plus 4, Currency Headwinds Could Mean Alcoa Earnings Miss -Citigroup - CNN Money

Currency Headwinds Could Mean Alcoa Earnings Miss -Citigroup - CNN Money
Automobiles : TRUCKS - Frederick News-Post
Feeny, QTA hockey teams donate food to North Midland Family Center - Midland Daily News
AZ gas prices could top $3 a gallon in spring - AZCentral.com
McLaren Automotive Newest Member to Join AIAM - Biloxi Sun Herald

Currency Headwinds Could Mean Alcoa Earnings Miss -Citigroup - CNN Money

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 06:16 AM PST

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Citigroup analysts said currency headwinds could prevent Alcoa Inc. (AA) from meeting the Street's forecasts when it kicks off earnings season next week, hitting the aluminum giant with an investment-rating downgrade.

Citigroup analyst Brian Yu said the shares are now "fairly valued" as he cut the stock to "hold" from "buy." He said that a weak dollar has the chance of diluting the positives of a recovery in aluminum prices, noting the dollar has fallen relative to other major currencies including the euro during Alcoa's fiscal-fourth quarter.

The downgrade constrasted with some analysts' optimism for U.S. industrial and basic materials stocks, coming one day after Goldman Sachs analysts said they remain positive on those sectors.

Goldman upgraded investment ratings on several names including 3M Co. (MMM) and Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (MLM) Wednesday, saying the firm continues to recommend exposure to select early-cycle consumer, residential, auto, truck and general industrial stocks.

Alcoa fell in Thursday premarket trading, off 1.9% to $16.62 recently.

-By Brendan Conway , Dow Jones Newswires; (212) 416-2670; brendan.conway@ dowjones.com

 (END) Dow Jones Newswires 01-07-10 0922ET Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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Automobiles : TRUCKS - Frederick News-Post

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:06 AM PST

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Feeny, QTA hockey teams donate food to North Midland Family Center - Midland Daily News

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 05:26 AM PST

Feeny Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Midland and Quality Truck and Auto Accessories and their youth hockey teams sponsored their annual food drive for the needy in the community this past December. The groups worked together to collect food from families, friends and neighbors and then helped load it into trucks and vans at the Feeny dealership for delivery to the donation site. As in past years, the food collected was donated to the North Midland Family Center, located at 2601 E. Shearer Road. Linda Clark, executive director of the center, said, "It is awesome that Feeny did this again this year. Especially when the need it so great. Many families in our community will benefit from the food donations collected at Feeny." Pictured are members of the Feeny Chrysler Dodge and Quality Truck and Auto youth hockey teams.

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AZ gas prices could top $3 a gallon in spring - AZCentral.com

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 06:09 AM PST

Stable gas prices seen through the end of 2009 may be ending, with some experts predicting that demand will push a gallon of gas to $3 this spring, possibly slowing any economic recovery in Arizona.

Gas prices shot to record highs above $4 a gallon in summer 2008, then fell to dramatic lows in the range of $1.50 a gallon in Phoenix that winter before creeping back to about $2.60 a gallon, where they've hovered since June.

The average price in Arizona on Wednesday was $2.60 for a gallon of regular, up about half a cent overnight, according to AAA Arizona.

With the U.S. spending more than $1 billion a day on gasoline at current rates, gas prices could play an important role in the recovery, economists say. Higher employment and economic activity in 2010 will push demand and prices higher, but higher prices will cut into other consumer spending.

Sufficient gas supplies are key to keeping prices from spiking too high, shutting down growth, analysts say.

"The bottom line is that the economy is getting better," said Phil Flynn, an analyst with Alaron Futures and Options in Chicago. "Demand will improve, but we have ample supply."

Costs going up

Oil prices closed above $83 a barrel Wednesday, the highest close since October 2008, and that is pushing up the price of gasoline futures, said analyst Tom Kloza, chief analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Prices at the pump will soon follow suit.

"It will be easy for street prices to eclipse $3 a gallon with even a modest winter-to-spring rally," he said.

If those predictions prove correct, Arizona is particularly vulnerable.

"It would, on the margin, slow consumer spending a little bit," said Nathan Topper, an associate economist who tracks Arizona for Moody's Economy.com in Pennsylvania. "It would transfer spending from durable goods like autos and homes to more necessities."

Auto sales took a significant hit during the gas-price spike of 2008.

Daily commutes

Many people in metropolitan Phoenix drive long distances to work, which increases the impact of high gas prices more so than in places where many people use public transportation, he said.

"The other place we see it is, if jet-fuel prices go up again . . . it could dent the tourism recovery, which is already weak," Topper said.

The fact that Arizona is home to US Airways means the state gets a "double hit" from trouble in the tourism industry.

"Places like Las Vegas also get hit by weaker tourism, but Arizona has a secondary knock because US Airways is based there," he said.

Higher gas prices clearly are unwelcome among drivers.

"How am I supposed to drive if I don't have any gas?" Eddie Potter of Phoenix wondered Wednesday as he fueled the truck he uses for his construction job. "It's my livelihood."

Gary Mitchell was filling his taxicab at the same station selling Arco-branded fuel at 16th Street and Thomas Road.

He said he returns to the same station because at $2.47 a gallon for regular, it is the cheapest in central Phoenix.

Major-branded stations less than a mile away charge more than a dime more per gallon.

Higher gas prices mean less money in his pocket at the end of the day, but he said he'll tough it out if prices hit $3 a gallon.

"I'll have to," he said. "This is my main source of income."

Cheapest gas

The station with the cheapest fuel in the Phoenix area Wednesday was a 7-Eleven at University and McClintock drives in Tempe, with regular fuel selling for $2.43 a gallon, according to GasBuddy .com.

The most expensive station in the area was a Chevron at Interstate 17 and Carefree Highway, with regular fuel selling for $2.79 a gallon.

Denise Griffin of Phoenix was filling up her truck in Phoenix and said that although high prices are unwelcome, at least they prompt automakers to develop vehicles with higher fuel efficiencies.

Rising prices will cause her to drive less, but some drives are unavoidable.

"I have to work," she said. "I have to do what I have to do."

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McLaren Automotive Newest Member to Join AIAM - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 05:54 AM PST

About AIAM - The Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Inc. (AIAM) is a trade association representing 14 international motor vehicle manufacturers who account for 40 percent of all passenger cars and light trucks sold annually in the United States. AIAM provides members with information, analysis and advocacy on a wide variety of legislative and regulatory issues impacting the auto sector. The Association is dedicated to the promotion of free trade and to policies that enhance motor vehicle safety and the protection of the environment. Member companies include Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Kia, McLaren Automotive, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota. For more information, visit our website at www.aiam.org.

About McLaren - McLaren Automotive is an independent company based at the headquarters of the McLaren Group in Woking, England. It has been designing and building iconic, technologically advanced high-performance sports cars in limited runs for nearly 20 years, beginning in the early 1990s with the McLaren F1, still considered by many to be the world's best road-legal sports car. The F1 project resulted in just over 100 road-going and racing car derivatives, including a debut victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1995, and the world's fastest production car. Following the success of the F1, McLaren then designed and built the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and with just over 2000 models produced up to the end of the program in late-2009, it became the world's most successful premium sports car for sales in the $500,000 price region. In 2010, production will begin of the first in a new range of high-performance sports cars, the MP4-12C, that will be sold globally by McLaren Automotive retail partners. The McLaren Group also includes McLaren Racing, the world's most successful motor racing team, having competed and won on numerous occasions in Formula 1, Indy, Can-Am and GT racing.

SOURCE Association of International Automobile Manufacturers

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