Author: Serkadis

As the lyrics from “Green Acres” noted, “New York is where I’d rather stay. I get allergic smelling hay. I just adore a penthouse view. Dah-ling I love you but give me Park Avenue.” New York regulators on Friday closed the Park Avenue Bank with total assets of $520 million and total deposits of $494 million. The FDIC has arranged for Valley National Bank (NJ) to run it. (Valley National is also taking over LibertyPointe Bank, which was shuttered Thursday.) Down in Florida Old Southern Bank was shut down, and will be run by Centennial Bank out of Arkansas. And in Louisiana, Statewide Bank was closed by the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Home Bank, also based in Louisiana, will assume all of the deposits.

There is indeed movement in the secondary markets for mortgages. The FDIC sold $1.81 billion of notes backed by 103 non-agency residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) from seven failed bank receiverships. “The transaction was met with robust investor demand, with over 70 investors participating across fixed and floating rate series.” The investors included banks, investment funds, insurance funds and pension funds. The aggregate unpaid balance of the 103 securities was approximately $3.6 billion at the time of the sale, and the timely payment of principal and interest due on the notes are guaranteed by the FDIC, and that guaranty is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Attribute it to whatever you like, RealtyTrac announced that foreclosure filings increased in February at “only” a 6% year-over-year rate, the slowest in four years, and actually declined from January’s number. Perhaps those foreclosure-prevention programs, legislation, and other processing delays are capping monthly foreclosure activity.   Default notices, meanwhile, were up 3% from the prior month but down 3% from a year earlier. Nevada residents can continue to chant, “We’re #1” for the 38^th month in a row: 1 in every 102 Nevada homes received a filing, more than four times the national rate.

New came out on Friday that WAMU has tentatively resolved disputes with JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC over $4 billion of disputed deposit accounts. As we remember, in 2008 the FDIC seized WAMU and sold its assets to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion, but this resulted in lawsuits over the deposits. JPMorgan has agreed to turn over the money to WAMU after deducting $172 million as its share of tax refunds received in exchange for 70% of expected tax refunds resulting from WAMU’s prior operating losses that are valued at about $3 billion, with Washington Mutual receiving 30% and other tax refund benefits.

Chase correspondent instituted several overlays to its VA program, along with miscellaneous policy clarifications that were made to existing VA guidelines and do not represent a change to policy. To help its correspondent clients, Chase created a VA Overlay Matrix which can be found on its website. The areas that the overlays impacted included 4506-T documentation, bankruptcy and child support documentation, credit scores, down payment assistance programs, IRRRL underwriting, etc. Any client of Chase’s is best served by digging into the details. Chase also issued a Credit Policy Income Update, a must-read for any underwriter.

Perhaps more importantly, however, is Chase’s clarification of its portfolio Non-Agency/Jumbo product introduced last October to correspondent customers. The product is different from Chase’s Agency or Government products in that Correspondents must be approved by the Chase Customer Management Group to be eligible to sell these loans to Chase. The LTV/CLTV will be reduced if the subject property is located in a Chase-defined distressed market, all condominium projects must be reviewed and approved by the Chase Project Approval Group, streamline condominium project classification is not eligible, primary residence only, and the minimum loan amount is Agency loan limits plus $1, and the maximum loan amounts available up to $2,000,000. Credit policies may be different than agency guides, and appraisals must be ordered from Chase-approved AMC’s.

Union Bank, ex-Union Bank of California, has a new version of the IRS form 4506-T. Their customers have been notified, and it is on their website.

Franklin American informed their patrons that income documentation will be required on all FHA Streamline transactions with case numbers issued on or after March 11, but that this doesn’t replace FAMC’s requirement for the Lender Employment and Income Certification. Depending on the income, various types of documentation are required. For example, for W-2 wages, a verbal VOE is required within 10 days of closing. Self-employed borrower loans need verification from a CPA, quarterly tax payments, or a business license. A dozen types of income, a dozen types of proof.

It seems that every year funding for the USDA Rural Development loan program will be eliminated, and every year it comes back. Maybe that is an exaggeration, and frankly I don’t see Congress and the President cutting home ownership aid to farmers and those in rural areas. But this year the situation is back, and Wells Fargo’s wholesale group announced that the USDA announced that program funding for the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) will likely be exhausted by the end of April and therefore Wells will no longer accept new submissions of RD loans.

SunTrust reminded its clients that starting April Fool’s Day onward all correspondent clients must be MERS members, able to register and transfer loans through MERS and to create unique MIN numbers using “org id” assigned by MERS. SunTrust Mortgage Identification Numbers (MINs) will not be accepted on loans closed on or after April 1, 2010.

U.S. Bank Home Mortgage Wholesale Division made several revisions to its Super Conforming, DU Refi Plus and VA programs. For its FHLMC jumbo fixed super conforming product, for 1-4 unit properties the maximum loan amount will be capped at the lower of the maximum county limit or $1 million, with no manual underwriting. County limits can be found at this FHFA website.

USBHM also reminded clients that with Fannie’s DU 8.0 will allow borrowers to be removed from the new loan on a DU Refi Plus Streamline transaction, provided that proof/documents are in the loan file at the time of underwriting submission, to allow the borrower to be removed (such as proof that the remaining borrower has been making payments). Starting tomorrow, USBHM has established new 2 unit and 3-4 unit LTV’s for purchase and cash Out Refinance transactions of 90% and 80% respectively. The investor also put out new FICO score requirements for IRRRL transactions, defined credit score requirements, and stated, “IRRRL transactions will now limit investment properties to transactions that involve the refinance of a VA loan currently serviced by USBHM.  IRRRL transactions secured by investment property where USBHM is not the servicer of the existing mortgage are not eligible.”

This is better than watching the ball drop in Times Square! The Fed purchased $10 billion (net) in agency mortgage-backed securities over the past week, bringing its total net purchase to about $1.226 trillion. That leaves the Fed with a little under 3 weeks to purchase an additional $25 billion – after that we may have to watch them sell it. Tomorrow we have a Fed meeting, and any surprises in the Fed’s statement could produce a large reaction – but the end of their program is no surprise.

After a decent Retail Sales number on Friday drove rates higher (Super Bowl-related electronic sales?), they bounced right back throughout the day after a weak University of Michigan Consumer Confidence number, and some investors improved pricing. Insurance companies, the Fed, money managers, and hedge funds were in buying mortgages, as has become standard. Much of the buying has been in higher coupons, possibly because of the impact of Fannie & Freddie’s buy downs. Origination was “moderate”. One thing to note is that dealers are seeing some interest from investors in buying pools of 15-yr mortgages.

As opposed to last week, this week is full of scheduled economic news to move the equity and bond markets, the most important being the inflation twins, PPI and CPI. Today we have the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, along with Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. Tomorrow we have some Import & Export numbers, and New Residential Construction. Wednesday is the Producer Price Index; Thursday is Initial Claims, the Consumer Price Index, and the Philly Fed. Pre-numbers this morning we find the 10-yr at 3.70% and mortgages better by about .125 in price.

(Rated PG)

Into a Belfast pub comes Paddy Murphy, looking like he’d just been run over by a train. His arm is in a sling, his nose is broken, his face is cut, and bruised, and he’s walking with a limp.
“What happened to you?” asks Sean, the bartender.
“Michael O’Connor and me had a fight,” says Paddy.
“That little O’Connor,” says Sean, “He couldn’t do that to you; he must have had something in his hand.”
“That he did,” says Paddy, “a shovel is what he had, and a terrible lickin’ he gave me with it.”
“Well,” says Sean, “you should have defended yourself. Didn’t you have something in your hand?”
“That I did,” said Paddy, “Mrs. O’Connor’s breast, and a thing of beauty it was; but useless in a fight.”

Rob

Check out http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/default.aspx. For archived commentaries, check www.robchrisman.com )

Filed under: Sedan, Hyundai, Luxury

Take a look at the Infiniti line-up compared to other top-tier luxury automakers and something’s missing. Nissan’s luxury arm hasn’t had biggie-sized luxo-barge after the brand killed the Q45 in 2006, and it doesn’t look like a replacement is coming anytime soon.

Speaking with Automotive News, Toru Saito, Infiniti’s veep of global business contends that the recently released M sedan will “play a flagship role” for the automaker going forward, and judging by the dimensions of the new M – which comes in around the same size as the old Q – he’s partially right.

Despite matching Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz point-for-point on its entry-level and mid-size models, Infiniti’s offerings have always straddled segments. The G37 is noticeably larger than the A4, 3 Series, IS and C-Class, while the M – which would traditionally take on the A6, 5 Series and E-Class – has grown considerably since it’s last iteration.

According to Saito, if there’s significant demand for a larger vehicle in Infiniti’s line-up, the automaker will consider reviving the Q, but for now “the No. 1 challenge is the environment and efficiency.”

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Could the Infiniti M replace the Q forever? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michelle Obama will grace the over of Newsweek again the week of March 22, 2010. Her article, “Michelle On a Mission”, is a succinct justification for her Let’s Move program. She spells it out in simple terms why this initiative is imperative to our future.

“For many kids today, those walks to school have been replaced by car and bus rides. Afternoons playing outside have been replaced with afternoons inside with TV, videogames, and the Internet. And with many parents working longer hours, or multiple jobs, they don’t have time for family meals around the table anymore.”

In the article she tells us very clearly who is NOT to blame for this epidemic.

“And let’s be honest with ourselves: our kids didn’t do this to themselves. Our kids don’t decide what’s served in the school cafeteria or whether there’s time for gym class or recess. Our kids don’t choose to make food products with tons of sugar and sodium in supersize portions, and then have those products marketed to them everywhere they turn. And no matter how much they beg for fast food and candy, our kids shouldn’t be the ones calling the shots at dinnertime. We’re in charge. We make these decisions.”

“That’s why we started Let’s Move, a nationwide campaign with a single goal: to solve the problem of childhood obesity in a generation, so that children born today can reach adulthood at a healthy weight.”

“Let’s Move is not about trying to turn back the clock to when we were kids, or cooking five-course meals from scratch every night. No one has time for that. And it’s not about saying no to everything either. There’s a place for cookies and ice cream, burgers and fries—that’s part of the fun of childhood.

Instead, Let’s Move is about families making manageable changes that fit with their schedules, their budgets, and their needs and tastes. It’s about giving parents the tools they need to keep their families healthy and fit, and getting more nutritious food—more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less sugar, fat, and salt—into our nation’s schools. It’s about helping grocery stores serve communities that don’t have access to fresh foods, and finding new ways to help our kids stay physically active in school and at home.”

In her own words, FLOTUS makes her initiative’s purpose very clear. Posted by Bridgette. Photo courtesy of Newsweek.

Supporting the War Instead of the Troops

by Ron Paul

Last week, Congress debated a resolution [H. Con Res 248] directing the President to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan no later than the end of this year. The Constitution gives the power to declare war to the Congress, so it is clearly appropriate for Congress to assert its voice on matters of armed conflict. In recent decades, however, Congress has defaulted on this most critical duty, essentially granting successive presidents the unilateral (and clearly unconstitutional) power to begin and end wars at will. This resolution was not expected to pass; however, the ensuing debate and floor vote served some very important purposes.

First, it was important to finally have an actual floor debate on the merits and demerits of continuing our involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan. Most congressional action regarding Afghanistan has concerned continued funding for the conflict. Thus, members of Congress have cloaked their support for an increasingly unpopular war in terms of financial support of the troops. But last week’s resolution had nothing to do with funding or defunding the war, but rather dealt directly with the wisdom of an open-ended commitment of U.S. troops (and hundreds of billions of tax dollars) in Afghanistan. Members opposing the resolution had to make their case for the ongoing loss of American lives as well as the huge expenditures required for an intractable conflict.

In my opinion, this was an impossible case to make.

Supporters of the war made the same intellectually weak arguments for continuing our occupation of a nation with a long and bloody history of resisting foreign occupation. Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.

The War Powers Resolution was passed in 1973 in the aftermath of Vietnam. It was intended to prevent presidents from slipping this country so easily into unwinnable wars, wars with indistinct enemies and vague goals. Unfortunately, it has had the opposite effect by literally legalizing undeclared wars for 90 days. In the case of Afghanistan, 90 days has stretched into nearly a decade. The original purpose of the initial authorization of force – to pursue those responsible for the attacks on September 11 – is no longer applicable. Al Qaeda has left Afghanistan; we are now pursuing the Taliban, who never attacked us. The Taliban certainly are not our friends, but the more of them we kill, the more their ranks grow and the stronger they become. Meanwhile, we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan and accelerating our plunge toward national bankruptcy. Whose interests do we serve by continuing this exercise in futility?

Osama Bin Laden has said many times that his strategy was to bankrupt America, by forcing us into protracted fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union learned this lesson the hard way; and ultimately was forced to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in defeat and humiliation. This same fate may await us unless we rethink our policy and resist any escalation of our military efforts in Afghanistan. Our troops should be used for defending our country, making us safer and stronger at home – not for occupying foreign nations with no real strategy or objective.

Related posts:

1. Ron Paul: Bring Our Troops Home – From Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, Germany, … Download the column as an MP3 file here (3:53…
2. Ron Paul: Saving Face in Afghanistan Download the column as an MP3 file here (3:21…
3. Ron Paul: Why Are We In Afghanistan? Venue: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Date: 10/15/2009…

The reform that President Obama made a centerpiece of his campaign for financial regulation earlier this year gets the short shrift in the bill proposed by Senator Chris Dodd today.

The so-called “Volcker Rule” which would prohibit banks from proprietary trading or investing in hedge funds and private equity funds will not become part of the regulatory rules if the bill is passed.

Instead, Dodd’s bill merely requires regulators to implement Volcker rule in the future. Which is to say, Dodd’s bill skips over the tricky question of how this can be done.

Critics of the Volcker Rule have said that the rule is unworkable because the divide between prop trading and customer service is too blurry. Dodd’s bill seems to adopt this position, foregoing a bright line legislative approach and opting instead to give regulators discretion to craft the rules.

Some supporters of the Volcker Rule will no doubt cry foul. The delay and discretion given to regulators will no doubt give the banking sector a lot of time and opportunity to exercise its influence. Any rules adopted further from the financial crisis are likely to be less restrictive on banks. As public outcry over the financial crisis fades, such rules will be subject to far less public scrutiny.

It seems inevitable that the delay in the rules will be a matter of years. The bill requires the regulations be adopted after a study by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a body that does not yet exist and is created by the bill itself. So the council will have to be formed, officials and aides hired, and the study undertaken before any Volcker Rule is even brought up for consideration.

By then we may have another President. And hardly anyone will remember what the fuss about the Volcker Rule was all about.

Join the conversation about this story »

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, UK, MISC

Britain is rife with cottage-industry sportscar-makers, but two are joining forces as racing manufacturer Ginetta has reportedly acquired supercar start-up Farbio.

The Farbio GTS was the brainchild of one Arash Farboud, who since divested from the venture to build his own Arash AF10. Farbio was left to operate independently, launching various versions of the GTS over the past couple years of operation. The company’s acquisition gives Ginetta – known principally for its racing cars – a ready-made supercar offering to add to its portfolio, as well as a second factory with an in-house carbon fiber manufacturing facility. The unit will continue to operate more or less independently, however, with current Farbio chief Chris Marsh (previously with Marcos, another British sportscar-maker) remaining at the helm.

The Farbio GTS will be rebranded as a Ginetta product (the top-spec Farbio GTS400 renamed the Ginetta F400, for example), and pricing is expected to remain the same for the time being. Ginetta, however, feels that the chassis could accommodate more power, and while Farbio’s marketing strategy placed emphasis on Japan and the Middle East, Ginetta hopes to increase its market share domestically in the UK. Plans are also reportedly afoot to bring the supercar to the North American market, with a homologation team en route Stateside to begin the certification process.

[Source: PistonHeads]

Report: Ginetta acquires Farbio, GTS rebadged, U.S. certification under way originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every few months or so we hear about proposals in Canada to extend Canada’s blank media tax (they prefer “levy”) to MP3 players, such as iPods. The Canadian Private Copying Collective has tried to do this multiple times and had the courts strike it down multiple times. These levies make little sense. They massively increase the price of certain products (studies have seen 90% of the cost of blank CDs going to the levy) and, despite claims to the contrary, the money collected really doesn’t help many musicians. Hell, even the recording industry isn’t a huge fan of the idea, because it’s afraid such a levy will get people thinking that file sharing any music is now “legal.”

So, it’s a bit of a surprise to see that Canadian Member of Parliament, Charlie Angus, who’s generally considered one of the sharper folks on copyright issues, is now putting forth legislation for a Canadian “you must be a criminal” tax on MP3 players. The article suggests that it won’t get very far, and Angus doesn’t seem to be explaining why he’s putting this forward, but it is odd. The idea of such a tax is incredibly unpopular with Canadians, and you would think that Angus, of all people, would recognize that.

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Financial reform is not a good way to start off a Monday apparently.

The Dow is down 36 points to 10,587, the NASDAQ is down 19 points to 2348, and the S&P is down 6 points to 1143.

And bears are also out in full force in the commodities game. Oil has tanked, falling below $80 a barrel to $79.76, down 1.8%.

Gold is up $4.40 to $1106.10 an ounce. Silver is up $0.07 to $17.12 an ounce.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Markets Tired With An Hour To Go
• Stock Drift Lower, Gold And Silver Tumble
• New Week Starts Off With Equities, Commodities Falling

You’ve seen all of the other reviews, you’ve heard all sorts of feedback, you might’ve even gotten the game for yourself. It seems by far that there’s a noticable disparity when it comes to adjectives about the

Here’s the latest whip news from the obvious-biased, but dependable, National Review:

In a press conference on Capitol Hill today, Rep. David Dreier (R., Calif.), ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee, said the word around the House is that Democrats are still about 10 votes away from securing the 216 they will need to pass changes to the healtchare bill. Dreier added that that number might be moving in the wrong direction.

“You are hearing that people are peeling off,” he said.

Don’t miss the latest White House talking points on healthcare >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Last Desperate Push: Here Are The Health Care Talking Points The White House Just Released To Left Wing Think Tanks
• With Healthcare On The Ropes, Obama Goes Back To Using Special Deals To Buy Votes
• Here’s What Healthcare Reform Should Really Look Like

Modern Family is one of the best new sitcoms to come around in a long time and it’s largely because the creators got the humor/eye candy quotient exactly right. It’s funny and there’s plenty to look at for the guys. Plus I like to pretend that Ed O’Neal is actually still playing Al Bundy, only Al finally won the lottery, dumped Peg, and married Sofia Vergara. Modern Family really wraps up that character arc for me.

Sofia Vergara comes from Columbia, and is probably the hottest 37 year old on the planet. I first noticed her in a 2007 Entourage cameo, and have loved watching her on Modern Family, despite the fact I’m not normally much of a sitcom fan. Much like Christina Hendricks, I think Vergara is showing that men prefer women with actual curves, as opposed to the 98 pound bags of bones media generally tries to pass off as sex symbols.

Lots of great Vergara pictures to choose from as she’s been featured in tons of ads, men’s magazines and the like, but here are 15 of the best, in no particular order, as trying to decide when Sofia Vergara is the hottest would be like trying to choose my favorite child. Just not possible.

Quite the dress

The luckiest necklace ever

Always popular hand bra

South American women have a well deserved reputation, this highlights why

Younger Vergara

Younger again, with light hair

I think the darker hair is preferable though

Great pose

Vergara did an epic Stuff photoshoot back in 2002

Legs aren’t too bad either

Cute flower

Sofia Vergara fills out a bikini nicely

And she loves beer, no wonder Al Bundy went for her

El Camino Real, the five-time national Academic Decathlon champions from the Los Angeles Unified School District, earned the state title at the California Academic Decathlon on Monday with a score of 50,590 out of 60,000.  The team will compete in the national competition in Omaha, Neb., next month. 

Sixty-two teams from around the state matched wits over the weekend in Sacramento, testing their knowledge in 10 disciplines, including language and literature, music and art. The only event open to the public, the Super Quiz, was held Sunday; Marshall High School, also from Los Angeles Unified, won that event.

Marshall placed second in the overall competition with 50,029 points and Granada Hills Charter placed third with 49,120.

West High School in Torrance placed sixth and Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra placed ninth. 

Franklin High School, making its first appearance at the state championship,  placed 27th with 40846.8.

El Camino Real won the national championship in 2007, 2005, 2004, 2001 and 1998.

Members of the winning team include Vivian Cheng, Daniel de Haas, Evan Edmisten, Andrew Fann, Audrey Goldbaum, Jessica Lin, Daniel Moreh, Adriana Ureche, and Michael Walker.

The coaches are John Dalsass and Stephanie Franklin.

An awards ceremony is being held Monday in Sacramento.

— Nicole Santa Cruz, reporting from Sacramento

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

Newport Beach city attorney arrested on
suspicion of spousal abuse

L.A. marijuana dispensaries fall short in
referendum signature drive, but say they’ll seek extension

L.A. court officials to send out layoff
notices this week for more than 320 employees

Surfacing a street resurfacing map, a
world-record spaghetti bowl, medical marijuana 101

A Google employee expressed his distaste for the way Apple does business in no uncertain terms in a recent blog post. Tim Bray, a co-inventor of XML and a well-known blogger in his own right, is also a Google employee on the Android team, having recently joined following his time at Sun Microsystems.

The blog post at issue, which appeared on his personal blog, details his reasons behind joining Google, which include a passion for the rapid pace of development on the platform and the fact that it’s an open source system. Another reason is that he “hates” the iPhone. Or at least the context in which the iPhone operates.

Bray doesn’t shy away from sharing his opinion of what Apple’s done wrong with the iPhone, in no uncertain terms:

The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet’s future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It’s a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord’s pleasure and fear his anger.

I hate it.

I hate it even though the iPhone hardware and software are great, because freedom’s not just another word for anything, nor is it an optional ingredient.

The big thing about the Web isn’t the technology, it’s that it’s the first-ever platform without a vendor (credit for first pointing this out goes to Dave Winer). From that follows almost everything that matters, and it matters a lot now, to a huge number of people. It’s the only kind of platform I want to help build.

Apple apparently thinks you can have the benefits of the Internet while at the same time controlling what programs can be run and what parts of the stack can be accessed and what developers can say to each other.

I think they’re wrong and see this job as a chance to help prove it.

Even though I wasn’t sad to see Apple nix a whole host of “sexy” apps recently, I can’t help but agree with where Tim Bray is coming from. Apple is effectively packaging and selling back to us a polished and pristine version of what we used to have only free and unfettered access to. Giving them too much control might start to inhibit our ability to continue to have that free access.

I’m not sure handing the reins to Google won’t have the exact same effect in the long run, but that isn’t what will happen if some people side with them in this developing conflict. Luckily, unlike in professional sports, there doesn’t have to be a winner in clashes between mobile device makers. A healthy balance should keep the power of both in check.

Just a quick reminder, tomorrow is the day that God of War III hits retail in the United States. Another quick reminder, the God of War III Ultimate Edition has a sick Pandora’s Box replica, and you

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, GM

Last year was brutal for the auto industry, with sales down by 21 percent versus 2008. Sports cars were hit even harder, as many customers shied away from spending big dollars on what typically amounts to a second or third vehicle. The Chevrolet Corvette was no different, as America’s sports car saw sales plummet 48 percent versus 2008 – the worst year for Vette sales in nearly 50 years. But was the drop in Corvette sales because of the economy, or its new pony car stablemate, the Camaro?

Wards Automotive claims that web data shows the number one competitor to the Vette isn’t something like the Nissan GT-R or Porsche 911 – it’s the reborn Camaro. But who in their right mind would cross-shop a track-ready thoroughbred with near supercar performance and a relative bargain price tag against the heavier, less agile, less exclusive Camaro? Apparently a lot of people. The Camaro had a rather remarkable 2009, with 61,648 units sold in its first year back. The new Bowtie coupe even managed to beat out the Mustang the last seven months of the year and came within 5,000 sales of besting Ford’s iconic steed despite the fact that the Camaro didn’t go on sale until spring.

With the economy still on the rocks, we’re thinking there may have been some customers who noticed that the Camaro has the same V8 engine as a base model Corvette, seating for four and a price of entry that starts some $18,000 lower than Chevy’s halo car. The Camaro is also a fresh face for the 2010 model year after an eight-year hiatus from the market, while the C6 Vette is now on its sixth year of production, and despite frankly incredible variants like the Grand Sport, ZR1 and just-announced Z06 Carbon, Chevy’s top dog is getting a little long-in-the-tooth.

Either way, it’s hard to argue with the fact that having two high performance, rear-wheel-drive vehicles in the same showroom is going to mean that there will be some cross-shopping. We’re not complaining, though, because choice is a good thing, especially when the options are as nice as these two.

[Source: Wards Automotive | Image: Joe Raedle/Getty]

Is the Chevrolet Camaro cannibalizing sales of the Corvette? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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See below for over 18 of the best Sofia Vergara pictures online!

Modern Family is one of the best new sitcoms to come around in a long time and it’s largely because the creators got the humor/eye candy quotient exactly right. It’s funny and there’s plenty to look at for the guys. Plus I like to pretend that Ed O’Neal is actually still playing Al Bundy, only Al finally won the lottery, dumped Peg, and married Sofia Vergara. Modern Family really wraps up that character arc for me.

Sofia Vergara comes from Columbia, proving once again that South Americans pretty much have a monopoly on hot women. Check out these Vergara pics after the jump and tell me you don’t agree:

If you know of any other great Sofia Vergara pictures, post links to them in the comments section.

Toyota ha sorprendido a los medios durante este Salón de Ginebra. La marca nipona ha confirmado que el nuevo Toyota FT-86 verá la luz el próximo año 2012. En concreto, se espera que su comercialización se inicie en el primer trimestre de dicho año.

Por el momento estos son todos los datos que podemos ofreceros. Además, se ha publicado un vídeo a modo de presentación para confirmar la fecha de llegada de este nuevo coupé aunque como es de esperar, no revela nada de importancia.

A continuación os dejo con el vídeo:

Related posts:

1. Toyota FT-86, vídeo disponible
2. Reveladas las líneas del Toyota Etios gracias a un nuevo vídeo
3. Toyota seguirá en la Fórmula 1 hasta el 2012

In recent weeks, the Costa Rican blogosphere has continued to discuss, comment, and criticize the new Traffic Law, which went into effect the first week of March. Many have expressed their dissatisfaction with some of the items proposed in the new law.

Many do not agree with the stiffer financial penalties for those committing infraction of the new law. In addition, there were also not many reductions in penalties, as had been hoped. The increased fines will mean more money for the Ministry of Revenue, politicians, as well as for the traffic police. Nacho of Media Blog [es] writes:

Algunas de estas leyes son buenas. Pero la mayoría son puras estupideces que sirven para que los tráficos sean más corruptos y cobren para no hacer partes, y lo que cobran es plata para que los diputados anden en lujosos carros a cuestas de los pobres y no para los CALLEJONES que tenemos por calles.

Photo by Carlos Luna and used under a Creative Commons license.

In addition, many drivers do not see how traffic cops can enforce the law, when they themselves violate traffic laws. The blogger at Conejitos Suicidas [es] published a video made by YouTube user Carlossave, who recorded himself following a police officer traveling at a high rate of speed.

Another area of concern with the new Traffic Law is that it has allowed an increased level of blood alcohol for drivers. Because now a drunk driver, who is first-timer, would not go to jail in the event that there are no injuries or property damage. Haroldo Rivas of Harol's Blog [es] writes:

Ayer los señores diputados (después de agarrarse a gritos como los más corrientes del mundo) acordaron que el conductor borracho que sea primerizo no verá nunca la cárcel por más macabros que sean los resultados de sus acciones, además de aumentar el límite de alcohol permitido en la sangre, porque como todos nosotros sabemos, lo hacen para protegerse ellos mismos que son algunos protagonistas de este mismo escenario. ¿Cuándo será que empezarán a trabajar con la seguridad del pueblo en mente y no con su comodidad o dinero? Shame on you…

Due to this uncertainty, the main questions from Costa Ricans are whether this law will work property in the country and whether its results will be a benefit for its citizens. Mae Moto of the blog Caballeros de la Luz [es] writes:

Pero la pregunta es, sirve realmente todo lo anterior (refiriéndose al artículo completo escrito en su blog sobre la nueva Ley de Transito: para mejorar la situación en nuestras saturadas carreteras? En mi humilde opinión esta reforma a la Ley de Tránsito es completamente una farsa, y una forma de sacarle el dinero a la clase media que siempre será el peor enemigo de la clase rica

This confirms the insecurity and distrust that Costa Ricans have of the new laws created in our country, in this case the Traffic Law. As it has been the main topic of discussion of the various blogs of Costa Rica, it been good for people to have this space to express what they feel and want to say about the decisions that affect the citizens.

Earlier this morning we brought you all the details and images of the 2011 BMW 5-Series Touring. We now have two videos showing the 5-Series Touring in action. One video is pretty interesting (by that we mean corny) and shows a family man driving up to his family, loading up all their luggage to show off the cargo space of the 5-Series Touring and driving away to a picnic.

BMW has yet to confirm if the new 5-Series Touring will come to the stateside but chances are slim. The new 5-Series Gran Turismo is expected to fill the 5-Series Touring’s shoes.

Click here to read our original post on the 2011 BMW 5-Series Touring.

2011 BMW 5-Series Touring:

2011 BMW 5-Series Touring in Action:

2011 BMW 5-Series Touring Highlights:

2011 BMW 5-Series Touring:

– By: Omar Rana