WSJ Auto Sales

June 1, 2007 11:55am by

The (free) portion of the WSJ online now has some rather extensive data tables and charts on Auto Sales:

48kikpmp

Autoyly

The Journal and the NYT seem to be continually expanding these sections (big advertisers, I guess)

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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. Fred commented on May 31

    Meanwhile, the Transports are breaking out of a four month ascending triangle…another new high.

    Shhhh.

  2. dd commented on May 31

    New Rule: Dylan Ratigan needs to stop acting like a but pirate. (not that there is anything wrong with that)

  3. Philippe commented on Jun 1

    Diverse communauty of interest some are interested in the operating environment of the real world others to their papers.

    Reality!!!

  4. BDG123 commented on Jun 1

    I give up Fred. It is hard to be tough on someone so patently ignorant and proud of it. I actually smile when I read your posts now. That enthusiasm is what causes bubbles and is as American as apple pie, believing EMC and Cisco will rise from the ashes and pickup trucks.

    That’s quite an impressive observation you made on that triangle and the transports. There’s only one problem. The transports are bumping up against a nearly hundred year rising wedge. Of course, I’m sure your short term analysis is much more important.

  5. John commented on Jun 1

    I wonder what effect this nice Spike in interest rates is going to have on future Auto Sales, the Housing Market… and those Adjustable Rate Mortage Resets…
    Ahhh, never mind. It’s all good news (all of the time) in the Land of Dubya… SugarPlum Fairies, Blue Skies and Sunshine for as far as the eye can see.

  6. Christopher Laudani commented on Jun 1

    Barry,

    The auto companies should sell off as many assets as possible and use the proceeds to launch a mega global multi strategy hedge fund. Chase alpha all over the world – stocks, bonds, commodities, currency, private equity, etc. You name it, they would do it.

    Who wants to talk to a bunch of greesy auto workers when you could go to lunch with private equity guys?

    What’s more fun – talking about OSHA regulations regarding on-the-job repetitive stress injuries or yacking about the YEN carry trade at per se?

    Changing emmission standards or retail comp store sales?

    No contest if you ask me.

    Look, Rick Wagoner only makes $1.3 mln. Talk about embarassment. Heck, I know kids two years out of school that make that. If Wagoner ran a fund he could easily take home $30 mln a year. No problemo.

    After all this time, Ford still has 12 different methods to hold up the hood of a car. What a nightmare. Nobody at those companies gets “it”. Turning them around is a lost cause. They need to re-imagine!

    Sell it all. Lay off everyone who doesn’t add alpha. Put in a call to Bloomberg. End of story!

  7. Shawn H commented on Jun 1

    *** The Problem:

    – Lots of foreclosures on the horizon.

    – Dramatic overbuilding in bubble areas.

    – Middle class priced out of the housing market.

    *** The Cause:

    – Any bum, illegal or criminal can get get a toxic, 115%, stated-income mortgage for $500k.

    – Allowing loans to be based solely on FICO score, which today is next to meaningless:

    http://tinyurl.com/2gg7fk

    – The NAR controls most of the government reporting statistics on housing!

    *** The Solution:

    – Require proof of income on new mortgages.

    – Force those that have gotten money at closing and are now facing foreclosure to repay it.

    – Force them to repay the negative amortization they’ve accrued over the past two years while living above their means.

    – Force them to repay the difference between the 1% teaser they paid ($417/month @ $500k) and the true cost for the quality of home they got to live in.

    – Charge and convict criminals for committing wire fraud (and worse) so the corrupt know the government won’t stand for this behavior.

    – Hire an independent third-party to compile and release the housing statistics.

    – Fix FICO scoring.

    *** The U.S. Government Solution:

    – Bail out the fiscally irresponsible, liars and outright thieves buy taking money from the fiscally responsible (savers) to give to these criminals. Welfare of the 1980’s was nothing, you are now paying the balance for the past few years of underpayment of the fiscally irresponsible living beyond their means:

    http://tinyurl.com/2rqeaj

    – Continue to allow stated-income loans at full-speed. These loans are next year’s bailouts, but who cares, we’re punishing the savers.

    – Punish no one. Reward federal wire fraudsters and outright criminals with a bailout no less.

    – Ignore a huge, obvious flaw in FICO scoring that could be fixed in two minutes.

    – Reward the NAR by making it ***ILLEGAL*** to use a discount broker (already a law in 10 states). If they made it illegal to use Ameritrade vs. Merrill the resultant revolt would overthrow the government. But this is real-estate. Guess it’s just as fair as the tax treatment on home investment vs. stock investment: 0% real-estate vs. 28% stocks.

  8. Ghost of Tom Joad commented on Jun 1

    DD,
    Ratigan is paid to be a cheerleader. What I find funny is that Murdoch doesn’t think CNBC is pro-Market enough. Watching CNBC, one gets the feeling that the market always goes up. never down. How can the new Faux Business Channel get more shrill then CNBC? I don’t know.

  10. okaycuckoo commented on Jun 1

    Ghost of Tom Joad said:
    “Watching CNBC, one gets the feeling that the market always goes up. never down.”

    Today I heard Rick Santelli, their Chicago exchange correspondent, say, “Thank you Europe” – words I thought I’d never hear from an American. He was referring to the ECB’s clear hawkishness on inflation, and the worry over the yield on 10 year bonds.

    The folks back at the studio cut him off. After all, he’s just a clown. And Becky Quick is a fox.

    And there was also some puzzlement over the UNCHANGED construction jobs figures. But nobody followed it up.

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