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Responding to a Swiss fan who emailed accusing Jobs of “deliberately pulling the wool over the rest of the worlds eyes” about the international iPad delay, Jobs used some fruity language in reply. More »

The Brookings Institute has released a new piece of research that basically blames Greece’s entire financial crisis on corruption.

They examined 40 different countries for correlations between levels of corruption and budget deficit and found the following:

WSJ:

“If Greece had better control of corruption—not to Swedish standards, but even at Spain’s level—it would have had a smaller budget deficit by 4% of gross domestic product,” on average over the past five years, says Daniel Kaufmann, senior fellow at Brookings and the study’s author.

The Wall Street Journal pulls this rather startling quote:

The core of the problem is that we don’t have a culture of civic society,” says Stavros Katsios, a professor at Greece’s Ionian University who specializes in economic crime. “In Greece, complying with the rules is a matter of dishonor. They call you stupid if you follow the rules.”

…

Last year, 13.5% of Greek households paid a bribe, €1,355 on average, according to a Transparency survey published last month. Ordinary citizens hand out cash-filled envelopes to get driver’s licenses, doctor’s appointments and building permits, or to reduce their tax bills, according to the organization’s Greek chapter.

Read more at the WSJ >

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If you plan to drive a Ford soon, you’ll have something more to look at on your vehicles dashboard. The company’s MyFord Touch in-vehicle software system will now have an Eco-Route tool added to its functions before it launches. This system will knock green consciousness and fuel efficiency in driver heads.

So in future, when you enable your Ford’s GPS system, you can also select the most fuel-efficient route and not just a shorter or faster one. According to the company, drivers using the Eco-Route will see a 15% mileage improvement. This might increase the cars instrument panel a bit, with a few more distractions and complexities, but for the increased mileage, this all seems worth it! Nice move Ford!

[VentureBeat]

NHTSA administrator David Strickland told reporters that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aggressively investigating safety concerns raised by a Consumer Reports’ on the Lexus GX 460 SUV.

After Consumer Reports issued a rare “Don’t Buy” recommendation after it found rollover concerns during a test of the Lexus GX 460, Toyota suspended sales of the model worldwide and said that it is testing every SUV in its lineup.

“Toyota has clearly made a determination independently that this is a defect that may have an impact on safety so they made the decision to stop sale,” Strickland said “At that point, that is legally the right thing to do.”

While Toyota hasn’t announced plans to recall the luxury SUV, Strickland said the agency is aggressively investigating whether the model meets federal safety standards, and is inspecting the very vehicle that Consumer Reports tested.

“We should probably be getting answers on that very soon,” Strickland said. “We’ve made no decisions.”

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Detroit News

Walking around on the side-walk will soon not only be an alternative to missing the bus or burning fat, you’ll end up powering your street lights too! This sounds fantastic, and the idea is undeniably so. Using the principles of piezoelectricity, these modules developed by a Dutch company, Sustainable Dance Club uses micro-sensors which on exerting pressure generate electricity.

This technology has already found its way on a trial section laid out at Toulouse, France. Eight modules, generating around 50 to 60 watts have been laid out. These produce enough energy to power up a street lamp. Walking to your local convenience store has never been more electrifying and powerful before.

[FastCompany]

Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:

Startup companies have been busy raising capital over the past few weeks, which include some time when I was out of the country. In a bid to catch up, I’ve collected these recent deals to help you catch up as well.

—Ambit Biosciences disclosed in a regulatory filing that it has raised $12 million out of a targeted $13.4 million financing that includes warrants to purchase as many as 284,584 preferred Series D shares or an undetermined number of preferred stock. The San Diego biotech has focused its technology on developing anti-cancer drug treatments from an emerging class of compounds that block the cellular activities of certain enzymes known as kinases. Ambit has moved to develop its own anti-cancer compounds after developing technology to screen large numbers of kinases for the best candidate compounds to block them.

—San Diego’s Allylix says it has closed its Series C round of funding by raising a total of $9 million, which includes $6 million the company disclosed in a regulatory filing in January. The company has been developing ways of using genetically engineered yeast to make specialty chemicals known as terpenes, a basic building block for both synthetic and naturally occurring fragrances, flavors, and other products. The company received additional investment from new investor Middleland Capital as well as existing investors Blue Grass Angels, Life Science Angels, Tech Coast Angels, Pasadena Angels and Tate & Lyle Ventures.

—San Diego-based TweetPhoto, a real-time platform for sharing Twitter and other social web media, says it has secured $2.6 million in a Series A financing led by Canaan Partners, with additional investment from Anthem Venture Partners and angel investors. The company plans to use the capital to accelerate development of its core technology, a platform of open application program interfaces, or APIs, and mobile software development kits for real-time media sharing across the social web. The funding also allows the company to expand its developer relations program and to introduce new products that further strengthen its position as the preferred way for leading application developers to incorporate real-time media sharing into their applications.

—Sotera Wireless, a San Diego startup previously known as Triage Wireless, says it has raised $10.7 million as part …Next Page »

UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 15, 2010

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR

FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 2010

In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing the Oval Office. This briefing is closed press.

Later, the President will deliver remarks at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors, which will be held at the Department of the Interior. He will address the challenges, opportunities, and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans and American families to the outdoors. This event is pooled for TV and still photographers and open to pre-credentialed correspondents. The deadline to request credentials has passed.

After returning to the White House, the President will meet with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room. This meeting is closed press. Expected attendees include:

Vice President Joe Biden

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations (via videoconference)

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg

Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew

Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin

Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (via videoconference)

Anne Patterson, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (via videoconference)

Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

General David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command

General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Commander in Afghanistan (via videoconference)

Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence

CIA Director Leon Panetta

General James Jones, National Security Advisor

Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor

John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security

Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President

Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan

The President and the Vice President will then have lunch in the Private Dining Room. This lunch is closed press.

In the afternoon, the President will host a meeting of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) in the Roosevelt Room to discuss a range of economic issues, including job creation and the President’s proposal to double the number of exports over the next five years. The Vice President will also attend. The President will discuss the urgent need to pass strong financial reform legislation, and the momentum behind reform efforts currently in the Senate. He will specifically address the steps we must take to strengthen oversight of derivatives, the same financial products that led to the near collapse of AIG, warning that the problems of the future will rest on the steps we take to address derivatives now. There will be a pool spray at the top of the meeting. The entire meeting will be streamed live at www.WhiteHouse.gov/live.

In-Town Travel Pool

Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP

TV Corr & Crew: ABC

Print: Politics Daily/Sun Times

Radio: FOX

EDT

9:30AM Pool Call Time

9:30AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the Presidential Daily Briefing

Oval Office

Closed Press

10:15AM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors

Department of the Interior

Pooled for TV and still photographers and open to pre-credentialed correspondents (Travel Pool Gather Time 9:45AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

11:00AM THE PRESIDENT meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan

Situation Room

Closed Press

12:45PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT have lunch

Private Dining Room

Closed Press

1:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with the PERAB

Roosevelt Room

Pool spray at the top (Gather Time 1:20PM -Briefing Room)

##

Forget just snarling air traffic. The volcanic ash from Iceland could temporarily bring normal day-to-day activity to a halt.

A UN health agency is calling on Europeans to stay indoors as the ash settles, according to an AP alert.

Long weekend!

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MEXICO CITY — “These are the movers and shakers here in Mexico,” first lady Michelle Obama said as she sat down Thursday morning with a dozen student leaders from all parts of the nation at a former colonial-era hacienda here.
Most of the group had some extraordinary accomplishment in helping the underserved or the unfortunate, whether in education, health or the environment.

Billed as a roundtable discussion, there was no cross talk as Mrs. Obama worked her way around the rectangular table as the six men and six women each explained their special projects. Mrs. Obama’s offering for the group was her recounting of how, when she was coming up, during meetings, she would often find herself as the only African American at the table.

Maritza Aurora Morales Casanova — an environmental educator — told Mrs. Obama how hard it was to get attention for environmental issues and commented on gender roles.

“Behind a great man, there’s a great woman. I don’t believe that, I believe beside every great man there is a great woman,” she said.

“What would have happened to Diego Rivera without Frida Kahlo?” she asked, speaking of the famous Mexican artists. Or Pierre Currie without Marie, she said of the French physicists. Or, turning to the U.S., Bill Clinton “without Hillary?”

Mrs. Obama seemed touched. “What you have to know is you are the voices of inspiration,” she said. “You don’t need Bill Gates or Michelle Obama, although that’s nice sometimes. Young people in your communities are relating to you.”

This was Mrs. Obama’s last public event of her first solo official international swing that started Tuesday with her stop in Haiti. Mrs. Obama lifted off from Mexico City at noon en route to San Diego.

The Mini Estate is celebrating its 50 year anniversary in 2010 and this video shows the celebrations at Essen during the Techno Classica historic cars event. This particular exhibition was created with the collaboration of Mini Clubs in Germany and the Netherlands, who provided some of the rarest examples of Mini Estates from their club members. See Mini Estates such as the Clubman GT and other classics in the video above.

Google takes pride in its ‘green culture’ and tries its best to be as environmentally conscious as possible, for a large corporation, anyway. It’s using green energy, whenever possible, to power its data centers and its headquarters, the Googleplex, is ‘littered’ with solar panels that provide some of the electricity requirement… (read more)

Have you ever pondered the concept of forever or infinity? It is truly mind boggling! What is even more astonishing is that when I buy a stock, my target holding period is forever. For most people, myself included, that is hard to grasp and to carry out. When things start going bad, our primal instinct of flight kicks in and we want to sell. In many cases, that is the time we should be buying. Holding a stock through an economic downturn is much easier when it pays a rising dividend.

Below are several companies giving their shareholders a reason not to sell by increasing their cash dividends:

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) is an integrated provider of natural gas and natural gas liquids services, including processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and terminalling. April 13th the partnership increased its quarterly distribution to $0.5675/unit. The quarterly distribution will be paid on Thursday, May 6, 2010, to unit holders of record as of the close of business on Friday, April 30, 2010. The ex-dividend date is April 28. The yield based on the new payout is 6.36%.

Genesis Energy (GEL) is a limited partnership focused on the midstream segment of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. April 14th the partnership raised its quarterly distribution 8.9% over the first quarter 2009 to $0.3675/unit. The distribution will be paid on May 14, 2010, to Common Unitholders of record at the close of business on May 4, 2010. The ex-dividend date is April 30, 2010. The yield based on the new payout is 7.20%.

HB Fuller (FUL) is an international manufacturer of adhesives, sealants, paints and specialty construction products. April 15th the company increased its quarterly dividend 2.9% to $0.07/share. FUL is a Dividend Achiever and has raised its dividend for 41 consecutive years. The yield based on the new payout is 1.17%.

Donegal (DGICA) offers personal and commercial lines of insurance to businesses and individuals in 18 Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southeastern states. April 15th the company raised its quarterly dividend 2.2% to $0.115/share. The dividend is payable May 17, 2010 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 3, 2010. The yield based on the new payout is 3.08%.

In addition to the above dividend raisers, the following Dividend Aristocrats declared regular quarterly cash dividends:

April 12th Walgreens (WAG) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1375/share with a 1.5% yield. The dividend is payable June 12, 2010, to shareholders of record May 20, 2010. The ex-dividend date is May 6, 2010. [Analysis]

Pitney Bowes (PBI) on April 12 declared a quarterly dividend of $0.365/share with a 5.9% yield. The dividend is payable June 12, 2010, to shareholders of record on May 14, 2010. The ex-dividend date is May 12, 2010.

April 15th Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.595/share with a 5.3% yield. The dividend is payable June 15, 2010, to stockholders of record as of May 12, 2010. The ex-dividend date is May 10, 2010.

If you invest in good solid stocks that increase their dividends on a consistent basis, day-to-day share movements will not concern you. For a list of stocks with a long string of consecutive cash dividend increases, see this list.

Full Disclosure: Long ED. See a list of all my income holdings here.

(Photo Credit)

Related Posts:

• High-Yield Dividend Stocks: A Safer Approach
• Procter & Gamble (PG) Increases Dividend 10%
• Increasing Dividend Yield Part V: MLPs
• Increasing Dividend Yield Part I: Utilities
• 38 Dividend Securities For A Well-Rounded Asset Allocation

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Alcohol with lunch? Well, why not? Why not a nice white wine to go with your salad, or a crisp IPA to accompany that sandwich?

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For quite some time, authorities in South Korea have contended that a lot of kids there are addicted to the internet. One of the more misguided steps take to try and “cure” these kids was to put them in a boot camp where they couldn’t use computers, but apparently that effort failed. So, now, the government is mandating a six-hour nightly curfew (via Gizmodo) for 19 online role-playing games that account for 79 percent of the Korean online game market. Apparently the curfew will help “eradicate video game addiction”, and will apply only to underage users. However, it’s not clear how the government will ensure users are accurately representing their age. It’ll be great that some kids will be prompted to get their sleep, but once again, it seems like the curfew will just treat a symptom, not the underlying problem that leads people to get unhealthily immersed in online games.

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Katy Perry and Russell Brand are considering getting married in Japan, sources say.

Last week, pop star Rihanna — who happens to be one of Katy’s dearest friends — accidentially let it slip that the couple were planning to get hitched in India later this year. However, the pair have since decided to keep their options open, tipsters tell The Mirror.

Russ and Katy are said to be marrying at the end of the year, almost a year to the day the British comic proposed to the American pop star after just a few months of dating. The couple originally planned to wed in India, in an intimate ceremony before close friends and family within the grounds of the Taj Rambagh Palace hotel — where Russell popped the question — but they’re now exploring other host cities.

“The pair wants to keep people guessing and on their toes – even their celeb pals…. Russell told a couple of people that they were also considering Tokyo as a venue. It is a really buzzy, vibrant city and somewhere completely different and unique. Katy kept jokingly hitting Russell, telling him to keep his big mouth shut. Katy really likes the idea of wearing some kind of Geisha-inspired bridal dress so it is a real possibility.”

Some people simply freak out at the thought of dancing. Whether it’s at a wedding, or at a bar, or even at their first dance class, some people are so overwhelmed at the feeling of being humiliated and shamed that they cringe and cave inward, and either hide wherever they can or walk away.

If you are one of those people, fear not – help is on the way. James Joseph, author of Every Man’s Survival Guide to Ballroom Dancing, says plain and simple, “It doesn’t have to be that way. Dancing can transform someone who thinks they are doomed for life into a winner who is as popular and sought after wherever they go.”

“You can break through your fear barriers, if before you even step on the floor, you get some really straight forward attitude adjustment,” he says. “It’s a crucial action once done, you are free to enjoy the pleasures that can be found.”

Men – dance is the only activity where you can go up to beautiful women one right after the other, spend three minutes touching them artfully all over their body, and each one will thank you for it afterwards.

Jim offers beginners ten tips to get them over the chasm of early doubt:

1. Understand the music. Learn how to count the beats of music to identify the musical structure. Focus on the music you love. It makes it so much easier.
2. Take Lessons. A good teacher will demonstrate the elements of music and dance that defy words and will tell you when you are doing something right and wrong. If you need to, take the beginners class a second time before moving on to a harder class so you really get the basics down.
3. Focus on rhythm patterns, not direction of movement. Learn to understand when to step. It is far more important than where to step.
4. Focus on technique, not learning more step patterns. The step pattern is the fancy moves you make when you move on the floor. Technique is what you look like and feel like when you do it. Make what you do look really good before you make it complicated.
5. Get out and dance. Time on the floor dancing is the only thing that will make you better. Get out and dance! With great classes, great music and enjoyable people, it’s fun and it’s easy.
6. Dance with a variety of partners. Dancing with one person risks the creation of bad habits. Having to dance with a variety of partners is a basic dance skill. It removes the stress of dancing and is a good way to build confidence and skill.
7. Dance Up – which means that you ask better dancers to dance with you. When you work with someone more skilled than you, suddenly the difficult things will start to work.
8. Recover seamlessly from missteps. Handling mistakes is tough. Lighten up, smile, take the next step. Some of your best accidents will produce the most interesting results and improvements you will ever make. As Ms Frizzle says, “Go ahead. Make mistakes!”
9. Watch great dancers! Some of the best dancers in the world are on TV week after week. Watch the dancers and learn from the best. Men – if you get hooked on dancing, you’ll stop gazing at the women and start studying the men – to steal their moves!
10. Learn manners. Be a gentle and polite dancer and you’ll have lots of happy willing partners. It’s hard to dance with someone who lacks sensitivity of their partner. It’s OK to be a little klutzy. It’s not OK to be rude or arrogant. Be warm and friendly with all eye contact. Treat everyone with respect.

Finally, Jim says, that you will learn to dance the best if you dance to the music you love. Big-band, blues, disco, Latin, salsa, waltz, soul, rock ‘n roll, cha-cha, hip-hop, country, or western top 40. Take your pick. Do what you love.

Now get out there and shake your booty.

photo credit: Nuno Duarte

Related posts:

1. Drunken Table Dancing Not A Good Idea
2. The Best Las Vegas Hotels for Bachelor Parties
3. Three Tips To Keep Your Girlfriend Happy

(This guest comes courtesy of the author’s blog)

I haven’t thought the 75%+ rally was particularly irrational over the course of the last 12 months.  Surprised by the strength?  Absolutely.  But irrational, no.  As of late, we’ve begun to see signs that the consumer is back, but the equity action implies that the consumer is not only back, but ready to break records.  In late 2006 I wrote a letter that said:

“So here we sit with a relatively healthy economy, signs of inflation and record housing prices. Sounds pretty good, right? Not so fast. The markets could certainly move higher if housing doesn’t collapse, but we see very few scenarios in which that can happen.  When the housing market slows consumers will spend less and businesses will begin to suffer. The US economy will then fall into a recession and European and Asian countries will quickly follow suit as the world’s greatest consumers wilt under the environment of low liquidity and higher debt….The credit driven housing bubble remains the greatest risk to the equity markets at this time.”

I said the market was due for a potentially crippling recession as the yield curve inverted, consumer balance sheets were turned upside down, and a housing bubble was brewing.  Just days before the market crashed in 2008 I said the market had all the ingredients for a crash.  In late 2008 I said the market had overreacted and would likely revert towards the mean in 2009 for a total return of 18%.

The day before the market bottom in March 2009 I said government intervention would likely generate an equity rally.  But I did not come close to predicting that we were on the precipice of a 75% 12 month move.  Not even close.  On the other hand, I have never thought the move was particularly irrational and didn’t fight the tape through 2009.

I was very constructive on the market heading into 2010 and maintained that stimulus, strong earnings and an accommodative Fed would result in higher stock prices in H1.  I point this out not because I am trying to toot my own horn or gloss over my many imperfections (many can be emphasized), but overall I have been able to not only foresee the macro mechanics driving the market, but have also done a fine job translating that into price action.

But where do we sit now?  We are beginning to see some glaring disconnects between the market and reality.  There are very real improvements versus where we were just one year ago.  The recovery is here and it has been stronger than I expected.  But there are also signs of irrationality on the fray.  This is nowhere more apparent than it is in the consumer sector.  The retail holders index is one of the few indices that has experienced a full-blown v-shaped recovery.  Just how wide is the disconnect between the consumer and retail stocks. Let’s compare and contrast 2007 and 2010:

We have lost 7.8 million jobs since then.

The unemployment rate is 9.7% versus 4.5%.

Total unemployed workers are now 15.7 million versus 6.5 million.

Real personal income less government transfers is lower by 6.5%, or $624 billion.

Real retail sales have rebounded just 4% from their lows and are still down 9% from the 2007 peak.

Consumer credit for February showed another sharp retrenchment of -5.6B.

Consumer bankruptcies for March were the highest level since 2005.

There is a glaring $1.5 TRILLION hole in the consumer balance sheet.

Home foreclosures surged 19% last month and are at their highest level since 2005.

The consumer’s largest asset (housing) is down 33% since 2007.

Meanwhile, the retail holders index (RTH) is back at its pre-recession highs.  Granted, the market is a discounting mechanism and this index has benefited greatly from retail expansion and improved corporate efficiency, but operating income at the index’s top 25 holdings is down 4.5% from 2007 and that’s including new stores!    This doesn’t rhyme with a near all-time high in the retail index.  This price action is acting as if the consumer is (or will become) whole again – which I believe is undeniably false.  Is the consumer on the mend and willing to spend again?  Most certainly.  Whether this is a good thing is a whole different debate, but as of now there are still few signs that the consumer is back to full strength or even close despite the market acting as though Goldilocks is here and ready to party.

Of course, I’m talking my book as I sit on my first sizable short position in over two years (which has been a terrible call thus far), but the evidence appears clear to me.  This market is pricing in more than a Goldilocks recovery.  It is pricing in sheer euphoria and the data just doesn’t rhyme with such an environment.

Read more market commentary at The Pragmatic Capitalist >

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Goldman has issued a warning for Chinese property prices after the Chinese government on April 14th issued further four new restrictions on both first and second-home property buyers.

Escalated mortgage tightening is probably the most eye-catching measure: Down payments for first-time homebuyers with flats larger than GFA90sqm must be at least 30%; for second home buyers, down payments must be a minimum of 50% and mortgage rate should be 110% over PBOC bench mark lending rate; and for third home purchases or above, the banks should substantially increase the down payment requirement and mortgage rate further. In addition, local governments should accelerate the study of tax measures related to individual housing transactions that could rationalize individual housing purchases, and then stipulate these measures. Other measures include: to increase effective supply, accelerate land development, achieve 2010 social house development plan and strengthen market supervision, which are largely a repeat of the previous announcement.

More tightening policy to come; overhang is not over yet We believe escalated mortgage tightening was largely expected by the market, as the Chairman of CBRC already alerted the banks, according to sohu.com on April 12. But we think there could be more measures to come. Our read on the latest announcement is that either the “property consumption tax” or a heavier secondary transaction tax could be the next tightening step taken by some local governments.

We would add to positions if share prices approach bear case We think government tightening will exert near-term pressure on both transaction volume and prices. That said, we think such downside risk in the physical market is already largely priced in valuations.

Thus they believe property prices could come under pressure, but that share prices for many Chinese property stocks already reflect lower property price expectations.

They say that their property coverage is currently trading at over a 30% discount to expected net asset values, and that their expected asset values already incorporation an expectation for a 10% property price drop.

(Via Goldman, China:Real Estate, Yi Wang, 16 April 2010)

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The New York Times has a good piece bringing you up to speed on wha could be the next crisis zone inside of Europe: Portugal.

Here are the numbers:

Portugal’s debt, at just under 90 percent of gross domestic product, is lower than Greece’s 113 percent level. The government in Lisbon has taken pre-emptive steps to cut spending and raise taxes.

Portugal’s financing needs for the year, while high at 24 billion euros, or $32.7 billion, are not as onerous as Greece’s. On Wednesday, the government was able to raise two billion euros comfortably on the bond market.

But Tim Lee of pi Economics, a consultancy based in Stamford, Conn., said a country’s savings rate, more than its deficits or debt-to-G.D.P. ratio, is the best measure of an economy’s ability to pay down its debt.

So sure, Portugal could survive with the right combination of luck and implicit backing.

But the trend is against you, as demographic and other structural problems continue to eat away at government finances across the continent.

Read the whole story >

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For Auto China 2010, which starts on April 23 in Beijing, we should expect a smorgasbord of displays from both domestic and global carmakers. Of course, each carmaker will be competing for attention.

One of the most anticipated face-off involves Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and General Motors Co. Certainly, these two carmakers won’t put on an ordinary show. Geely will display 39 models while GM will display 28 – many of these models being new ones. Geely asserts that it will display 11 all-new models on stage at the event. Meanwhile, GM said that it will show six new models for the first time in front of a Chinese audience. This includes the Chevy Volt MPV5 concept, the Cadillac Converj Concept, the Cadillac XTS concept, the Chevy Aveo RS concept, the two-box Chevy New Sail and the new Chevy Spark. Both carmakers have had their press conferences. Last week, Geely held an event in Beijing with several company executives describing the long list of new models and powertrain technologies that will be showcased at the show. Last Monday, GM China executives were in Shanghai to conduct a briefing of its ambitious growth plans for China over the medium and long-term.

[via autonews – sub. required]

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots