Inc Bulletin

As The Snow Falls, So Do Sales Numbers

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:00:22 +0000

No one should be surprised to hear that February posted poor sales numbers in the industry of automotive sales. However, it was a particularly bad month, even for a February, because of the snow-storms that blanketed the entire continental United States at times.

Car makers on Tuesday are expected to report disappointing U.S. sales for February, mainly due to snowstorms in the Northeast and Midwest that kept customers away from dealerships.

The quality crisis at Toyota Motor Corp. also is predicted to have hurt sales for that company by at least about 25%, according to industry forecasting firm TrueCar.

Toyota’s mess-up is everyone else’s gain, obviously. But the snow is everyone’s loss–less people want to go out and trudge around car dealerships in the snow, and you can forget test driving.

Taking Bernanke Down A Notch

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:38:02 +0000

Alan Greenspan, during his time as Chief of the Fed, was praised as a hero and a genius. Ben Bernanke has not been as well-liked in recent months. It does not help that during his tenure he has presided over one of the worst economic recessions in decades. Bernanke, through the Federal Reserve, is able to manipulate the stock market and the world economy through raising or lowering interest rates and the like. Bernanke, though, is increasingly coming under fire–both from the public and from Congress.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint is doing his best to prevent Bernanke from gaining a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank.

“We can’t overlook the fact that he has presided over one of the biggest economic catastrophes that we’ve had as a country,” DeMint said at a Dec. 17 meeting of the Senate Banking Committee.

This is saying quite a lot. No Senator of consequence has spoken this badly about a Federal Reserve chairman in quite a while. Senators Vitter, Demint, Bunning, and Sanders have all placed holds on Bernanke’s nomination, a move which will delay his confirmation.

Travel, Traffic, and Trepidation

admin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:46:08 +0000

The economy is likely to receive a major jolt in the coming week, both from a drastic increase in travel nationwide, and the post-Thanksgiving “black friday” shop-til-you-drop-a-thon. These two events combined are likely to provide a much needed boost to airlines, oil companies, convenience stores, locally owned gift stores, and virtually every other sector of the market. Of course, the increase in traffic and spending probably will not reach the heights it would have reached two years ago, but the jolt is a welcome one nonetheless.

Wednesday, especially, is expected to bring a massive surge in traffic and travel.

Logan International Airport is expecting 100,000 travelers today, said spokesman Phil Orlandella, who advises: “The best thing anyone can do when they travel is to check with their airline first.”

More here.