Author: Serkadis

Li Shufu, founder of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group who is purchasing Volvo from FoMoCo, said Sunday that the Swedish brand is a tiger that needs be freed.

“A tiger belongs to the forest. It belongs to the wild world and not confined in a zoo. We need to liberate this tiger,” Li said at the signing of the agreement in Volvo’s home town of Gothenburg.

Li said that Volvo has been long relying on Europe for production and on Europe and North America for sales. To address this, Li said his company is planning a factory in Beijing that will produce 300,000 units annually. The figure is about the same the automaker produces annually at its plants in Sweden and Belgium.

Li said that while European factories are the “heart” of the Volvo tiger, “its power should project it throughout the world.”

“I see China as one of the markets where Volvo could show us it has the opportunity to liberate itself and show the potential that is has. That is the rational for the deal,” Li said. “We want to stabilize the brand in the traditional markets of Europe and North America and, at the same time, develop our business in emerging markets including China.”

Geely will pay Ford $1.8 billion ford Volvo. $1.78 billion will come in cash and the remaining $200 million in a note.

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Article Tags: Carbon Trading

The banking giant HSBC removed two companies involved in carbon trading from its Climate Change Index on Monday because they had lost too much value.

Analysts from HSBC said the cause was mainly that governments had failed to come up with a timetable for a global climate deal at the United Nations summit in Copenhagen in December.

“Carbon trading was the major loser from Copenhagen,” HSBC analysts said in their March 21010 Quarterly Index Review. “Cap and trade needs hard targets and binding rules – and Copenhagen delivered neither,” HSBC said.

The two companies ejected were Climate Exchange and Trading Emissions. Both companies are based in the Isle of Man and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Climate Exchange owns the European Climate Exchange, the Chicago Climate Exchange and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange. The chairman of Trading Emissions, Neil Eckert, is also the chief executive of Climate Exchange.

Among companies joining the index were Renesola, a solar manufacturer with a heavy focus on China listed on the London Stock Exchange, and Universal Display, a United States-based lighting manufacturer listed on Nasdaq.

Click source to read FULL article by James Kanter

Source: greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com

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(The article, posted March 29, 2010 on the Environmental Defense Fund website, is the reaction of EDF senior scientist, Ramon Alvarez, to a briefing in Austin put on by the Barnett Shale natural gas producers. Drilling in the Barnett Shale in Central and North Texas — as with gas drilling in New York , Pennsylvania and other states — has faced increasing public resistance as concerns surface about associated air and water pollution and the proximity of wells to residential areas.)

By Ramon Alvarez, Ph.D.

No one can fault the natural gas industry for trying to make its case before influential policy makers and the public. But there’s a certain responsibility associated with billing yourself as the purveyor of “facts:” Your information needs to be true. Loose use of facts will backfire on the natural gas industry.

Last week, I went to a presentation by the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council at the Texas Capitol. The Council represents over a dozen companies including the seven largest producers in the Barnett (Devon, Chesapeake, XTO, EOG, Quicksilver, EnCana, and Range). This briefing for legislators and their staff was billed as the first installment of a road show bringing the “facts” about natural gas production in the Barnett Shale to the public. (Coincidentally, the Council’s capitol briefing took place on the same day a Pennsylvania paper reported on a similar effort by the American Petroleum Institute to tout the environmental record of the natural gas industry.)

I found two factually-challenged statements made by the Council’s spokesperson, Ed Ireland, especially disappointing given the heightened public concern (in the Barnett and elsewhere) about air pollution associated with natural gas production.

Council Spokesperson’s Statement 1: There is a ‘misperception’ that natural gas operations produce benzene.

The Facts: While there is variability in the amount of benzene (and other hydrocarbons) contained in natural gas produced in different parts of the Barnett Shale, the fact is that benzene is commonly present at least in trace amounts – even in dry gas. The TCEQ’s experts have said say so.

Even the Council’s own website acknowledges that dry natural gas contains benzene. And then it further acknowledges that condensate tanks associated with natural gas wells emit benzene. Neither of these facts was included in the Council spokesperson’s sweeping and unequivocal statement at the Capitol briefing.

Council Spokesperson’s Statement 2: Air quality studies to date show there is not a day-to-day problem associated with gas operations.

The Facts: Contrary to the statement, there is evidence that gas operations can affect surrounding air quality in the region.  This is especially true in parts of the Barnett Shale that produce condensate. TCEQ has conducted fairly extensive monitoring to date, though it could not be characterized yet as comprehensive (see January results). Other local governments and private citizens around the Barnett Shale have also commissioned their own monitoring analyses.

Here is a summary of my take on the TCEQ’s air sampling:

Air pollution levels exceeded TCEQ’s health-based comparison value for benzene in at least one sample taken in every one of the counties TCEQ tested (Denton, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Tarrant and Wise). Note that list includes a sample with elevated benzene taken in Tarrant County [home to Fort Worth].

While TCEQ’s press release and much of the media coverage about its January report refers to 94 sites that were “surveyed,” measurements for benzene and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) were made only at 64 locations. Because many of the 64 monitoring sites were clustered around each other, we estimate from the aerial maps provided in TCEQ’s report that 32 unique areas around the Barnett Shale were sampled for VOCs.

Benzene levels at 22 of the 64 monitoring sites were above the TCEQ’s long-term, health-based comparison value of 1.4 parts per billion. These sites are within 11 of the 32 unique areas sampled. At least seven of these 11 unique areas contain or are in close proximity to residences.

Bottom line on TCEQ’s results: When one out of every three areas sampled throughout the Barnett Shale show elevated levels of benzene, it suggests that harmful air emissions are not a rare occurrence.

And before anyone adopts the Council’s statement included in its handout, “TCEQ Fort Worth air quality tests found no detectable levels of benzene at any of the 116 [sic] natural gas sites tested,” please consider the following facts about TCEQ’s limited sampling campaign in the City limits during December 2009. Although 126 sites were “visited” by TCEQ in the Fort Worth area (98 within the city limits), only eight canister samples were taken and analyzed for benzene. And while benzene levels in these eight samples were reported as “not detected” by the TCEQ, the fine print in its report acknowledges that the lowest amount of benzene its analytical instrument could detect was two to seven times higher than the health-based comparison value of 1.4 ppb.

In other words, TCEQ’s testing during the three-day Fort Worth campaign could have easily missed elevated benzene levels.

The Opportunity for Natural Gas Producers

Here is the bottom line:  If the natural gas industry wants to deliver on the promise that natural gas – a valuable and potentially plentiful U.S. resource – can be a cleaner transition fuel to a low-carbon economy, then it must conduct its business in the most ethically and environmentally responsible way possible. Public relations campaigns based on flawed facts run the risk of further eroding public trust in the industry, thereby killing the proverbial golden goose (or shooting themselves in the foot).

Rather than continuing to deny that there are emissions associated with their operations, natural gas producers should instead demonstrate to the public that they are employing all technologies that can cost-effectively minimize those emissions.  We hope the Council’s members will encourage their non-profit education arm to do a better job of presenting the facts.

At the Capitol briefing, someone in the audience asked if there was hope of moving past the status quo of dueling studies and parties trying to discredit other parties. The Council’s spokesperson offered that the effort being initiated by City of Fort Worth (to better characterize air quality impacts from natural gas production activities) could be a move in that positive direction. We couldn’t agree more.

(This article is entitled The Truth About the Facts from the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council on the EDF website. Dr. Alvarez holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in chemistry from Duke University and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.)

In the book series Learning About Life Cycles, The Life Cycle of an Owl written by Ruth Thomson explains the entire life cycle of a barn owl.  The book has real life pictures and is does an amazing job of portraying life in the wild for the barn owl.  The book starts out with the places owls live and what they eat.  Characteristics of an owl is described by stating that

“It has very good eyesight and hearing.  It flies silently and pounces on animals with its feet.  It usually swallows them whole.”

Since this book is only about barn owls all of the physical features are described.  The book starts the life cycle with “finding a mate”.  This is usually done durning the spring season; males and females can often be seen flying together while making a loud screeching sound.  The book shows and explains how the mother owl lays eggs and cares for her owlets.  The father keeps both the mother and the owlets alive with providing food. The book lists the different stages the owlets go through until adulthood.  Pictures are provided with each stage.  The author ends the book with displaying the owl life cycle that was described throughout the book for a better visual understanding.

Curriculum Connections:

This would be a great book for teachers teaching about animal life cycles and habitats (SOL 2.4a & 2.5b).  The book explains the life cycle of an owlet as it grows and matures into an owl at the elementary age school level. The book has outstanding pictures that are detailed and not graphic for young children.  The book explains the habitat surroundings needed for the barn owl. 

Additional Resources:

Exploring the Southwest Desert USA has a great web-site for anyone that would like to learn about the barn owl.  The range, habitat, description, habits and the owl’s life cycle are all explained in this web-site.  This could be used as an additional resource for a teacher that is teaching a lesson plan on the barn owl. 

Teachers can handout a coloring page for students to color as they learn about the barn owl.  Students have room to draw the owl’s habitat.  The students can also list some of the facts that they learned about the barn owl around their artwork. 

Teachers and students can watch a real barn owl live on the internet! Teachers will need to click on the link to watch Molly the barn owl in the classroom.  This is a free web-site.

Eastside Audubon has listed a lesson plan for teachers who will be teaching about owls.  The lesson plan is geared for students grades 3-6 (adaptions can be made for younger students). 

Book: The Life Cycle of an Owl
Author: Ruth Thomson
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 24
Grade Range: 2-5
ISBN: 1-4358-2833-9

Dennis Gartman, fresh off an 18-hour trip to Quebec, Canada, today writes about Greece, Commodities, and Canada in his Gartman Letter.

Canada has an “excellent…and getting better” port system that allows exports to move through the country swiftly and quickly, enabling it to become a major hub and trade conduit for countries like Brazil and Russia.

Part of the reason why Canada is so attractive are its low taxes and low borrowing costs, a luxury countries like ours haven’t enjoyed for quite some time. Bank of Canada’s Paul Jenkins says that Canadian exporters are going through “significant restructuring,” adding:

Canada’s export sector has had to adapt to a strong Canadian dollar, intense competition from emerging-market economies, and the shift in the relative weight in global demand from advanced economies to emerging-market economies. Significant restructuring is already occurring in many sectors [including lumber and automobiles.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dennis Gartman: Canada Is Killing It, Here’s Why
• Gartman: Here’s How The Chinese Tightening Could Prick The Real Estate Bubble, But Help Inflate Stocks
• Gartman: Why The Nation’s Crude Refiners Have Turned Into Storers

Article Tags: CO2 Propaganda, Hans Schreuder, Open Letter/Fax

Dear Jenny,

RE: A09-106726/106458/JA/Id – Act on CO2 adverts

Thank you for sending me the Final Adjudication with regards my complaint about the government’s “Act on CO2” campaign.

Within that final adjudication there are blatant untruths, the greatest of all being that 40% of atmospheric carbon dioxide comes from human activity.

Please refer to a table from the US Dept of Energy, as used by the UN IPCC themselves, clearly indicating that the best estimate is around three percent only, nowhere near the 40% that is claimed in the adjudication.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/FTPROOT/environment/057304.pdf page 26:

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Quando pensamos que já vimos de tudo na internet, sempre aparece algo diferente para nos surpreender. Dessa vez, uma inesperada cena chamou a atenção de todos. O cachorro Winston, resultado de uma mistura entre as raças Bull Terrier e Boxer, literalmente abocanhou e destruiu o para-choque dianteiro de uma viatura da policia americana.

O surto de fome do cachorro Winston foi gravado por outro policial que estava próximo do ocorrido, que disse não acreditar na insólita cena do cãozinho destruindo o para-choque da viatura que ainda tentou desvencilhar-se dele, mas sem sucesso. Logo depois, Winston foi detido e levado para um abrigo de animais.

A consequência da “fome” do cachorro: uma multa de 200 dólares para Nancy, sua dona, além de um treinamento de obediência para o peralto Winston. Nancy ainda afirmou que estranhou o comportamento atípico de seu cachorro, que nunca lhe causou problemas. A pena foi ordenada pelo juiz da cidade local Chattanooga, EUA.

Remember earlier this month there was this outrageous report about how the design of Toyota’s microprocessor memory chips could make them vulnerable when exposed to cosmic rays causing them to accelerate out of control? Well, it seems like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking that very seriously.

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Tuesday that his agency has hired nine scientists from NASA to help uncover whether electronic glitches are to blame for unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The group of nine will study if such issues as electromagnetic interference may have contributed to Toyota’s acceleration issues.

The National Academy of Sciences will also conduct a study of unintended acceleration and electronic vehicle controls across the entire auto industry.

Both studies will cost the Deport of Transportation about $3 million.

“For the safety of the American driving public, we must do everything possible to understand what is happening,” LaHood said in a statement. “And that is why we are tapping the best minds around.”

– By: Omar Rana

Source: CNNMoney

Discover which six foods to make part of your regular meal plan – foods that can help your liver better cope with chronic viral hepatitis.

by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

Sometimes, our best resources to apprehend a problem lie right under our nose. When it comes to preventing the progression of chronic viral hepatitis, many experts believe that some of our safest, most potent allies reside in the kitchen. Because certain foods can help the liver better handle and neutralize an overload of toxins, six edibles capable of reducing the liver’s susceptibility to hepatitis viruses are described below.

We are constantly being exposed to toxic materials that the liver must remove from our circulatory system. Whether in the form of toxins from our environment, chemicals in our food supply or naturally produced waste, the liver is continually recruited to cleanse and purify blood. Despite its effective system for detoxification, the liver’s ability to perform this duty is hindered when it is infected with viral hepatitis:

· When viral hepatitis causes inflammation in the liver, the cells are consumed by the inflammatory response and less able to perform their duties.

· Chronic hepatitis could have already damaged some liver cells, leaving fewer functioning units available to perform detoxification.

· When greater quantities of toxins are in the blood, the liver is more susceptible to permanent damage, the risk of brain damage (hepatic encephalopathy) grows and there is a greater possibility of developing cancerous cells.

Thus, people with chronic viral hepatitis are helping their liver out when they take steps to assist detoxification. Certain foods are particularly helpful because they contain nutrients the body needs to produce and activate dozens of enzymes involved in the various phases of detoxification.

Six common foods that can help with detoxification, include:

1. Garlic – Besides its antiviral property that could battle a hepatitis virus, garlic helps cleanse bacteria, parasites and other unwanted living pathogens that pollute the blood supply. While only fresh garlic has this characteristic, adding this raw, aromatic to your food will help minimize fatty buildup in the arteries, which can harbor toxins. In addition, garlic contains sulfur compounds, which help the liver break down certain cancer-causing toxins.

2. Kale – A leafy green vegetable that is delicious steamed or sautéed, kale also contains sulfur-containing phytonutrients. The compounds specifically found in kale, glucosinolates and cysteine sulfoxides, activate detoxifying enzymes in the liver that help neutralize potentially carcinogenic substances.

3. Lemons – Lemons are known to be excellent liver detoxifiers. Lemons contain high amounts of vitamin C, which is needed to manufacture glutathione – a substance used by virtually every cell in the body to neutralize toxins. Since lemons help increase the amount of glutathione in the body, they assist the liver in detoxification.

4. Blueberries – These bright colored, little fruits are loaded with anti-inflammatory phytochemicals. Thus, this natural anti-inflammatory may help calm the inflammation characteristic of chronic viral hepatitis. In addition, blueberries are purported to help block toxins from crossing the blood-brain barrier – an especially useful function for those with end stage liver disease who are vulnerable to hepatic encephalopathy.

5. Watercress – Because it increases detoxification enzymes and lowers cancerous cells, this peppery leafy green makes a fantastic addition to any salad or sandwich. In a 2009 German study, researchers found that watercress successfully increased enzymes that foster detoxification.

6. Grapefruit – This slightly tart, slightly sweet citrus fruit has compounds that cleanse harmful viruses from the body. Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Engineering in Medicine showed that naringerin, a flavonoid found in grapefruit, blocks the secretion of Hepatitis C virus from infected cells. However, make sure you are aware of all of the medications that grapefruit interacts with before making it a staple in your diet.

Tapping into the knowledge behind nutritional science gives anyone the power to protect his or her liver from chronic hepatitis. Accessible in most grocery stores, the six foods listed above can help your liver get rid of toxins. Even though including garlic, kale, lemons, blueberries, watercress and grapefruit into your diet does not require a medical degree, eating these foods can turn everyday meals into powerful, effective medicine.

References:

http://food.yahoo.com/blog/beautyeats/30/top-10-detox-foods, Top 10 Detox Foods, Retrieved October 3, 2009, Yahoo! Inc., 2009.

http://naturalhealthremediesanddetox.blogspot.com/2008/12/garlic-natural-health-remedy-for.html, Garlic, a Natural Health Remedy for Catarrh, Retrieved October 4, 2009, Natural Health Remedies & Detox, 2009.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/top-15-cleansing-foods.html, Top 15 Cleansing Foods, Retrieved October 3, 2009, Michelle Schoffro Cook, The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

http://www.doctormurray.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97, Hepatitis, Dr. Murray Natural Living, 2009.

http://www.epidemic.org/theFacts/theLiver/detoxification/, Detoxification, Retrieved October 4, 2009, Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2009.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19636603, Modulation of detoxification enzymes by watercress: in vitro and in vivo investigations in human peripheral blood cells, Hofmann T, et al, Retrieved October 4, 2009, European Journal of Nutrition, July 2009.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38, Kale, Retrieved October 4, 2009, The George Mateljan Foundation, 2009.

ClimateWire: When U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer announced last month that he would step down from his post in July, his words underscored the fact that climate change solutions may come from boardrooms and executive suites, not just from politicians.

“I have always maintained that while governments provide the necessary policy framework, the real solutions must come from business,” de Boer said. He pointed out that the international climate talks in Copenhagen last December provided a new sense of direction that calls for “new partnerships with the business sector,” and that he will be taking a job as a global adviser on climate and sustainability within the Swiss consulting firm KPMG.

While the world’s biggest industrial emitters may have successfully stalled the development of a binding treaty at Copenhagen and helped shape cap-and-trade legislation in Congress, investors also have the power to push companies toward environmental responsibility.

Now global insurance giant Lloyd’s of London is warning that pressure is growing on businesses to address the environmental footprint of their operations and to act in the name of corporate responsibility.

Lloyd’s issued words of caution to businesses on its Web site on Friday, noting, “Pressure is building on businesses to address the environmental impact of their operations.”

“Moves by intergovernmental bodies and investors suggest that they could soon be made more financially accountable for the pollution they cause,” the firm wrote. Some experts say that such accountability could mean that “many of the world’s biggest companies could see their profits cut by one third as a result of more stringent regulation, the abolition of subsidies and increased taxes,” Lloyd’s wrote.

Some investors are already taking action to fuel change, Lloyd’s said. Last month, international investors representing about $2.1 trillion in assets decided to use their collective monetary might to call out 86 companies that had failed to deliver on their commitments as signatories of the U.N. Global Compact, a decade-old policy initiative that seeks to bring global business in line with “universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.”

Still, Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, cautioned that change will not come exclusively from the business community and that government still needs to provide a policy framework to make big change happen.

“The most important thing government can do is pass national policy,” he said. “We’ve never solved any pollution problem without policy limits” (Tom Zeller Jr., New York Times, March 28). – DFM

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Cute scarf.

(College Humor)

Good lord.

(Daily Revelry)

I have sadly never heard of her before, but now my life is a little more complete.

(Holy Taco)

In a case that at least brings to mind the Lori Drew lawsuit, prosecutors in Western Massachusetts have figured out how to charge nine teenagers over the suicide death of a fellow student. Like the Drew case, there’s an emotional issue here: which is that the bullying and the suicide are horrible stories, and it’s a situation where certainly people have a natural inclination to want to punish someone. But it’s a lot trickier than that. Punishing people because someone commits suicide sets a really dangerous precedent that could encourage more kids to commit suicide — thinking that it will get their tormentors “punished.” Now, there may actually be much more to this case — and some of the charges at least suggest there’s a possibility of additional activities, such as statutory rape, that happened with some of the teens. However, all of the news reports seem to focus on the fact that these charges were brought because of the suicide.

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Filed under: Motorsports

How do you spell “Boondoggle?” That would be “A1 GP.” The national-team based, FIA-sanctioned motorsport series declared bankruptcy at the end of last year and all of its holdings and intellectual property are up for sale, including the 20 Ferrari chassis that the Italians had been withholding for debts outstanding.

If the price is much higher than a penny, we question why anyone would want to get involved. In six years the series never made money, teams have been going bankrupt and there are current and potential judgments from individuals and territories against the entire series. Billed as The World Cup of Motorsport, the venture sounded good, and the list of drivers it attracted is seriously impressive, but making the necessary dough is another story.

Still, the administrator of A1 GP Operations is optimistic enough to say he hopes to have a purchaser in place by the end of March. We’ll keep an eye out for that announcement, but we think a safe bet with that penny would be on not seeing another A1 GP season. You’ll find a press release on the sale after the jump.

[Source: GoIndustry DoveBid]

Continue reading Be Your Own Racing Czar: A1 GP assets offered up in liquidation sale

Be Your Own Racing Czar: A1 GP assets offered up in liquidation sale originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kim Kardashian is back on the market, making this a good time to look at her body of work over the years.

When Kim started getting a lot of press with the sex tape and all I couldn’t really understand it, as she was pretty close to being out and out fat (by celebrity standards anyway). But over the years she’s managed to get hotter and hotter, to the point where I think people pretty universally thought Reggie Bush was a lucky bastard. Kardashian also loves posting pictures on the internet, so we probably could have found hundreds of pics for this gallery, but we managed to slim it down to a more reasonable number of some of the hottest. Check it out after the jump, our Kim Kardashian picture gallery:

A Mazda anunciou um acordo com a companhia japonesa Toyota de licenciamento da tecnologia de motorização hibrida utilizada em seu veiculo hibrido Prius, que já teve sua qualidade comprovada no mercado.

Com isso, os planos da Mazda é de utilizar o sistema hibrido em conjunto com sua nova geração de motores em desenvolvimento e chamada de Sky-D para os propulsores movidos a diesel e de Sky-G para os movidos a gasolina e adotados com o sistema de injeção direta de combustível. Dessa forma, eles estreariam no Japão a partir do ano de 2013 num veiculo hibrido.

Em conjunto com a adoção de novas tecnologias ecologicamente corretas como os sistemas “Stop&Start” e o de frenagem regenerativa de energia, aliado a estratégia “Buiding Block” que consiste em maximizar o desempenho de sua parte mecânica em geral e a redução de peso a Mazda pretende reduzir o consumo médio de seus veículos em até 30% até o ano de 2015.

Fonte: InsideLine

Consumer confidence in the US rose 1.5 points to 52.5 versus the consensus of 51.0. Prior numbers have been revised from 46.0 to 46.4.

Below, the official release in full:

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had decreased in February, rebounded in March. The Index now stands at 52.5 (1985=100), up from 46.4 in February. The Present Situation Index increased to 26.0 from 21.7. The Expectations Index improved to 70.2 from 62.9 last month.

The Consumer Confidence Survey® is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. TNS is the world’s largest custom research company. The cutoff date for March’s preliminary results was March 23rd.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “Consumer confidence, which had declined sharply in February, managed to recoup most of the loss in March. However, despite this month’s increase, consumers continue to express concern about current business and labor market conditions. And, their outlook for the next six months is still rather pessimistic. Overall, consumer confidence levels have not changed significantly since last spring.”

Consumers’ assessment of current-day conditions was less negative in March. Those claiming conditions are “bad” decreased to 42.8 percent from 45.1 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “good” increased to 8.6 percent from 6.8 percent. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was also less pessimistic. Those saying jobs are “hard to get” declined to 45.8 percent from 47.3 percent, while those saying jobs are “plentiful” increased to 4.4 percent from 4.0 percent.

Consumers’ short-term outlook improved in March. Those anticipating conditions will worsen over the next six months declined to 13.9 percent from 15.9 percent, while those anticipating an improvement increased to 18.3 percent from 16.1 percent.

Regarding the outlook for the labor market, the percentage of consumers expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead decreased to 21.6 percent from 24.7 percent. Those anticipating more jobs will become available increased to 14.6 percent from 13.2 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes improved to 10.5 percent from 10.1 percent.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Consumer Confidence Expected To Tank And Everyone WIll Blame The Snow Storms
• Are Japanese Now Scared Of Inflation? Consumers Post Strongest Retail Sales Jump In 13 Years
• America Just Declared The Recovery Over So You’d Better Get Ready For The Double Dip

O salão do automóvel de Nova Iorque está perto (próxima quinta-feira), e com ele as novidades começam a aparecer. A Subaru, por sua vez, parece que vai apresentar um novo modelo do Impreza WRX STi, com o retorno das famosas asas traseiras, que pode ser parte de um pacote de atualização STi.

A idéia da Subaru pode ser o resgate da reputação que o Impreza tinha nos tempos da WRC, apesar de nenhum detalhe adicional ter sido revelado.

O Sedan WRX vai ser apresentado no salão de Nova Iorque, com uma versão alargada do STi, apesar de que o modelo com a asa traseira pode ser reservado somente para a versão de 300cv do Impreza. Será que a glória que existia no passado irá voltar para o WRX? As informações se confirmarão a partir de quinta-feira, no início do evento.

Via | Autoblog

Scana Industrier ASA has through it’s subsidiary Scana Subsea AB been awarded contracts to deliver riser stress joints for Brazil, and special threaded riser connectors and other forged materials for the North Sea.

The contract value to Scana Subsea AB accumulates to 17 MSEK and deliveries are starting immediately.

These contracts recognize Scana’s fast track delivery capabilities utilizing Scana Steel Björneborg riser forgings and Scana Steel Söderfors connector material capabilities all managed to the market from Scana Subsea AB.