Blog

Did energy exploration company InterOil (IOC) lie to investors in a 2008 investor presentation?

An InterOil skeptic (who stands to benefit financially if the company collapses) contends that it did.  And the skeptic has now provided a bunch of new information and analysis to back up this claim.

As we explained here, the skeptic’s allegation is that, in a December 2008 investor presentation, InterOil misrepresented the size and character of a rock oil/gas reservoir it had discovered in Papua New Guinea. (For more background on InterOil, see “Is InterOil Just A Gigantic Fraud?“)

The company described the reservoir as “world class,” with a “proven thickness, porosity, and deliverability.”  The company said the reservoir was huge, extending thousands of feet deep. 

The InterOil skeptic says this is bunk.  At the time the company made the presentation, the skeptic says, InterOil had found so such thing.  In fact, says the skeptic, the company’s geologists had described finding a much smaller reservoir that was in no way “world class.”  The company was misleading investors, the skeptic contends, in order to keep its stock price high and the exploration money flowing.

When we reported the skeptic’s contention, many InterOil bulls quickly weighed in to defend the company.  InterOil had been talking about the reservoir discovered at its Antelope drilling site, the bulls said, not the Elk drilling site its geologists had been referring to.  The Antelope reservoir matched the description the company gave in December, 2008, the bulls said.  Thus, the skeptic was comparing apples and oranges, and InterOil did not lie in its investor presentation.

Well, we shared that argument with the InterOil skeptic.  The InterOil skeptic howled with derision and sent us an InterOil drilling report showing that, as of the date of the investor presention, InterOil had not yet drilled far enough into the Antelope site to have been describing the Antelope reservoir.  The company had to have been describing Elk, the skeptic said, and the reality of Elk did not match the company’s description.

Lying to investors is serious business.  So we put the question to a well-informed company defender:

In the December 2008 presentation, had InterOil been talking about Elk or Antelope?  

The defender had an interesting response:

InterOil had NOT been describing Antelope, the defender said.  InterOil had been describing Elk.  BUT…  InterOil had not been describing the first Elk drilling site–Elk-1–which is what its geologists had been referring to.  InterOil had been describing a second drilling hole at Elk, ELK-2!

Elk-2, the company-defender said, had been a disappointment in one respect, which was that it had flowed water, not oil or gas.  But the Elk-2 hole had revealed the massive “world class” rock reservoir that the company described in its 2008 investor presentation.

This contention sounded reasonable, so, naturally, we took it back to the InterOil skeptic.  Once again, the InterOil skeptic howled with derision.  He then sent us the letter we have reproduced below, along with a half-dozen other documents and drilling reports.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Based on his reading of the company’s drilling reports, the InterOil skeptic believes there is NO WAY the company was describing Elk-2 in the 2008 investor presentation, because Elk-2 did not match the description provided.  InterOil, the skeptic contends, was simply lying.

Here’s the skeptic’s letter.  We look forward to hearing the company-defender’s response.

This is getting amusing… they tell us that these wonderful reservoir properties which they have proven relate to Elk 2. I guess that is more plausible than Antelope because they had not drilled Antelope when they said those things. But the full quote is – and I repeat it:

The carbonate limestone’s have a proven thickness, porosity and deliverability in PNG that qualify as a world-class reservoir.

The porosity Elk-2 is clearly better than Elk 1 – but it is not –as that quote suggested – thousands of feet thick.

Here is a log of the Elk-2 well from an Interoil presentation. I believe this log because it also matches an academic paper published by Interoil’s own geologists. (I have attached both the presentation and the academic paper.)

In it we have 17 meters at the top of the well with estimated 5.2 percent porosity, 50 metres in the middle at 4.8 and a 43 plus 86 meters more in the bottom of the well. These are considerably better numbers than Elk-1. They do not add up to thousands of feet of proven thickness but this much reservoir would be a real find if it flowed.

Alas when Interoil presents, it sometimes (indeed quite often including in the presentation I have attached) give the reservoir specifics of Elk-2 and the flow rates of Elk-1. I can’t find a published flow rate for Elk-2 but I believe it to be low.

Both the academic paper and the presentation describe the fractures as “partially conductive”. This means they flow some gas. The academic paper notes that the fractures are more likely to be “conductive” in Elk-1 and that “partially conductive” fractures are more common in Elk-2. The partially conductive fractures obviously won’t produce gas at the rapid rate that fully productive fractures did in Elk-1 – which is why (I think) there is no published flow rate for Elk-2.

Saying we got this drill hole with a great flow (but lousy reservoir) and another with a great reservoir (but lousy flow) does not cut it.

So what did Elk-2 flow?

I have also attached all six drill reports from Elk-2. They can be found on Interoil website. Let’s start with the good bit. Drill report number 5 mentions oil.

Multiple oil indicators have been observed throughout a 594 foot section of the Puri and Mendi limestone, from 8,754 feet (2,668 meters) to 9,348 feet (2,849 meters). These indicators include recovery of oil/condensate in the drilling mud, florescence in cuttings, and oil/condensate recovered in core sections.

In this case I believe them. The flares from this well burnt with a sooty flame – the only sooty flame in any of the Interoil flare-photos. Soot indicates longer chain hydrocarbons (eg oil, some longer condensates).

The oil did not flow – just “indicators”. But oil nonetheless. [Oil is fabulous if you find it because to extract it you only need to run a pipe to the river and then put it on a barge. You can do that with not very much capital – which means Interoil could become self-funding… oil changes everything… Alas the only flowing oil that has ever been found in the area (Puri-1) went to water after nine days.]

The only problem is that the words FLOW only appear in a few senses in the Elk-2 drilling reports. Here is a quick summary of the reports:

Drill Report 1 indicates “trip gas”. “Trip gas” is gas bought up by the equipment when you pull it up the well (say to change a drill bit). Trip gas is presence-of-hydrocarbons but is not indicative of a find. In this report they indicate the trip gas contains longer-chain (c2-c5+) hydrocarbons (condensate). This I think is real – as per the comment about oil.

Drill report 2 just tells you where they are drilling. No find is reported at all.

Drill report 3 again talks about “trip gas” including condensate.

Drill report 4 was a more extensive:

In the limestone reservoir, persistent background and connection gas was encountered. Background gas ranged from between .07% to 0.7% with C1 (Methane) to C5 (Pentane) and connection and trip gas ranged between 0.18% and 16.07% with C1 and C5.* Gas analysis results from onsite testing indicated heavier gas compositions as the well was deepened.

They also conducted their first flow test on the top of the Puri Limestone.

Prior to coring operations, an interim Drill Stem Test (DST) was run on the top of the Puri limestone with the following results:

•    Natural gas flowed to surface with limited flow at the flare.
•    Confirmed minimum gas column projected to be 2,346 feet (715 meters) from highest known gas in Elk-1 to top of Puri in Elk-2.
•    No formation water was detected during natural gas flow to surface.
•    Down-hole pressure was recorded to be 3,332 psi at 7,343 feet (2,238 meters) and was still building after the 12 hour shut in period was complete.

Now there are a few things to note here. There is gas – but limited flow to the surface.

The pressure in the well however is high but the build-up of pressure after the test was slow. This indicates that the porosity is not great. The pressure build up should be instantaneous. [Admittedly the company has been saying the pressure build-up in Antelope 2 is instantaneous.] In other words this flowed but not very well.

Drill report 5 has the description of oil indicators (as noted above). However it does not mention the word flow at all.

Drill report 6 covers the period where the well hit water. That was at 2675 meters. Note the dark blue line in the diagram above. All the stuff below that line has fractures – but it is not that relevant because the fractures FLOW WATER not GAS.

Now go back and look at the diagram above. Above the water line we have 17 meters of net pay. This thus is a great reservoir – its just a great water reservoir.

Now I am being a little harsh on them here – because they flowed the water at a large rate – and that water was saturated with gas which could be flared at the surface. To quote:

The fracture conductivity was supported by the DST’s which resulted in flow capacities (kh) as high as 472,000 millidarcy-feet and water flow rates of up to 2,565 barrels per day in lower part of the well. The produced water had high gas saturation which separated and was flared at the surface during flow.

However in the test they mention that the flows above 2675 meters were not great. To quote:

The formation above 8,777 feet (2675 meters) was tight and small amounts of gas and no liquids were recovered.

Summary

If anyone thinks that Elk-2 was the well they were talking about when they had “proven thickness, porosity and deliverability” then they have not read the drilling reports.

I stand by my view that InterOil CEO Phil Mulacek made statements contradicted by his own geologists.

So there you have it.  Did InterOil lie to investors in December 2008?  We look forward to hearing from the company defenders.

See Also: Is InterOil Just A Gigantic Fraud?

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Did InterOil (IOC) Lie To Wall Street? Shortseller Says Yes, Company Defender Says No
• InterOil (IOC): "Major Momentum" Or Just A Castle In The Air? (A New Investigation)
• What’s The Story Of Shia LaBeouf Pumping InterOil?

So much for the idea that the economic rebound would see a return to strong pricing power.

Wal-Mart (WMT), perhaps the most deflationary force in the history of our republic (tied with the internet, perhaps), is set to cut prices on over 10,000 items, according to WSJ.

The news comes a day after a slew of retail sales that, on the surface, seemed to be showing gangbuster growth (though there were a handful of reasons to temper your enthusiasm).

Of course, that won’t stop analysts and the street from going insanely gaga for retail right now.

Here’s Bill Dreher of Deutsche Bank with what we think is the status quo right now on retail:

Our Broadline sales index increased +8.3% in March (vs. -4.6% LY), well ahead of +6.1%
consensus and our +6.8% est.  March sales results managed to surpass lofty expectations
across all sub sectors of Broadline retailing, as top line strength was no longer limited to just
the discounters.    

Merchandise mix also appeared to be very strong, led by the high margin category of apparel. 
JCP was the only retailer to just meet consensus, with every other company reporting March
sales beats, as sales appeared to be sluggish in Penney’s home category.  Basically, the
greater the percentage of apparel sales a retailer had, the stronger March comp results were,
which drove particularly strong sales at the department stores, continuing a four month trend. 
The department stores’ +12.5% comp easily beat the +7.9% consensus est and our +10.8%
est.   The biggest outperformance came from KSS, JWN, SKS, and DDS.

As a standalone month, March’s monthly result was the best performance since prior to the
start of the recession (best sales since Nov 2007).  March was also the seventh consecutive
month of sales increases, which will likely hold up even after we get the April results (March
+ April) to adjust for the shift of Easter sales into March of 2010 from April of 2009 (which
would make eight consecutive months of sales increases).  

We also believe that the fundamental strength of consumer spending (as March built on the
success of February sales, in which our index rose +3.4%) combined with historic high
temperatures throughout much of the Northeast since Easter, should help drive continued
sales momentum in April.  

March results appear to signal the end of the consumer spending recession, as consumers
have returned to pay full price, and drive brisk sales, particularly in the first three weeks of the
month, even ahead of the Easter sales shift benefit.  
Customer traffic into the stores appeared to be the critical catalyst, and we would expect this
fundamental core trend to continue, despite the April numbers to be seasonally weaker than
March due to the Easter shift (by 400 bps to 800 bps, with TGT and JWN at the upper end of
that range).  

Now don’t miss the surging commodities that are squeezing retailer margins >

Join the conversation about this story »

A Twitter designer has provided a sneak peek of some of the features that might be in an upcoming redesign, by uploading a screenshot to Dribble, a site used by designers for sharing their work (hat tip to Icodom for noticing the screenshot first). It doesn’t show much, but it looks as though Twitter is adding some analytics to a user’s profile page — the screenshot (which appears to be the upper-right corner of a profile page) shows not just how long a user has been using the service, but also indicates their activity level by showing how many tweets they post per day. The site also appears to be going with pulldown menus for sending messages and other actions involving the user.

The screenshot was uploaded by Twitter’s creative director Doug Bowman, the former lead visual designer at Google, where he worked on projects including a redesign of Google Calendar. In a comment on the Dribble page he called it a glimpse of what could be “a significant redesign,” but said that it wasn’t final. Twitter’s current profile page shows a user’s name, location, a Web link, a short bio and then numbers for their followers, how many they are following and how many tweets they have posted.

There’s a lot of interest around the Twitter redesign, in part because of the tension over features the service might add that could compete with third-party services. In February, Twitter engineer Alex Payne posted a tweet (which has since been deleted) that said new features were coming to the web site that would make people reconsider using third-party apps. He later said his comments were taken out of context, after TechCrunch wrote a post based on his tweet saying Twitter was going to be competing with third-party developers.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d): How Human Users Are Holding Twitter Back

The Tea Party Express credited its influence on Friday in “defeating” Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak–a key target of the conservative activists who barreled into his district a day earlier to rally against him.

“The surprising announcement that Congressman Bart Stupak is abandoning his campaign for reelection shows the power of the tea party movement,” the group’s political director, Bryan Shroyer, said in a statement.

“Stupak was no longer able to hide his betrayal of conservative principles because the tea party movement was determined to educate the voters in the district,” he said.

Stupak, a pro-life Democrat representing Michigan’s 1st congressional district, was under attack by the tea party movement and other conservative groups for his vote in favor of the Democratic health care legislation.

“I absolutely credit the mere threat of us coming through his district,” Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams told FoxNews.com. “We put the nail in the coffin.”

The Tea Party Express, one of the most visible factions of the movement, rolled into Bessemer, Mich., late Thursday to stage a rally targeting Stupak. The group also launched an aggressive ad campaign against him – with the group’s political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better, pledging $250,000 in radio and T.V. ads aimed at ousting him from office.

The group had planned 11 rallies in the state over the next three days, protesting Stupak’s controversial vote and calling for his swift resignation.

Williams said Stupak’s announcement on Friday in no way disrupts their plans.

“Now it becomes a celebration of the process and the power of the people,” he said.

A day after they were denied permission to hang the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag at the state Capitol, about two dozen Tea Party activists gathered in front of the building this morning to protest the decision.

Among them was Bill Shields, who sells flags on New Haven’s Long Wharf. He was dressed in a Revolutionary War soldier’s garb, including the traditional tricorn hat.

They stood in the rain, with several carrying smaller versions of the flag, a historic banner named for Revolutionary War-era patriot Christopher Gadsden. The flag, which features the image of a coiled rattlesnake, has long been a symbol of American defiance; over the past year, it has been adopted by Tea Party activists across the nation.

The rattlesnake is an appropriate symbol for the Tea Party movement, said Joe Markley of Southington, a  former state senator from Southington who is once again seeking his old seat.

“A rattlesnake is a uniquely American animal,” he said. “It’s a shy, careful animal that doesn’t look for trouble …and it gives warning with its rattle before it strikes. But it is an animal that will only be pushed so far and when its pushed too far it will strike, and when it strikes, it strikes effectively.”

Bob MacGuffie, an activist from Fairfield, said the flag is an emblem of the philosophy of limited government. “Don’t tread on me. Step back. That’s what this movement is about,” he said after the rally.

Markley, who was first swept into office in the Reagan landslide of 1984 and played a part in the fight against the income tax in the early 1990s, said Tea Party activists have been reawakened and will have an impact on November’s election.

Several candidates attended this morning’s rally, including Jerry Labriola Jr., a Republican running for Congress in the 3rd District, Rob Merkle, who is running for Congress in the 4th, and Warren Mosler, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
 

State Capitol Police, the agency in charge of managing the state’s flag policy, had initially approved the Connecticut Tea Party Patriots’ request to hang the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol. But several lawmakers complained that the flag was a political symbol and did not meet the restrictions of the policy, especially since the Tea Party group had planned to host a rally for candidates after the flag-raising ceremony.  

“This is a great flag and it’s an insult to this country and to the men [of the]  Revolutionary War who fought under this flag to say the flag is not worthy to fly over the state Capitol building,” Markley said.

Markley and several other speakers specifically criticized state Democratic state Rep. Michael Lawlor of East Haven, who questioned whether the flag met the state’s policy but had nothing to do with state Capitol Police Chief Walter Lee’s decision to revoke permission for the flag-raising.

“To have the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate and Mike Lawlor, who’s been here for 25 years, to say ‘Oh politics at the state Capitol, God forbid there should be any politics at the state capitol,”’ Markley said, drawing laughs from the small crowd.

He called Lawlor “a public nuisance.” 

“He has has stood up and made himself a target,” Markley added. “The man who stood up for the state income tax, the man who tried to takle [away] the right of the Catholic church to govern itself…he is going to be target number one of the Tea Party movement statewide.”

Markley said the group will submit another request to raise the flag at the Capitol. The group is considering holding an event on June 2 and may make the request in conjunction with that, he said.

(PHOTO BY ANDY ZAREMBA / FOX CT)

One of the obstacles standing in the way of Cape Wind’s 420-megawatt wind farm off Cape Cod is the Mashpee Wampanoag, whose tribal leaders say the $1 billion offshore facility and its 130 turbines would desecrate tribal burial sites.

But is a deal in the works? G.E.R. has learned that federal authorities could approve the Cape Wind project but in a consilatory move would also support the Mashpee Wampanoag’s plan to develop a casino. A spokeswoman for the Tribal Council declined to comment.

Just last week the Interior Department’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation report, released a negative report that said the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound would be “pervasive, destructive and… permanent.” Shortly after the release of that report, Cape Wind announced a supply deal with Siemens for 130 offshore wind turbines.

These days, gaming is a hot topic in Massachusetts.

The state legislature just introduced a bill that would allow the state to sell casino licenses, potentially generating some $100 million in additional revenues. However, as a Federally-recognized tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag casino permitting process would largely be overseen by federal agencies, including the Interior Department’s Office of of Indian Gaming Management (part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs). The Interior Department is also expected to rule on a federal permit for the Cape Wind project in the next few weeks.

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has been wanting a casino for a while. Back in 2007 the council signed an agreement with the town of Middleboro, Mass., to develop a gambling facility on 539 acres of land in exchange for a $7 million annual payment and $250,000 in new infrastructure investments.

Town Manager Charles Cristello tells us that he still expects to get the casino despite local media reports that the tribe was looking elsewhere. Cristello recently wrote to the council inquiring about the status of the project but he has yet to hear back from them.

A spokesman with Governor Deval Patrick’s office and the BIA press office in Washington did not return calls seeking comments and clarifications.

Image: iStockphoto

Live from Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) backyard — specifically the University of Louisville — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver a speech at 3:30 this afternoon entitled, “No Greater Danger: Protecting our Nation and Allies from Nuclear Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation.” It’ll both push for New START ratification, as reported here last week, and tee up next week’s 40-plus head-of-state nuclear-security conference in Washington. And it looks like the Obama administration isn’t sleeping on the urgency of confronting GOP intransigence about passing the treaty through the Senate.

KABUL- A U.S. military aircraft crashed early Friday morning in Southern Afghanistan, killing three American service members and one civilian.

A NATO press release said the Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed near the city of Qalat in Zabul Province.

The Taliban claimed to have shot down the hybrid helicopter-airplane, but NATO officials said the cause of the crash is unknown and that an investigation is underway.

The Taliban regularly take responsibility anytime a coalition aircraft crashes, often after a NATO press release has been issued. In this case, the Taliban claimed responsibility long before NATO acknowledged the crash.

Helicopters are an important transportation tool for U.S. and coalitions forces due to the lack of roads and difficult terrain in Afghanistan. The Osprey is typically used for long-range infiltration and resupply missions for US Forces.

Last January, Netflix agreed to delay the rental of new release Warner Bros. films by 28 days in exchange for more streaming properties. Now, Fox and Universal have signed similar agreements. What do we get out of the deal? Buffy! More »

You’ve seen how big those Lost Planet 2 monsters can get they’re huge! Could be suicide to go at them single-player, but thankfully, there’s co-op. Here, take a look.

The podcast “Are We Alone” is a great weekly ‘cast from the SETI Institute, and this week’s episode has Seth Shostak and me discussing the nonsense about Iraq using bomb-detecting dowsing rods (here’s a direct download of the MP3). These magic wands do not work, and their use has allowed cars loaded with bombs through checkpoints in the Middle East. This is a direct example of how magical, antiscientific thinking can do real harm, resulting in dangerous situations and even deaths… hundreds of them.

I’ve been saying for a while now that the vaunted “accountability moment” that labor and Democratic allies will run against those in the caucus who voted against health care is a mirage. I don’t know how many examples people need. First the primary challenger to Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin was talked out of the race, then Jason Altmire’s challenger realized he waited to long to make a serious run, then Stephen Lynch’s possible primary disintegrated.

Now Greg Sargent tells us that It’s War! The SEIU will not just run primary candidates but institute an entirely new third party in North Carolina, the North Carolina First Party, and they plan to put candidates on the ballot in the fall.

Well, if it’s war, I hope they have a cannon.

SEIU isn’t really at war with the Obama Administration. Andy Stern was just appointed to the President’s deficit commission. They may have problems with some of the Blue Dogs in North Carolina, to be sure. But the third party route is just destined to be squelched by national Democrats.

Furthermore, I don’t see how this is even that viable. The NC First Party needs 85,000 signatures to qualify as a state party, and they tell Greg that they have 100 canvassers on the ground. Needless to say, this isn’t the best ratio in the world. What’s more, the NC First Party is hedging their bets on the front page of their own website.

North Carolina First is on the ground talking to voters. Right now, North Carolina First is gathering signatures to determine whether to qualify as a state party – to give working families the ability to choose a candidate that will fight for their interests – or to identify Congressional candidates who will stay accountable to the needs of working families not Washington’s special interests.

They haven’t even figured out if they’ll create a third party. And if they don’t, and stick to “identifying” Congressional candidates? Well, that won’t do much good for 2010, because… getting out my trusty Swing State Project sortable filing deadline calendar…. yes, the North Carolina ballot is set for the May primaries.

Larry Kissell, one of the three North Carolina Dems who voted No on health care, has a primary challenger in Nancy Shakir, and this might be somewhere the NC First Party wants to go. But the primary is, um, next month, and right now NC First is in the “talking” and “figuring out what it wants to do” stage of development. It is virtually impossible for it to be a factor in the 2010 midterms.

I don’t know why anyone believes one labor official saying that they will “hold accountable” these ConservaDems. Labor is walking the walk in the Bill Halter/Blanche Lincoln race, and that’s about it. Wake me when any other accountability takes place.

 

The roboplant will not rest until it walks to the nearest source of polluted water, sips from it and tops off its microbial fuel cells. More »

The folks have WebOS-Internals have done it again. Today, dtzWill announced in the our forums that they’ve managed to get an X.Org Server working on the Palm Pre. Basically, this means native Linux X11 applications will be able to run on webOS!

One such example of an X11 application is shown in the above video. OpenOffice could prove a perfect alternative to the seemingly-mythical DocumentsToGo by DataViz. Of course some optimization for usability may be needed, but this is more than we’ve seen from anyone else in terms of strong productivity and office tools.

Keep in mind, however, that the X-Server is not yet ready for the average user, and thus is still in the WebOS-Internals testings feed.  Rod Whitby has stated:

Just a note to say that we do have a roadmap of being able to install native Debian X11 GUI applications (like OpenOffice) via Preware. But don’t hold your breath, cause it looks like we need to write a whole new FUSE filesystem driver to be able to do it. Think weeks to months, rather than days.

So if you’re a user with knowledge on the workings of Linux and aren’t afraid of getting your hands dirty, it might be worth looking into the vast potentials X11 applications can offer.

One way or another, every problem can be resolved with more horsepower. Or in this case, more horsepower and a sawzall. And beer.

The Saab 92010 Sixten Concept is the fruit of the imagination of Ed Gray, designer behind the recent 9+ Tribute and a Saab fan who is hopeful for the future of the company after the Spyker acquisition. The name behind this Saab prototype is in honour of Sixten Sason, designer of some of Saab’s most famous models, and in honour of the 92001 Ur-Saab – the first Saab ever produced, which was the work of Sason.

What we can see of the Saab 92010 Sixten concept we quite like, but less as what it represents of Saab history, and more as a possible dive into the competitive hatchback segment. It’s designed as a three-door hatchback based on a possible future hybrid platform for the company. It’s meant to be a kind of back-to-roots for Saab, in origins which might be rediscovered with new interpretations under the new Dutch ownership of Stryker. Designer Ed Gray has been careful to create this concept with Saab fans in mind, taking on board comments found in the media and in online forums.

People can steal your iPhone, but if you’ve got the Mobile Me app, you’ll be able to track it down. Florida police used the feature to track down a swiped iPhone and other stoolen goods, First Coast News reports.

This kind of thing isn’t so rare, but is funny every time.

From the First Coast News:

A signal from a stolen iPhone led detectives right to a man suspected in two Alva car burglaries Wednesday.

Deputies were called to 2200 Troyers Lane early Wednesday by Adam, who said two cell phones and two chargers were missing from his truck.

(Adam) said he’d parked his truck around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and forgot to lock it.

Now, if only they’d make Mobile Me for car keys and remote controls.

Florida Police Use iPhone App to Track Crook, Stolen Items [First Coast News]
(Thanks, Justin!)

A roundup of economic news from around the Web.

Taxes: Diane Lim Rogers makes the case for why the Bush tax cuts should be allowed to expire. “I’m going to step out of character and sound like a supply-sider for a minute here, and argue that despite having this very steeply progressive distributional pattern, the “Obama dual promise” tax policy would not necessarily be a “good deal” for even the vast majority of households not in the top 1 to 5 percent–because of that 77 percent top marginal tax rate. Having that pattern of marginal tax rates that rises so steeply at the top (go back to Table 3, bottom panel, last column on the right)–with rates of 10, 15, 25, 28, 72.4 and 76.8 percent–would create huge disincentive effects on labor supply and saving. See, all economists are “supply siders” in a sense, because we all believe that marginal tax rates affect economic decisions at the margin. Not all economists, however, are radical, right-wing, “Laffer-esque” supply-siders who believe that increasing tax rates lead to decreases in revenue. But that is because for most of U.S. history, we haven’t had marginal income tax rates high enough to worry about the Laffer curve theory. Some empirical work on this (done decades ago by my dissertation advisor, Don Fullerton, in fact), has indicated that the revenue-maximizing tax rate is far above our current highest rates of 30-40 percent–in fact, in the…70-80 percent range. Hmmm.”

Strong Recovery: Floyd Norris looks at the politcal implications amid a case for a stronger-than-expected recovery. “The American economy appears to be in a cyclical recovery that is gaining strength. Firms have begun to hire and consumer spending seems to be accelerating. That is what usually happens after particularly sharp recessions, so it is surprising that many commentators, whether economists or politicians, seem to doubt that such a thing could possibly be happening.”

Housing Troubles: Barbara Kiviat looks at more potential trouble in the housing market. “There’s long been a worry that after last year’s various foreclosure moratoria lifted, we’d see a fresh surge of trouble in the housing market. The latest figures on distressed sales, from First American CoreLogic, lend some weight to that argument. As you can see in the chart above, distressed sales — which include sales of bank-owned properties and short sales — are again on the rise. In January, such sales accounted for 29% of all existing homes sold. That’s the highest level since April 2009. The peak came in January 2009, when distressed sales accounted for 32% of all existing homes sold. Now, there is a sliver of good news in these numbers. Short sales—in which a lender agrees to take less than it is owed—are on the rise.”

Compiled by Phil Izzo

La firma de Wolfsburg ha dado a conocer los principales detalles del nuevo Touran que se presentrá de forma oficial en el próximo Salón del Automóvil de Leipzig, que se celebrará entre del 10 al 18 de este més. El nuevo Touran presenta tanto renovadas formas, un mayor nivel equipamiento y unos motores mucho más eficientes que la generación anterior.

En su exterior tanto los parachoques, el capó y los guardabarros han sido renovados, incluso añade una nueva parrilla frontal en un color negro brillante. Sin embargo uno de los detalles más novedosos es la incorporación de un asistente de activación automática de las luces largas ‘Light Assist’ para faros convencionales y el sistema de control dinámico de las luces largas permanentes ‘Dynamic Light Assist’ para faros Bi-Xenón

El sistema ‘Light Assist’ permite adaptar tanto las luces cortas como las largas a las diferentes situaciones de tráfico y luminosidad mientras que con el asistente ‘Dynamic Light Assist’ las luces largas de los faros Bi-Xenón permanecen continuamente activos y sólo se amortiguan en las zonas en donde pueden deslumbrar a otros conductores.

En su interior el nuevo Volkswagen Touran cuenta con un mayor nivel de acabados además de un gran espacio ya que para su configuración de cinco plazas dispone de unos 695 litros de capacidad en el maletero que puede llegar hasta los 1.989 litros si se pliega los asientos de la segunda fila. Cuenta con tres niveles diferente de acabados: Trendline, Comfortline y Highline. El primero de ellos incluye luces LED de día o radio CD con lector de MP3, mientras que para el Comfortline añade los sensores de luces y lluvia o barras portaequipajes, por último el el acabado Highline incluye asientos delanteros deportivos o un volante en cuero.

En cuanto a sus motores está disponible hasta ocho propulsores diferentes, cuatro de diésel u otros tantos de gasolina. El más eficiente de todos es el 1.6 TDI de 105 CV con tecnología Bluemotion con un cambio manual de seis relaciones, que ofrece un consumo de 4,6 litros cada 100 kilómetros. Además esta versión también añade los sistemas Start/Stop y de recuperación de la energía de frenado. Otra de las novedades es el motor 1.2 TSI con una potencia de 105 CV y un par máximo de 175 Nm, lo que le permite un consumo de tan sólo 6,4 l/100 km

Fuente | Volkswagen