted losses of greater than 2%.  In both cases, 11% of sessions accounted for larger moves.  In 2008, 12% of sessions registered gains in excess of 2%, and 16% of sessions registered losses greater than 2%.

 Got that? No 2% up days, and only 2 1.5% up days? Now you feel better, right?

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Quick Spin: 2010 Audi TT RS performs, assuming Audi AG decides to deliver

We track-test the TT RS to answer one question: Should Audi bring it to America?

Spy Shots: 2011 Hyundai Accent caught testing near Disneyland

A funny thing happened on a recent road trip. Hyundai’s new Accent pulled along side us, covered in camo, and we were all too happy to snap off some shots.

2011 Ford Explorer will debut new four-mode terrain management tech [w/video]

The all-new Explorer may be built atop a unibody platform, but Ford isn’t letting it get soft with the help of some all-terrain tech.

Also of interest:

• Spy Shots: 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG lights up its rotors at the ‘Ring
• Toyota may be readying fix for Lexus GX 460 safety concerns as NHTSA begins investigation
• Competition-spec Ford Mustang to take on FIA GT3 European Championship
• Chinese-market Buick Excelle sedan caught without camo
• Beijing Preview: BMW adding all-wheel drive to Gran Turismo line

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 4.15.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Technology, Ford, Lincoln

MyFord Touch promises to better connect drivers to their phones and MP3 players as well as the functions that are traditionally controlled by buttons and knobs. The screen will be displayed on a 4.2-inch LCD located directly in front of the driver next to the speedometer, with a five-way switch on either side of the steering wheel that enables the driver to access information without turning his or her head or taking a hand off the steering wheel.

MyFord (and MyLincoln) Touch already sounds impressive, but Ford apparently isn’t done wowing with its functionality. The Blue Oval announced today that its new touch interface will also help drivers save fuel by arming them with real-time feedback on fuel efficiency performance, helping coach drivers on how to conserve fuel. Jim Buczkowski, Ford director of Global Electrical and Electronics Systems Engineering, says in the company’s press release that MyFord Touch “provides an unprecedented level of information and interaction so drivers can make the choice to be more fuel efficient.”

Ford’s newest interactive infotainment creation will accomplish this feat by providing additional fuel economy information, similar to the SmartGauge leaf display utilized in the Ford Fusion Hybrid. SmartGauge rewards efficient driving with an increasing amount of leaves and flowers, and drivers can also track their fuel economy with a graphical bar chart next to the fuel gauge display that shows mile-per-gallon averages for the past five, 10 and 30 minutes.

Ford also plans to utilize its excellent navigation system to help drivers become more efficient. MyFord Touch pairs up with the map-based navigation to provide drivers an Eco-Route that instantly utilizes both historical and real-time traffic data to map you to the most efficient route possible. Ford says that while the Eco-Route isn’t necessarily the fastest route, it can help drivers consume up to 15 percent less fuel on any given trip.

MyFord Touch arrives this summer with the launch of the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. Hit the jump to watch a video and read over Ford’s MyFord Touch press release, which also lists 10 useful tips for conserving fuel.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Blue Oval adds fuel economy coach to MyFord Touch [w/video]

Blue Oval adds fuel economy coach to MyFord Touch [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ok PlayStation fans, it’s time once again for your weekly dose of PlayStation Store goodness. This week’s update celebrates Spring Fever racing week with a WipEout HD price drop, it will also see the return of the

Filed under: Sedan, BMW, Luxury

Over the last 28 years, there have been five generations of 5 Series cars, and millions of 5 Series fans made around the world. In an effort to continue that tradition with the introduction of this latest five series, BMW has recapped the gripping story so far of a car that has come to define and then redefine the phrase “sports sedan.”

Follow the jump for the tale, and wait until you get to the part about the precisely defined deformation zones in 1988 – you simply will not be able to turn away. Well, unless you’re checking out the high-res gallery of photos below…

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading Pics Aplenty: BMW geeks out, recounts history of 5 Series

Pics Aplenty: BMW geeks out, recounts history of 5 Series originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedan, Audi, Beijing Motor Show, Luxury

Audi is pulling out its biggest gun yet for the Beijing Motor Show, and while the big news for the A8 L might be the 6.3-liter W12 and the sedan’s longer wheelbase, it’s the rear seat accommodations that have us frothing at the mouth.

Seriously, just look at it.

With an overall length of nearly 17 and a half feet, the A8 L is almost a half-foot longer than its standard sibling, with a wheelbase of 10.24 feet. Those extra inches are put to good effect, with an interior that’s enough to make a Maybach look downright spartan.

Open the lengthened rear doors and occupants are greeted by acres of leather, a full-length center console and two power-adjustable, heated and ventilated seats that not only move fore and aft, but include adjustments for cushion depth, lumbar support and seat back angle. Ten remote-controlled air-bladders massage your cares away, and if the front passenger seat – with its power-adjustable folding ottoman – cramps your style, you can move it forward with the flick of a switch.

The standard four-zone automatic climate control is manipulated by no less than 25 adjustable motors, and the massive center tunnel contains everything from a folding table to a refrigerator. It’s all first-class, from the ambient lighting to the Valonea leather, and when the time comes to put the laptop away, crank up the 1,400-watt, 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System and enjoy a movie on one of the two 10.2-inch LCD displays.

If you’re ready to give your chauffeur a rest, take solace in the fact that the W12 puts out 500 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque through Audi’s new eight-speed automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive. The result is a remarkably quick 4.9-second run to 60 and a electrically-limited top speed of 155 mph.

The W12 will be the standard engine at launch, with a few diesel and petrol-powered engines available further down the line. We’d expect pricing for the A8 L to be revealed shortly after its official debut later this month, but in the meantime, make the jump for the full details.

Continue reading 2011 Audi A8 L arrives with 500-hp W12, seating for a king-maker

2011 Audi A8 L arrives with 500-hp W12, seating for a king-maker originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ron Gettelfinger, UAW President, said today that he’s a fan of Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler’s new CEO, and Ed Whitacre Jr., CEO of General Motors. Gettelfinger said that he likes the CEOs because they aren’t a “showboat.”

“They’re down to earth, not a showboat,” he said. “This industry has had too many showboats.”

Gettelfinger, who is on his way to retirement from the UAW in June, said that it wasn’t the union’s fault that GM and Chrysler went bankrupt last year since in his view the union already had made big concessions in 2007. He also said that the union itself does not have ownership stakes in the two companies.

“That’s misunderstood,” he said. “We don’t have an investment in GM and Chrysler. The VEBA [volunteer employee beneficiary association] has an investment in GM and Chrysler. It’s set up with independent trustees, and there are more trustees [in charge] than there are union members.”

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Filed under: Minivan/Van, Mercedes-Benz

Travelers across American can expect to see a new addition to the airport rental, parking and hotel shuttle fleets with the availability of a new version of the familiar Sprinter from Daimler Vans USA. The new shuttle version differs from the existing passenger van with the installation of a hinged, bus-style passenger door that can be remotely activated by the driver.

The long body, high roof van is available in four seating configurations including the familiar perimeter style of airport shuttles or a commuter version with 16 forward-facing seats and an aisle down the middle with two seats on one side and a single seat on the other. Naturally, the existing cargo, chassis cab and passenger Sprinters remain available.

[Source: Mercedes-Benz]

Continue reading Airport Bound: Daimler launches new 16-passenger Sprinter

Airport Bound: Daimler launches new 16-passenger Sprinter originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Japan, Videos

The Japanese domestic market is home to some pretty interesting tuning styles, and we’re grateful that there are plenty of cameras in The Land of the Rising Sun to catch these wonky rides in action. One such style is VIP, which mixes large, rear drive luxury vehicles with mods designed to give the vehicle more luxury, more flare and more bling. And sometimes, VIP can apparently be associated with the bizarre.

One gentleman sporting a video camera and a legitimate case of disbelief couldn’t help but drop an F-bomb (Seriously, NSFW) when he witnessed one of the most off-camber vehicles the world has ever seen. Hit the jump to see the brief yet bewildering footage of four very thinly rubbered wheels trying to do the splits. We can only hope the driver was on his way to the shop to have this issue looked at.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Tuned Japanese car is (very) off camber

Video: Tuned Japanese car is (very) off camber originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last December, we noticed the revival of an interesting idea: a futures market on movies. There are actually a few companies trying to realize this concept: the Hollywood Stock Exchange (HSX), Veriana Networks’ TrendEx, and simExchange (for video games). Instead of only allowing investors to trade with fake money, HSX and Veriana are looking to let investors use real money to trade shares in the prospects of movies, and have asked the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve these exchanges for trading with actual money.

However, the MPAA isn’t too keen on the idea of having outsiders gamble on their movies. Understandably, the MPAA doesn’t want to deal with complex liability for various kinds of insider trading or “market manipulation” that might result if studios/producers/directors could profit from simply making marketing decisions. Additionally, the MPAA likely also worries that movie futures would further encourage movie piracy — given that investors who are shorting movies may have a significant financial incentive to distribute copies of movie files before a theatrical release.

These futures exchanges actually bring up several interesting questions regarding the metrics of movies — and how betting big on theatrical releases could be open to alternative marketing techniques. And if these market exchanges are allowed, will Hollywood be forced to adapt to additional business models? Could investors push studios towards taking advantage of their infinite goods or towards even more stringent copyright enforcement? These exchanges could also determine how much movie popularity can really be manipulated by investors and marketing efforts. But we may never know without real money behind movie trading. So, with this fairly important change to the movie industry at hand, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is taking a bit longer to decide what the fate of these exchanges will be.

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Former Bush economist Keith Hennessey makes a lucid argument about why actually, Republicans are to blame for the 47% who don’t pay income tax.

Of course the tax day talking points are already dying down…

But the reason so many Americans don’t pay taxes is a credit — that is money back — for having children and having low wages. These credits were established by a Republican-majority congress in the late nineties, and expanded by George W.

Hennessey’s blog has the legislative timeline:

• In 1997 every “normal” married couple with two children that earned $24,000 or more (in today’s dollars) had to pay at least some income taxes.  The top nonpayer threshold for a family of this size was just under $24,000.  This means there were some four-person families with income just below $24,000 that owed no income taxes.
• In 1997 a Republican majority Congress and President Clinton enacted the Balanced Budget Act.  At the insistence of Congressional Republicans, this law created a $400-per-child tax credit which began in 1998.  This caused the top nonpayer threshold to jump more than $7,000, to about $31,300.  Millions of families with kids with incomes between $24,000 and $31,300 were “taken off the rolls” because the child tax credit wiped out the small income tax liability they owed.
• As a result of the 1997 law, in 1999 the child tax credit automatically increased to $500 per child, and the threshold for a married family with two kids grew to $32,800 in today’s dollars.
• In 2001 President Bush and the Republican Congress enacted a major tax law that increased the child tax credit to $600.  This law also introduced the 10% income tax bracket, which lowered by 5 percentage points the lowest income tax rate.  The combination of these two tax changes raised the top nonpayer threshold to $38,700.  That law further phased in over time increases in the child credit to $1,000 per child.
• The 2003 tax law enacted by President Bush and the Republican Congress accelerated the $1,000 per child amount to be effective immediately.  This increased the threshold to $47,400 in 2003.  That’s a huge jump.  It was incredibly popular, and it helped create political impetus for the 2003 law which also accelerated rate reductions and cut capital gains and dividend rates.
• The 2008 stimulus (President Bush + Democratic majority Congress) included stimulus checks of $1,200 per married couple, plus another $300 per child.  This increased the threshold to $56,700.  This was a one-time increase, however, and the non-stimulus threshold for 2008 was about $44,500.
• In 2009 President Obama and a Democratic majority Congress increased this threshold to $51,400 with the new “making-work-pay” tax credit.  This was enacted on near party-line votes.  That threshold drops slightly to about $50,300 this year.

Keep that in mind for next year’s tax day furor.

Don’t miss: 20 More Tax Facts That Will Make Your Head Explode

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Wow, that was fast: little more than two weeks after EFF testified to a Senate subcommittee that federal electronic privacy law needs to be updated to protect against secret video surveillance just like it regulates electronic eavesdropping, Senator Arlen Specter has responded by introducing a bill to do just that.

Specter, chairman of the subcommittee that held the hearing in response to the scandal over a Pennsylvania school district’s alleged use of webcams on school-issued laptops to spy on students at home, today introduced the Surreptitious Video Surveillance Act of 2010. The bill, co-sponsored by Senators Feingold and Kaufman, would update the federal wiretapping statute to create serious criminal and civil penalties for secret, nonconsensual video surveillance inside any temporary or permanent residence, be it your house, your apartment, or your hotel room.

In last month’s hearing, EFF pushed for such an update to the law, reminding the Senate of what Judge Richard Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the very first appellate court decision to recognize the video surveillance gap in the electronic privacy law:

Of course it is anomalous to have detailed statutory regulation of bugging and wiretapping but not of television surveillance, in Title III…and we would think it a very good thing if Congress responded to the issues discussed in this opinion by amending Title III to bring television surveillance within its scope.

Finally, over 25 years since that call to action, these Senators are stepping up to the plate to protect your video privacy, which is in special need of protection now that we live within a technological landscape practically littered with Internet-connected cameras that might be taken over and abused by others, be it the government, a computer criminal, a stalker, your employer or even your school.

We at EFF look forward to working with Congress as this legislation moves forward to ensure that the final product properly balances privacy rights, public safety, and the free speech rights of photographers, videographers and journalists. In the meantime, we thank Senators Specter, Feingold and Kaufman for starting a congressional conversation about video privacy that is long overdue.

Apple will start selling its iPad outside the United States later this month, however, CEO Steve Jobs has yet to specify a date. Those who are anxious to get their hands on one, or want to capitalize on the uncertainty, are traveling all the way to New York to pick up a bunch of units.

Amit Jain, who owns an electronics shop in Mumbai, said he sold 5 64- gigabyte iPads for 100,000 rupees ($2,250) each as of April 7 after they reached India through unofficial distributors. That’s triple the $699 that the iPad retails for in the U.S. and just $250 less than India’s cheapest car – the Tata Nano.

“We have customers who are willing to buy,” said Jain. “So we maintain our margins.”

Apple has sold more than 450,000 iPads in less than a week after its introduction, Jobs said on April 8.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Bloomberg (via AutoObserver)