Obama the Genius: Cash for Clunkers Boosts Car sales, Housing, Stock Market

[londoncabby]

Just goes to show what brilliance looks like with Mr Obama. Why cant we have a leader like Obama? Why cant out govt give us this kind of excellent leadership? Trade in your old car non-COE car, get US$ 4500 cash. Sigh. only in America.

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/08/03/ford-shares-jump-on-sales-figures-clunkers-can-it-last/

Ford Shares Jump on Sales Figures, ‘Clunkers’: Can it Last?

By Matt Phillips

Ford!

Shares of the venerable automaker are trading heavily today — third most active on the NYSE — and they were up more than 5% at last glance, after Ford said its U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 2.4% in July, the first monthly gain in 20 months.

Ford folks were effusive in their praise for the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program in a conference call to discuss the monthly results with analysts. “The program so far seems to be living up to its premise as a win-win-win for consumers, the economy, and the environment,” said Emily Kolinski Morris, a Ford economist.

But here’s the key question: can it last? It’s an important point that — thematically — extends to the economy as a whole. Are the improvements visible in recent economic and earnings reports sustainable? Or are they merely the fruits of an extraordinary government effort to goose the economy that will crumble as soon as there are signs government support is going away?

Goldman Sachs analyst Patrick Archambault posed such a question to Ford officials in today’s conference call. And Morris acknowledged that the Cash for Clunkers program tapped into pent up demand from those who stuck with used cars longer because of economic hardship. She also added that some buyers might have been coaxed to buy earlier to take advantage of the government program. Morris said:

In addition to … the pent-up demand that we generated for these vehicles, you want to smooth out that replacement demand. And it makes a lot of sense in the economic cycle that we’re in today to pull some of those sales into this period rather than let them all bunch up and then we have a huge surge when the economy begins to recover. So we think from an economic perspective, even if you want to say it’s all pull-ahead and payback, it still makes sense to try to get some of those sales to occur today when they would otherwise have occurred, rather than waiting for later when things get better.

Another Ford official, sales analysts George Pipas, later underscored the fragility of the sales gains Ford etched during the month. “I want to make sure everybody understands something. A sales increase in July is not the end of the journey. We have a long way to go in several respects, but we’re going to get there. I’m totally confident of that,” he said.

 

[shelltox]

If he really wants to improve the economy, he shuld improve on the infrastruture and not not consummable. The US economy will suffer in the long run,.

 

[TeeKee]

Genius simi? He just copied what the Europeans did half a year ago!

Planning to get a new car?

 

[londoncabby]

Genius simi? He just copied what the Europeans did half a year ago!

Planning to get a new car?

He has finally managed to retool Detroit!

Americans no longer buying 6 Liter F150s!

 

[ponzii]

USA is world center of govt handout!

 

[Gallego99]

If he really wants to improve the economy, he shuld improve on the infrastruture and not not consummable. The US economy will suffer in the long run,.

Consumption accounts for 69% of GDP in US. Cash for clunkers program is designed to help the middle class and revive the wilting auto sector in the states.
The cure is probably worse than the disease especially with the dismal employment numbers. We can expect more handout programs in the months to come from the Obama administration which is not a bad thing especially if it goes to those in need but I eagerly await to see how he deals with the massive deficit next.

 

[hairylee]

Back to square one. It is to ensure the survival of the auto makers. I wonder why America does not have bullet trains for travel between states and more efficient public transport. All their infrastructure is all carter to the efficient movement of cars.

 

[Watchman]

Genius simi? He just copied what the Europeans did half a year ago!

Planning to get a new car?

Genius ? Singapore PAP also doing it .

See so many poor farked Singaporeans with low ethics driving without a thought and care in the world .

Easy loans and monkeys driving the car sales !

 

[ScarFace]

Iacocca - Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes? He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'.

Lee Iacocca Says...

Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder! We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course..'

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!'

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore..

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs.. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the ' America ' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis! (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first.)

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess, so here's where we stand.

We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving.

Obama is running the biggest deficit in the history of the country.

We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble due to poor leadership in school districts.

Our borders are like sieves.

The middle class is being squeezed every which way.

These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.

Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening.. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on NBC news or CNN news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I believe in America.

In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11.

If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play.

 

[johnny333]

Genius ? Singapore PAP also doing it .

Now if we can trade in an old clunker named LKY, Spore would be better off

 

[neddy]

If he really wants to improve the economy, he shuld improve on the infrastruture and not not consummable. The US economy will suffer in the long run,.

US's situation is different. There are few significant industries left. Thanks to all those fancy management fads, US is now dependent on consumption to grow the economy.

As a reserve currency country, they can afford to anyhow print money (not backed by gold) to buy all the nice things from China on loan.

In the absence of employment, cash handout is the other way to stimulate the consumption economy.

I just checked yesterday's Money Multiplier issued by St Louis branch of US Fed reserve. The figure is 0.967. Not even 1 unit. Money is being "destroyed"!!! This only happen in a Great Depression.

Green shoots?

 

[londoncabby]

Will the stock market rally this week?

 

[neddy]

Will the stock market rally this week?

Aussie prick,

There are at least 7 bear rallies in the last Great Depression. If you have Goldman Sachs supercomputer program, you will trade and make record amount of money like no humans can.

Also, this time round, there are govt stimulus, impatient investors, drugged investors on animal behaviours, etc.

 

[londoncabby]

Aussie prick,

There are at least 7 bear rallies in the last Great Depression. If you have Goldman Sachs supercomputer program, you will trade and make record amount of money like no humans can.

Also, this time round, there are govt stimulus, impatient investors, drugged investors on animal behaviours, etc.

Scroobal/Chewed/Littlefish/Fisbuff/neddy/Aussie Pete July 2008 registered troll

I did not ask you nor care what a loser like you has to say.

Get a life instead of hiding behind 10 nicks, butthead

Oh wait a minute, too late. You pay 10% GST and 40% taxes.

I rest my case

 

[Meltdown]

US's situation is different. There are few significant industries left. Thanks to all those fancy management fads, US is now dependent on consumption to grow the economy.

As a reserve currency country, they can afford to anyhow print money (not backed by gold) to buy all the nice things from China on loan.

In the absence of employment, cash handout is the other way to stimulate the consumption economy.

I just checked yesterday's Money Multiplier issued by St Louis branch of US Fed reserve. The figure is 0.967. Not even 1 unit. Money is being "destroyed"!!! This only happen in a Great Depression.

Green shoots?

As long as the idiots inside the gov'ts of Japan, China, SG, Korea, Taiwan, OPEC countries, etc. continue to buy US dollars on the global FX market to invest in US Treasuries, the USA will always be number 1 in the world. That's how America can always print money to pay it's bills to the rest of the world without producing substantial amount of goods & services that those idiot countries buy in return.

Those idiot countries can't even dump their existing US Dollar reserves & US Treasury holdings without destroying their own export oriented economies & destroying the value of their nations' foreign exchange reserves.

America is too smart to keep those idiot countries in a bind without a choice, both economically & politically.

The rest of the world work as slaves subsidizing the American cost of living who continue to enjoy very low cost goods & services like a Mercedes S-500 costing only about US$ 80K. Who are the slaves here? The Germans or the Americans?

What America has that the rest of the world lacks are intangible assets like The Bill of Rights, creativity, economy of scale, software (not hardware which can easily be mass produced by Chinese slave labor), Hollywood movies, world class brand names like Nike, Visa, MasterCard, Apple iPhone & etc., world reserve currency, military superiority, people with the best minds & talents migrating to America, lots of political allies worldwide, etc...

God Bless America!!!

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