Misery Index

The vote in the House or Reps was 370 to 58 to approve a broad spending bill that includes $7.5 billion to start the loan program.  The Senate is expected to agree to the budget this week, and the President is expected to sign it.

And why do they need this money?  It's to retool plants to build fuel-efficient vehicles and components.  The car makers are crying because car sales are down, and dealers are closing.  So, I guess I'm confused (insert sarcasm) of if people can't afford a new car right now, because of the economy, then what does that have to do with retooling to build fuel-efficient vehicles?  Is that really going to get people to change their mind to purchase something they can't afford?  Wait, isn't that what got us here in the first place?

But GMAC and banks seemed to have learned some lesson.  They have tightened credit for car buyers, making auto loans harder to get.

So, people aren't buying new vehicles, because they can't afford it.  Auto makers seem to think that by retooling to make changes for higher gas mileage will increase sales again, when in reality, its more about the new EPA laws that are just about to take effect in a few years.  And the retooling to make those engines is quite a major expense.  In fact to the point where Catapillar, the number #1 engine maker of semi-trucks, stopped making engines for semi-trucks because they can't afford the technology, and see no profit in it.  Thank's California.....

And, half of all vehicles sold in the United States by 2000 were either SUVs or trucks.  Both models of vehicles were exempt from the automobile emission standard and were not counted as part of the calculation of fleet fuel efficiency mandated by federal law.  During the early 2000s, moves by environmentally conscious Congress, to increase the fuel efficiency of the entire vehicle fleet were opposed by Detroit.

Subjecting SUVs and trucks used as passenger vehicles to air pollution/fuel efficiency standards mandated for passenger vehicles would have hurt the market, and reduced the American auto industry's profits.  It also would likely make Japanese vehicles more attractive, as the Japanese auto makers were able to produce fuel-efficient vehicles.  They currently have cornered the market in electric hybrid vehicles as Detroit, abandoned it.

But Ford is planning on showing new hybrid models in Paris next month, including its replacement for the Ka minicar, as well as the Focus RS, Ford's fastest European-built model, and a fuel-efficient Fiesta..... with plans on rolling out in 2010.  Wait, I thought they needed the money to develop more fuel efficient vehicles.... but they already have them?

The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 mpg and goes on sale in November.  But if you live in the United States, you can't have one.  Ford is only planning on selling them in Europe.  "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields.  "But there are business reason why we can't sell it in the U.S."  The main reason is the car runs on diesel.  Ford feels that since diesel is now more expensive than unleaded, there won't be a market for it here in the U.S.  "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."  And Ford feels the price of the car, $25,7000 is too high for the American market.  But it seems affordable to the European market!  But Ford doesn't feel it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic, since the engines are built in Britain.  HOWEVER, Ford plans on making a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. (Wait, Mexico? Ummm... hello?  Unemployment in the US!.. Freakin' cheapskates and NAFTA.)  But they still don't plan on building the diesel engines there either.

And Chevrolet is planning on showing a new car called the "Volt" at the Paris show. The Volt is a hybrid and it goes on sale in the United States in 2010.  For the first 40 miles, it runs entirely on electric.   Hmm.. I thought they needed the money too, for retooling to develop more fuel efficient vehicles..................

And Chrysler plans on producing three electric models.  The Chrysler EV, Dodge EV and Jeep EV.  They too will be available in 2010.  Am I seeing a pattern here?

Oh BTW, GM had an electric car in 1999 called the EV1, but not too many heard about them due to limited production.  It went up to 160 miles and 80 mph, and provided 0 emissions (passing CARB requirements, emissions in CA).  They were only leased out under a "no purchase" clause.   The program was canceled in 2003 despite unfulfilled waiting lists and positive feedback from the lessees.  GM stated that it could not sell enough of the cars to make the EV1 profitable.

But yet, credit is hard to come by.  Have I missed something again?  Why do I feel like I'm running in circles again............  or am I just a mouse on a wheel?

Oh and Warren Buffett, just today, out of the blue, has decided to invest in the electric car market.  He is paying $230 million for a 10% stake in BYD, China's largest maker of rechargeable batteries.  BYD plans to start selling its first all-electric car in China next year and to start selling gasoline-electric hybrids in the U.S. and Europe by 2010..... so Buffet has decided to invest his money in a company from China, and none of the Big Three in the United States....... is that a clue?

Let's just hope that whatever the Big Three decided to do, it comes out better than the Reva.  The Reva is an all electric car  from India, that was among the world's first electric vehicles sold commercially.  Its priced between $9,000 and $11,000 making it extremely affordable for a new vehicle.  Size wise, its only eight-feet long, and weighs about 1650 lbs. "Top speed is approximately 50 mph, which takes some time to achieve.  Range is 49 miles.  A full charge takes eight hours."  ...is that a carrot in front of me while I pull this cart?

So, 8 hours to charge, with a top speed of 50 mph, and a running time of an hour?  So are you in Boston, in the middle of winter, on the freeway in rush hour, rushing to get one?  I think I need to buy a horse.......................... and use the carrot from above to feed him.

Oh, BTW, there's 9 other cars that won't be coming to the US either........................  And here's a list of "The 11 Least Fuel Efficient Hybrids" ranging from 19 mpg to 32 mph.  Wanna see the stylish Electric cars?

And one more thing.  If you like the Chrysler PT Cruiser, Pacifica, Crossfire, or Dodge Magnum, you better get em now.  Chrysler executives have decided to kill the entire PT Cruiser line after the 2009 model year.  Chrysler, in announcing the expanded restructuring this month (cutting it's North American hourly work force almost in half by 2010), said that it was dropping the PT Cruiser convertible, Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Magnum.  Also in the works, a new plan that would eliminate all passenger vehicles from the Dodge and Jeep brands. 

Additional Sources:

Detroit Free Press, "Auto industry loans may take up to 18 months"
Los Angeles Times, "House passes $25-billion loan package for auto industry"
ABC NEWS, "Big Three to Get Check From Government"
Green Energy News, "Electric Drive To Revive Detroit?"
The Consumerist, "The 11 Least Fuel Efficient Hybrids"

Before anyone asks, the picture is of a "Venture Ventureone" a two-passenger, three-wheeled, 100-mpg plug-in series hybrid from Venture Vehicles in Los Angeles.  It runs $18K to $23K.

Sorry, but this article is just crap.  I think the bigger picture should be looked at.  Why are our banks failing?  Why are regions not able to get fuel because of a hurricane from over two weeks ago!?  And what about those that price gouged the cost of fuel.  NINE DOLLARS A GALLON FOR FUEL?  Or what about only being limited to 10 gallons of fuel?  Seriously, how far these days does 10 gallons of fuel last when you're stuck on a freeway in rush hour traffic?  Instead, we are all just crazy trying to make sure to take care of our own. 

As the captain said to the rats "All is well... all is well...." when the boat was sinking and the captain was heading to the lifeboats.

Sour economy tied to psychology that fed gas panic

September 28, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)

As anxiety on Wall Street led banks and other investors to hoard cash last week, a different kind of market fear gripped cities across the Southeast.

A hurricane-related disruption in gasoline supplies prompted jittery drivers from Atlanta to Nashville to top off their fuel tanks more than usual, causing sporadic shortages and temporary shutdowns of stations.  These closures only magnified the problem, of course, leading to more shortages, which sent local prices skyrocketing.

"It's a wonder people didn't go out and empty all of the grocery store shelves, too," said Larry Lamb, of Nashville.  "All you need to do when something like this happens is just calm down."

Perhaps - in hindsight - that is the sensible thing to do.

But economists and other experts say individuals - not just Americans - are hard-wired to respond quickly when they are scared, and in a way that is not always in their own, or their neighbors', best interests.

Dennis Jacobe, chief economist for Gallup Inc., said an emotional response is quite normal when expectations - such as gas being available or the safety of a money-market fund - suddenly are called into question.

"When those basic assumptions of your daily life are violated, it sends you a shock and you do get emotional, irrational reactions," Jacobe said.  "That means panic."

Lars Perner, an assistant professor of clinical marketing at the University of Southern California, said the combination of worries about the economy and gasoline supplies may have exacerbated motorists' reactions.

"Once you get into that kind of negative thinking, you often have a vicious cycle going on," Perner said.  "You get into sort of a protective instinct that comes out - and you go and fill up."

This protective instinct is what drove pension funds, corporations and other institutional investors to make large-scale withdrawals from U.S. money-market mutual funds earlier this month, jeopardizing the nearly $3.4 trillion industry - until the government stepped in to prop it up.

That run was prompted after Reserve Primary Fund, the nation's oldest money-market fund, suffered a setback that had occurred just once before in the industry's nearly four-decades-long history:  Its underlying assets fell to 97 cents for each investor dollar put in, a phenomenon the industry calls, "breaking the buck."

Peter Rizzo, senior director at ratings firm Standard & Poor's, said many of the money funds hit by a rush of redemptions had investments tied to financial sector firms that had far healthier balance sheets than Lehman Brothers and other fallen financial firms.  But investors pulled out from the funds anyway, he said.

"What made things worse was people panicking and pulling out money quickly, and forcing fund managers to sell quickly at losses," Rizzo said.

"If you yell 'fire' in a theater," he added, "people will run."

Authorities promised to be vigilant for price gouging during the gas shortage, but costs sill shot up by an average of about 50 cents in a matter of days to more than $4 per gallon around Nashville and Atlanta.  The current national average is about $3.68, according to the AAA auto club.

The runs on gasoline and money-market funds aren't the only recent examples of fear-induced economic behavior.

The U.S. Mint was forced last week to suspend sales of its popular American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it couldn't keep up with investors' soaring demand for commodities and other asset classes deemed to be safe.

And earlier this year, customers stockpiles imported Thai jasmine, Indian basmati and long grain white rice in response to soaring prices.  That caused the country's two biggest warehouse chains, which cater heavily to small businesses like restaurants, to impose limits on bulk purchases.

Although with fuel situation has eased somewhat, the short supply in the Southeast continued into the weekend despite rising fuel production at refineries that had been shut down by hurricane Gustav and Ike, and government officials' attempts to assure drivers that there is enough gasoline for everyone - just not enough for everyone to be riding on a full tank at all times.

"People are freaking out," said landscaper Dennis McDonald, 50, after waiting to pump 10 gallons of gas into his pickup in Woodstock, GA.

Robert Prechter, a market forecaster and president of The Socionomics Institute of Gainsesville, Ga., said in an e-mail that the response in Nashville and other cities to even temporary shortages of gasoline should have been expected.

"Topping off is simply a rational reaction to disrupted supplies," he said.  "So it is incorrect to charge everyday people with thoughtless herding in this case."

_______________

Associated Press Writers Rose French in Nashville, Greg Bluestein in Woodstock, Ga., and Mark Jewell in Boston contributed to this report.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA Clear back on September 4th, the EPA waived clean air requirements for Georgia fuel.  Then on September 11th, an additional waver was issued allowing Georgia and eight other SE states to begin selling "winter transition fuel" earlier than usual. On September 15, a wavier was issued allowing fuel trucks more hours to deliver fuel and to carry larger loads of fuel to gas stations across the state.

September 22, 2008 Tuesday
Another waver was grated on clean fuel requirements through October 12.

On Tuesday afternoon at a 20-pump QuickTrip station just north of Atlanta, the lines were about 40 cars deep.  It was the only spot in the area with gas to sell, and police said they had been called in often to referee spats over cutting in line.

Wednesday
In Cobb County, motorists waited on a gas truck.  David Craig work up early to look for a way to fill his tank before work.  "Trying to get to Stone Mountain for a job, and we're already two hours late," he said.  But he ended up sitting in line at a station where the pumps never turned on.  "We waited an hour there and we seen this tanker here so we came here and waited a half hour.  Now we finally have gas, so I've been going through this since about five this morning," Craig added.

Saturday
At a Shell gasoline station this Saturday morning in Atlanta's Midtown district, about 25 drivers waited for a chance to pump what's become a rare commodity.  The line clogged a side street, causing backups on Peachtree, the city's main thoroughfare.

"We got about 12 or 13 cars outside right now," said Randy Akins, assistant manager of the Shell station on Peachtree Street.  "It's crazy.  It's been like this since 6 a.m.  We'll probably be out by lunchtime at this rate.  I don't know when we're going to get more."

When desperate motorists do find gas stations with fuel they are often forced to wait in long, slow moving lines.  Many have waited so long, that their tanks go dry before they can get to a pump.  One driver at a QuickTrip gas station on Cobb Parkway in Cobb County said he waited for 45 minutes and ran out of gas while in line.

QuickTrip Corp., which runs more than 111 gasoline stations in the Atlanta area, said it shut down fuel pumps at about half its stores and is struggling to keep fuel flowing at those it's keeping on.  Company spokesman Mike Thornburgh said "Don't ask me for a projection [of when fuel is available] because I don't know.  We're scrambling just to try to find fuel."

Plastic grocery bags covered the handles of gas pumps today at some stations in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta.  The overhead sign at QuickTrip in Norcross, Georgia, had blank squares where the price usually hangs.

Another QuickTrip, about two miles away off Interstate 85, was jammed with cars trying to squeeze into lines at pumps that were each at least two deep with drivers waiting to fill up.  There was no premium or mid-grade gas, only regular unleaded.  Tractor trailers were three deep waiting for diesel on the back side of the station.

Meanwhile, the state of Georgia has subpoenaed sales records from 130 gas stations after complaints of price gouging.  One station charged nearly $9 a gallon for regular.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Governor Phil Bredesen said Friday afternoon that the pipeline to Nashville, which had been full only sporadically since Hurricane Ike hit Texas, was running at top capacity.  But that did not seem to stop the run on gas over the weekend. Fuel supplies in Nashville are up to about 70 percent of capacity from 30 percent earlier this week, Randy Bly regional spokesman for AAA stated.

The Tennessee Petroleum Council said it could take another week or two before the supply returns to normal. 

While gas is in short supply, reports of gas theft are increasing.  On Thursday, Julie Pace was parked outside Governor's Square Mall in Clarksville she noticed someone underneath her vehicle.  The two men claimed they tried to fix a leak beneath her vehicle, but Clarksville police took them to jail for trying to steal gas.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Four out of five stations in Charlotte are empty, according to AAA.  Cities further north and closer to the coast supplemented their fuel supplies with shipments by barge, AAA said. Drivers camped out overnight in the hope that a shipment of gas would arrive at a station in Charlotte, NC, WSOC-TV reported.  Other drivers felt trapped at home, fearing that their

gas tanks would run dry on the way to or from work.  "This is it; I'm stuck," Shana Roseborough told WSOC.  "I can't go get my child, I can't go get my husband, I can't provide for my family.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that Alan Hirsch with Governor Mike Easley's office said the terminal in Spartainburg, S.C., that serves western North Carolina was being refilled Thursday.  Hirsch said the Charlotte terminal was expected to be refilled Friday.

On Friday night, in Northwest Meckelnburg known as "tank town", where oil from the gulf arrives by a pipeline, there were a lot of tankers filling up and heading out.  Even the Federal Motor Carriers Association allowed an "emergency declaration wavier of hours of service requirement" extension that lets truck drivers to work overtime delivering the fuel to the retail outlets.  However, it was reported that gas seemed harder to find than earlier in the day.

But Saturday morning, gas was still difficult to find in Charlotte, and when it was found, there were long lines.  Police had already responded to several gas stations to help with the traffic situation and resolve disputes between customers.  Even the WBTV's news team reported they were having trouble finding gas.  And one of their photographers had to diver to Mooresville to fill up.

Aaron Angel, finally found a station with gas after searching for the past two days.  Unfortunately, while he was in line, Angel ran out.  He had to get help from someone to push his car up the hill.

Another driver stated "I've been to four places, this was the shortest line.  I didn't quite make it.  And I'm stuck at Park Road Shopping Center."  He had to put gas in a 10-gallon can and take it to his car.

Tensions are still running high around the gas stations.  A look at some police reports shows reports of intimidation, assault and theft.  One driver got punched out.  Some stores have resorted to hiring private security to keep things in order.

"It's been pretty easy going and then I have stuff like this," said security guard Lofton as a man driving a Maserati cut in line in.  "That's not fair.  Everybody else has been waiting.  Just because you got a nice car don't jump in front of everybody."

And gas theft is up in Charlotte also.  "It's messed up the entire gas tank, and it's going to be $3,000 to replace," Faison Covington stated after a couple of men tried to steal gas out of Covington's car by punching a hole in the gas tank.

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

City officials in Asheville have closed the civic center, parks and offices because of the gas shortage.

Police were also monitoring stations that do have gas after reports of fights at pumps between drivers accusing each other of cutting in line.  "It's been a nightmare for everybody," one driver, who found gas, told TV station WHNS.

At one gas station a driver stated that this was the fifth gas station they had been to looking for gas.  There was a purchase limit of 10 gallons.

Some gas station were planning to be closed on Sunday, to make sure there is gas at the start of the workweek.  "I can't catch up, and that's part of the reason we're closin' on Sunday is so that we can get to the point where it will take more than three hours to sell everything we have," a Kounty Line gas station manager stated.

FORT MILL TOWNSHIP, SOUTH CAROLINA

Fort Mill police were busy on Friday directing traffic around one of the few local gas station that has gas to sell.  Cars were lined up 15 to 20 deep around the pumps at PJ's Citgo on Spratt Street.  At around 3 p.m. workers at PJ's said they had about 900 gallons left.

At Love's truck stop on Sutton Road in Fort MIll, more than 30 cars and commercial 18-wheelers were stacked up at around 6:30a. 

In Indian Land, the Gate Petroleum station received a half-tanker of gas, workers there said.  The station typically receives a full tanker three times a day; one each in the morning and at midday and another in late evening.  The tanker quickly attracted customers, and the station was out of gas by 9 a.m.

John Walton at Cobblestone Creek Market and Texaco station in Indian Land said he's been out of gas since Tuesday.  He hopes a tanker will arrive sometime today, but added "I couldn't say when."

DALLAS, TEXAS

Here's one that you haven't heard much about.  There are a few shortages still in Dallas however, they are usually not more than 24 hours at any particular station. 

Even at a major truck stop, the Flying J at I-20 and Bonnie View had no premium unleaded.

Yesterday, Friday, both gas stations around DFW airport were reported to be out of gas at 3:00 pm.

SOURCES:

Bloomberg
FOX Carolinas
NBC4, Washington DC
Atlanta Journal Constitution
WSB-TV, Atlanta, GA
11Alive, Atlanta, GA
FOX5, Atlanta, GA
WBTV, Charlotte, NC
WCNC, Charlotte, NC
ABC13, Asheville, NC
Fort Mill Times, NC
D Magazine, Dallas, TX