plus 4, Gas prices chugging higher as holidays near - Chippewa Herald

Gas prices chugging higher as holidays near - Chippewa Herald
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will stick with crew chief Lance McGrew - Everything Alabama Blog
Ford's Louisville union workers reject changes - Courier-Journal
Sectoral growth contradicts, are we on right track? - Commodity Online
Gas prices may pinch holidays - Columbus Dispatch

Gas prices chugging higher as holidays near - Chippewa Herald

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 05:38 AM PDT

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. will stick with crew chief Lance McGrew - Everything Alabama Blog

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 05:38 AM PDT

By Mark Inabinett

October 31, 2009, 3:54AM

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, talks with crew chief Lance McGrew, center, during a practice session for the Michigan 400 NASCAR auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. on Aug. 14, 2009. Hendrick Motorsports says Lance McGrew will stay with the No. 88 team in 2010. McGrew took over the job on an interim basis in May when Tony Eury Jr. was fired after a horrendous start to the season.TALLADEGA -- Lance McGrew will stick with "the hardest job in the garage," serving as the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports for the 2010 season.

McGrew became the fan favorite's interim crew chief when Tony Eury Jr. was taken off Earnhardt's pit box 12 races into this season. Earnhardt made the crew chief announcement on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, where he and McGrew are preparing for Sunday's AMP Energy 500.

"We're happy to announce that Lance is going to be the crew chief for the car," Earnhardt said. "So you can get rid of the interim tag and we can kind of move forward with planning what changes -- if any -- we might want to make to the team in the offseason and prepare ourselves for next year."

"It's something I'm really excited about. Lance has done a great job. He's a really good guy. We have a really good friendship that started many years ago."

When Eury, who has since been added to Earnhardt's JR Motorsports Nationwide program, left the team, Earnhardt was 19th in the points standings. Now, he's 24th. But Earnhardt said McGrew has improved performance, even though some bad racing luck has not allowed his finishes to reflect that.

"Every time he's built a car, I've loved it when it hits the racetrack," Earnhardt said.

Earnhardt has as many DNFs as top-10 finishes this season (5). But he's won the Talladega Cup race five times and had his best finish of the season (second) in Talladega's April race.

TALKING ABOUT PRACTICE: It didn't take long for Sprint Cup Series practice at Talladega to look like a race. Less than eight minutes into the first practice session on Friday, Clint Bowyer's No. 33 was sliding through the infield grass. Former truck series regular Erik Darnell, who'll make his fourth Cup start in the No. 96 Ford, got the blame for getting into the back of Bowyer's Chevrolet.

NASCAR pulled Michael Waltrip's No. 55 Toyota off the track during the second practice for being too frisky in bump-drafting.

GO-OR-GO-HOMERS: The rain forecast for today at Talladega would be especially bad news for the driver who crossed the finish line first in last year's race. Ragan Smith lost the victory when NASCAR penalized him for passing Tony Stewart below the yellow line that marks the inside of the racing surface in the dash to the checkered flag.

The 2008 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year was driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. then, but was squeezed out in the merger of DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing and landed on Furniture Row Racing's part-time team.

Only one car among the 44 entered in Sunday's AMP Energy 500 will not make the race. If it rains out qualifying today, that one car would be Smith's No. 78 Chevrolet.

If qualifying goes on as scheduled at 11:15 a.m. today, Smith will try to qualify for one of the seven open positions along with Brad Keselowski, the winner of Talladega's April race; Max Papis, Robert Richardson Jr., Tony Raines, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek and Scott Speed, who finished a Cup career-high fifth in the April race.

Technically, Bobby Labonte also is among those required to make the race on qualifying speed, but as the 2000 Cup champion, he can take a past-champion provisional to secure a spot if he turned out to be the slowest qualifier today.

PARK'S RETURN: Steve Park, who helped get Dale Earnhardt Inc. off the ground as the Intimidator's first full-time driver, will make his return to one of NASCAR's top series in today's Mountain Dew 250. The 41-year-old has been a regular the past two years on NASCAR's Camping World East Series, but hasn't been in a truck race since 2006, when he also ran in six Nationwide Series events. Park will be in the No. 02 Chevrolet today.

Park drove in 166 races for DEI from 1997 through 2003 on the Cup Series, winning twice. But he hasn't raced in the Cup Series since being let go by Richard Childress Racing at the end of the 2003 season.

FIRST RACE: R/strong>Robert Richardson Jr. hopes to make his Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday, driving Tommy Baldwin Racing's No. 36 Toyota. The 26-year-old has 23 truck series and 45 Nationwide races under his NASCAR belt. Despite his inexperience, he has a respectable Talladega record. In one truck and three Nationwide races at the track, he's completed all but nine laps and finished between 16th and 19th in all of them. Richardson also will drive the No. 71 Chevrolet in today's truck race.

FRONT-ROW JOE: Joe Nemechek has a proud history at Talladega with four poles in the Cup race and two wins and five poles in the track's Nationwide race.

But the economic reality of 2009 has reduced Nemechek to driving for a self-owned team, and his No. 87 Chevrolet has mostly been a start-and-park operation. He's made 27 of the 32 races, but he's been running at the finish of just three.

PIT STOPS: The Ryan Newman Foundation and Racing for Wildlife announced at Talladega on Friday the purchase of a tract of land adjacent to Talladega National Forest. The land had been privately held and lies at the heart of the Hollins Wildlife Management Area. It includes 8 miles of ridgeline on Rebecca Mountain. The land is being turned over to the U.S. Forest Service to manage for public use. ... The AMP Energy 500 is the last of the five impound races on the Cup schedule, meaning teams that work on cars between today's qualifying and Sunday's race will have to start at the back of the field. ... Although Kevin Harvick's No. 29 Chevrolet was damaged in a wreck at April's race and he finished 61 laps down in 38th place, he still managed to extend his track record of races without a DNF to 17. ... The last time a Dodge visited Victory Lane after a Talladega Cup race, Dave Marcis was pushing the pedals in his brown wingtips. Marcis scored the only Talladega win of his track-record 61 races on Aug. 8, 1976. In the 33 years and 65 Talladega races since, 34 Chevrolets, 14 Fords, six Oldsmobiles, six Buicks, two Pontiacs, two Toyotas and a Mercury have won.

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Ford's Louisville union workers reject changes - Courier-Journal

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 04:26 AM PDT

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In memos to roughly 5,000 workers at both plants, UAW leadership has emphasized that the tentative deal was reached to honor the six-decade tradition of negotiating nearly-identical pattern agreements with the Detroit Three automakers.

"For over 60 years we have won outstanding wages, benefits, pensions, etc. for our UAW Ford, GM and Chrysler members by strict adherence to the UAW strategy of pattern bargaining," said a letter signed by leaders at 13 UAW locals nationwide.

But recent years have brought only concessions, Louisville workers said.

As domestic automakers have pared costs to compete with Toyota and other transplant automakers, UAW workers in Louisville have given up overtime after eight straight hours, annual cost-of-living increases, daily break times, tuition reimbursement, holidays and holiday bonuses.

Workers also have surrendered the right of advancement by allowing Ford to consolidate job classifications and outsource work to cheaper outside vendors.

Ford, in turn, has buoyed both plants, including reversing a decision to close Louisville Assembly.

Kentucky Assembly got new work — assembly of the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. —

And Louisville Assembly, which is down to one shift, could get production of the Kuga and the Escape compact SUVs.

Taylor said workers worry about losing that, but she noted Ford reported a profit in the second quarter, unlike Chrysler and GM.

The promises to retool Louisville Assembly Plant and bring new vehicles there should not be jeopardized by the vote, Comito said. "We have that commitment from Ford in the 2007 agreement," he said.

Louisville workers said they instinctively recoil at the thought of trimming their contract to match concessions made by GM and Chrysler workers who faced losing everything.

"Who wants to pattern an agreement after a bankrupt company?" Fleace asked. "It doesn't make sense to me."

Reporter Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669This story contains information from the Detroit Free Press

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Sectoral growth contradicts, are we on right track? - Commodity Online

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 04:40 AM PDT

Commodity Online: Is the growth momentum sustainable in the Indian economy? The second quarter results are out for the companies and once again the industry has shown a see-saw like movement, on one hand auto and ancillary industry showing robust income on increased sales, while key industries including mining and metals have faced a dent in their profits on lower sales realization.

Auto companies have performed well in the past quarter as the sales figures were impressive for the companies. India's largest small car maker, Maruti Suzuki (India) Ltd (BOM: 532500) posted mammoth jump in the profits by 93% at Rs.570 crore for the Q2 FY10 against Rs.296.12 crore for the corresponding period last year. Sales rose by 47% at Rs.7049 crore against Rs.4806.26 crore.

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High demand driven by new models launched gave a sharp rise in company's sales during the said quarter. However, company's stock movement on the Bombay Stock Exchange was more of a rollercoaster ride, as the stock price witnessed appreciation during the mid-period of the quarter but lost the steam at the fag end of the quarter. The stock price stood at Rs.1403 on Friday, marginally down by 0.7% from its level three months back.

Similarly, Tata Motors' (BOM: 500570) Q2 profits galloped by 110% to Rs.729 crore on a revenue base of Rs.7979 crore for the second quarter. Nearly doubling of the profits was mainly attributed to a marked decline in raw material costs and strong demand for its Ace trucks and Indica Vista cars, beating street estimates.

Company stocks witnessed a sustained rise over past three months as the stock price gained by over 34% during the period. Tata Motors closed at Rs.565 on Friday on the BSE.

Utility vehicles maker, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (BOM: 500520) posted net profits of Rs.702.9 crore as against Rs.205.7 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal, showing a huge rise of 242% over the corresponding period in last year. The remarkable rise in the company's profits was mainly driven by the strong sales performance in automotive as well as farm equipment sector. The company's stock price yielded moderate returns of over 7% over past three months, from Rs.856.80 to the recent level of Rs.921.95.

However, the upbeat mood in automobile sector was not visible in the downstream industries like mining and metal production. Metals sector was seen plunging down in the second quarter with weak income figures owing to reduced realization.

Metal producers including Tata Steel Ltd, Sterlite Industries Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd and state owned Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) have witnessed heavy erosion in profits in the past one quarter.

Tata Steel's standalone net profit, which excludes earnings from the European unit Corus, dropped 49% to Rs.903 crore in the quarter ended 30 September from Rs.1,788 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue declined 16% to Rs.5,692 crore for the period.

Sterlite Industries, the Vedanta Group company, reported a 27.9% decline in the company's net profits at Rs.1240.33 crore for the Q2 FY10. Company's total income declined to Rs.6129.06 crore during the second quarter from Rs.6810.99 crore a year back. The decline in the company's profits was mainly attributed to the low sales realization.

Public sector steel major, SAIL also witnessed a dip in the Q2 profits at Rs.1663.49 crore over Rs.2009.60 crore for the corresponding period last year, down by 17%. The fall was attributed to the lower sales realization and the merger of Bharat Refractories Ltd (BRL) with it.

The weakness in the key sectors has become a concern for the administration. However, there is an optimistic hope for the third quarter on the back of improved demand from infrastructure sector and improvement in metal prices in the international market.

The finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee had described the recovery process as slow and halting. The Indian government had taken a number of stimulus measures, including cut in excise duty and service tax, to combat the economic slowdown. The Indian economy grew 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009-10.

Though the industrial production recovered in June-August, exports continued to fall. The finance minister said he was hopeful of growth in the Indian economy reviving to 9% in two years. The growth in the Indian economy slowed down to 6.7% in 2008-09 due to the global financial crisis compared with average 9.4% growth in the previous three years.

The finance minister said he expected growth in the Indian economy to pick up in the second half of the current financial year. Overall, the economy is likely to grow 6.0-6.5% in the current financial year ending March, he said.

The headline inflation is also likely to touch 6.0-6.5% by March, he said. The Reserve Bank ofIndia has projected the inflation rate based on Wholesale Price Index to be 6.5% with an upward bias by March-end from the current 1.51%.

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Gas prices may pinch holidays - Columbus Dispatch

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 04:19 AM PDT

NEW YORK -- Americans are paying more for gasoline than they did last year as the holidays approached. That's billions of dollars that could go to books, clothes and Barbie dolls instead being spent at the pump.

Gas averaged nearly $2.70 a gallon nationwide yesterday, the highest of the year. That adds bad news to an already-fragile economy and makes it less likely that Americans will spend their way out of the recession. The average price of a gallon of regular in Ohio was $2.68, according to the AAA Ohio Auto Club.

From November to January, the average price was $1.86. Even if prices average $2.50 per gallon in the same period this year, Americans will pay an extra $26.6 billion for gas, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Americans didn't have much going for them financially in late 2008, but they did have this: Gas prices plunged by 93 cents per gallon between Oct. 30 and the end of the year. It was like a generous energy tax break, just in time for the holidays.

Thanks mostly to the weak dollar, that's no longer the case. And when a gallon of gas costs $2.50 to $3, people begin to notice, energy experts say.

People make a "clear emotional connection" between the price of gas and how much they spend on other things, said Wendy Liebmann, who monitors shopping habits through her company, WSL Strategic Retail.

"It nibbles out of our paycheck, and there's nothing we can do about it," Liebmann said. "We've got to get the kids to school. We've got to get to work if we're lucky enough to have a job."

As gas prices soared from 2006 to 2008, people became increasingly tightfisted, a survey by WSL found. When gas peaked above $4 a gallon in July 2008, more than two-thirds said they had cut back on other spending so they could still use their cars.

This year's increase already has affected spending for Kim Barbee, 48, of the West Side.

As she window-shopped at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Lennox Town Center last night, she said she's planning to buy less-expensive gifts for the holidays and probably only for her children and grandchildren.

"Actually, the price of everything's affecting my holiday shopping," she said.

Others searching the bookshelves, however, didn't expect a more frugal Christmas.

Cullen Jackson, 26, said gas prices don't affect him because he lives near his job at Ohio State University and doesn't drive much.

And Chris Varvarosky, 51, of Hilliard, said he and his wife are in "pretty decent shape" financially because they both have jobs, so they don't expect to scrimp much on gifts for each other or their three children because of rising gasoline prices.

Nikki and Brian Scott of Lancaster said they'd already cut back on spending and don't expect the price of gasoline to put a huge dent in their holiday spirit -- unless it hits $4 a gallon, Brian said. Nikki, 27, baby-sits in their home all day while Brian, 31, attends school to learn how to be a paramedic.

Gas prices are rising even as Americans drive much less than they did before the recession hit, and as the country sits on massive petroleum supplies. A weak dollar is making fuel more expensive.

Oil is bought and sold primarily in dollars. When the dollar falls, investors holding euros, for example, can buy more crude with less. And they have.

Since March 2, the value of the dollar has fallen 18 percent against the euro. In that time, a barrel of crude oil has doubled in price, to about $80. Pump prices have gone along for the ride.

The nation's average gas price has risen 17 days in a row, hitting a national average of $2.695 per gallon yesterday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. The most-recent time gas cost close to that much was in June, during the summer driving season.

And prices probably will stay high because oil companies have become much more conservative about producing fuel after getting burned by the dramatic drop in energy prices last year.

Dispatch reporter Kathy Lynn Gray contributed to this story.

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