LOOK! IT’S A PLANE, IT’S A …………WHAT?

Aptera, it is an Aptera! Entrepreneur, Steve Fambro, plans to market this luscious little car by the end of the year. The name Aptera means “wingless flight” in Greek, but this baby won’t fly except down the highway! This electric vehicle has a top speed of 95 miles per hour and runs only on three wheels. It will be available in electric in 2008 and a hybrid version coming soon. They say the price tag will be around $30,000 and can travel 120 miles on a four hour charge. But the new hybrid will get 300 miles to the gallon when it hits the market. Woohoo!

Is It Karma?

Yes, it is Karma. Fisker Karma in fact. This new plug-in electric sedan features two modes, one for everyday and one for “full power”. The full power has a six second zero-to-60 pickup and goes beyond 125 mph. It also boasts a solar roof for charging and cooling while parked. Okay, I want one!  But it is $80,000 and will begin shipping in 2010. You can order this beautiful car at the Fisker’s website.

Riding The Storm

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae hold a large portion of the outstanding mortgage debt in the United States. They were created by Congress to help more Americans buy homes in 1970 and 1938 respectively. Rumor has it that they are in trouble and they hold $5 trillion in debt and mortgages. After the fall yesterday of IndyMac, the rumor mill is flying about the shape of these two enterprises. They maintain the market for mortgages and make the lending more tempting for banks because of the risks they take. Freddie and Fannie are publicly traded and some say they are bullet-proof. But Freddie is down 75% since January and Fannie is down 65% also. Some investors are losing faith but the companies told Fortune that they have enough capital to weather the storm. Let’s hope so.

House Bills Passed

Two significant bills have passed the House in the last month.

1-  War Funding Bill - This bill approves $162 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan through June 2009. It also updates the GI Bill and expands benefits for the soldiers involved in the war. Domestic spending was added but both sides voted for this bill due to the compromise of support for the troops without a withdrawal date attached.

2- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - This bill is a reauthorization of the law that allows federal agents to act quickly on intelligence and monitor calls coming into the country from terror suspects without a warrant.

The President has signed the war funding bill into law, but the Surveillance Act still awaits Senate passage.

Ship Shortage?

Drill-ships are vessels that are used for offshore drilling in deep water and some oil companies have been forced to postpone exploration while waiting for a ship. The world’s existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. The record prices of oil have spurred the new wave of drill-ship construction. Sixteen new ships are to be delivered to oil companies this year and up to 75 should be delivered by 2011. The oil companies are constrained in their programs because of the lack of rigs. Demand is so high that some ship builders have raised their prices more than $100 million dollars a vessel to make pricing reach about $500 million for each ship. Looks like the shortages are apparent in each sector of this race for oil and energy sources.

Nascar Downsized

The new Daytona race according to Rob Smith Jr.

A Man Sorely Missed by Bruce Plante

Rob Smith’s Humor

Indiana Jones

The Hard Facts

What is the solution to our gas problems? There isn’t one. Our prices for gasoline will probably go higher in the future and become permanent. World oil production seems to be peaking and will start a decline according to the experts. By 2020, our prices now will seem like a bargain.

We have begun driving fewer miles and we all need to make the daily changes in our lives that fits our own budgets. According to the Federal Highway Administration, Americans drove 11 billion miles less in March 2008 than March 2007.

Some people ask why our own oil production cannot be lower priced just for America. All oil produced in this country is added into the world market and sold to us through that market. So how could drilling in ANWR be beneficial? It would have to put enough oil into the global market to drive down the price of oil worldwide.

So what is the answer? In my opinion, the answer lies in multiple energy sources, new vehicles with alternate forms of energy and buying the fuel source that will be the easiest to obtain in the area in which you live. See one of the examples of new vehicles coming on the market below.

Hydrogen Vehicle: the FCX Honda Clarity available in California in the summer of 2008.