Perfect for connecting your LEGO flash drive and LEGO MP3 player to your LEGO Mac Mini, these hubs add 3 extra ports anywhere you need ‘em. That is, of course if that anywhere happens to be in Korea, which is apparently the only place these are for sale (so far). Available from DCX for 15,920 KRW (appx. $12 USD).

read more at technabob.com.

Fiat will soon own 55% of Chrysler, LLC. For all of you North Americans who could not name a Fiat model other than the X1/9 and persist with the fix-it-again-tony and fundamentally-inept-automotive-technology gags, you should know the Fiats of old are as gone as the Chevrolet Citation, Ford Fairmont, Plymouth and Oldsmobile.

The Fiats of old were wonderful drivers and appealing to the eye but the mechanical and electrical stuff was so clumsy the Soviets made fun of Fiat. When the original Panda made its way to Yugoslavia, Zastava was obliged to nearly re-engineer it to meet exacting Eastern-Bloc standards. If only Fiat could retain that quintessentially Italian passion while designing chassis and engines which could run for several hours without a major service.

All right, visually the Chroma is n0 Brava, but the quality of the mechanical bits and the quality of the driving experience are no longer in inverse proportions. In this internet age one should hang up one’s automotive journalist blogger credentials if you are somehow unaware that Fiat has made as even more progress in the build quality of their automobiles in the last twenty-six model years as Hyundai has in eight.

Chrysler shall soon have good, tiny cars. This is what the market demands. I don’t know what happened, but there you are. Smart and Mini are selling all the cars they can ship while the rest of the business is looking for handouts. Chrysler plants shall also keep busy assembling Alfa Romeos and possibly authentic Fiat Nuova 500s for the U.S. domestic market. Fiat has a commercial vehicle to replace the Sprinter. (Ducato) This segment will not be a problem once Daimler is cut loose completely. I honestly don’t know what Chrysler shall do with their mid-size and above and I could not care less. They would do well to create a new, original right-wheel-drive chassis on which a 300D and the next generation Charger and Challenger could ride with very special emphasis upon making a vehicle appropriate for taxi fleets and police duty. Ideally the fleet edition would even have its own badass styling with a big Chrysler roof and Dodge anything-but-cute lines everywhere else. GM and Ford don’t seem to be particularly interested in fleets anymore.

Somehow, albeit in its sixth form since 1980, I think Chrysler is going to make it.

While I hope it shall arrive by 2010 at the latest, the Ford Fiesta* is coming to North America for the 2011 model year. It is rumored to be a Spring introduction in 2010, but we’ll just have to see. We get the all-too-high-performance 1.6 TVCT engine only. It’s that car for the rest of the world in the size class below the Focus.

Review of the UK edition Ford Fiesta. It’s a little fuzzy.

In related news, Chrysler has inked a deal with Fiat to manufacture the current generation Nuova 500* and Panda* here on our continent if only they can con find someone to pay for shipping the dies. Presumably the two cars on the same chassis will be (God willing very) modestly restyled and badged as Chrysler and Dodge. Should fortune smile upon us, the 500C with a roll back type retractable roof will come in the first model year.

Review of the UK edition Fiat Nuova 500:

Review of the UK edition Fiat Panda:

General Motors is bringing its … um … well, the Volt uses really cool and complicated technology. Best of all the Chevrolet Volt is really expensive but GM will lose money on every one for decades.

Each of the three potentially profitable vehicles mentioned above will be assembled within the NAFTA countries, although premium editions (rag top, sport chassis) of the 500 may come from Fiat’s European assembly point in Tychy, Poland. Curiously, the 500 is also the basis for the new generation Ford Ka [sic] the size class below the Fiesta.

I am waiting to see the cover of Peculiarly Obsessive Motorist magazine with the Dodge Panda, Ford Fiesta and a conspicuously empty space for the Mexico-restricted (and awful) Daewoo Matiz which isn’t coming north any time soon.

The idea of a Dodge Panda Omni (?) with a tight little five-speed under a 1.4 actually makes me excited. I might even leave town from time to time.

* I link to Clarkson only because he is the most entertaining auto reviewer in the part of the world where they use something like our English, and these vehicles are presently available.

Rome – Confirm as of 21:00 CET:
Representatives of Chrysler, LLC, Auburn Hills MI USA and Fiat SPA of Turin IT signed a memorandum of understanding this day Friday 16 January exchanging up to 35% of Chrysler in consideration for a technology transfer of Fiat designs. No specifics are available.

This was not entirely unexpected. Unlike the Daimler-Benz fiasco we anticipated hearing something before any ink went down. I will assume this means Chrysler gets access to complete Fiat designs, that is not merely power trains, chassis &c but entire vehicles. Daimler and Mitsubishi can finally wash their hands of the whole terrible business.

Take a look at what could be coming to America. I know it isn’t very exciting, but the cars are supposed to be very good. All I know is what I read on the Internets, being in North America and all.

Presumably, Fiat would simply build vehicles for Chrysler’s distributors in Europe and similarly distant lands. So was the Chrysler 200C based on a Fiat chassis? Honestly, I’m asking.

I shall again encourage the use of legacy names for all-new models. Fiat Panda becomes Dodge Dart. Fiat 500 becomes Chrysler Arrow or Scamp. Linea becomes Polara or Coronet. Chroma becomes Dodge Valiant and/or Chrysler Fury. I could go on like this.

Chrysler needs good, small cars and commercials. Fiat could use new markets. It just might work. This also gives Alfa Romeo an instant dealer network should they finally return to our shores, characterized as “selected Chrysler dealers”.

I like it. Sign me up for a Panda Dart. I’ll take the James May edition.

Reuters, Bloomberg and CBS Radio are reporting this morning: Chrysler, LLC is very close to reaching a deal with Renault-Nissan who “may bid for Chrysler’s Jeep brand among other assets” [Bloomberg]. Greater-Toronto-based Magna International, Inc. is bidding for Chrysler’s Belvidere IL plant. Given the existing nature of Magna’s parts and assembly operations it is unclear whether they would become a contract manufacturer for Chrysler, or use the facility for other purposes.

In the Spring of 2007, your humble commenter noted with enthusiasm the possibility of Magna becoming the new parent of the Chrysler Division of DCX. No small part of this enthusiasm was the possibility of the region which produces the most automobiles and parts on this continent getting their own automaker. A great deal of automotive expertise is in southern Ontario.

Jeep goes to Renault-Nissan. Magna (-Steyr?) gets actual automobile assembly capacity in the United States. Chrysler goes down to two divisions, Dodge and Chrysler: Not Cute and Modestly Aspirational.

Could the perennially coming Renault Commercial vehicles be badged as Jeep? Willys? Overland? Perhaps both Nissan or Nissan Commercial and Dodge? Assuming the ‘10 Titan shall be a badge-engineered ‘10 Ram, perhaps the sharing of commercial vehicles will go both ways? Are the Kangoo, Trafic and Master coming to replace the Sprinter and give Dodge smaller commercials which are sorely needed in North America? (See Ford Transit Connect, and where is the Transit, Ford? Oh, yes, too many shared components with the F150 and Econoline E-series.)

Media types: Later this year Ford will introduce a C-platform vehicle called “Transit Connect”. I realize those of you based in North America find this compound name confusing and unnecessary. However, it is not acceptable to refer to this vehicle as merely “Transit”. The Ford Transit is a wholly different commercial vehicle; truck to you. The Transit is revered elsewhere. In North America, this market segment was filled with the Econoline and to a degree by the F-series. Just because you have never heard of the Ford Transit does not mean it does not exist. We have to do everything we can to no longer look like the xenophobic jackasses we are. I’m just tired of my country being a joke.

Jeep is ultimately descended from Willys-Overland. Depending upon how you look at it, the legacy begins in 1903 with Overland, 1908 when Mr. Willys purchased Overland or 1912 when the Willys-Overland company achieved its ultimate form. Based upon the theory of naming devised in the Autumn when the merger of Renault-Nissan and Chrysler was loudly rumored to be imminent, the new company could be Renault-Jeep-Nissan. However, this is a division and not a fully viable, freestanding enterprise. Therefore, Jeep may become a division of R-N.

Last time I was here I brought you the Cyclops preview card, ‘Fearless Leader’.  This week I bring you another Cyclops (and another Scott)…  Alan Scott.  I’m stretching a little because Alan has recently gotten his missing eye back via the power of the Starheart, but a freak teleportation accident with Adam Strange’s technology during one of the million crisis events left him one eye short of… something with two-eyes.  This was most recently represented in his Checkmate version, ‘White King’, that shared a ‘lose-the-game’ condition with Ahmed, Maxwell Lord, and a much inferior Harry Stein.

His newest incarnation, available only on the UDE point store, is Alan Scott, Golden Age Engineer.  When looking at this amazing card the first thing that came to my mind was its parallels to Samantha Parrington, a card I explored in great detail a while ago in an article titled ‘Instant Harm Paragon’.  In this article, I tested Samantha’s best possible pairings with five drops to see how to best abuse her.  Alan Scott deserves different treatment because, while he can ready another character, he does so in a completely different capacity.  For example, Alan Scott is worthless in conjunction with Elektra, Masterless Assassin and Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. because neither will become stunned during their first attacks.

It would also appear that Mr. Scott is weaker than Samantha simply because he cannot go off during the same turn he comes into play.  Sam does not come into play exhausted, Scott does.  It could be argued that this weakness of Scott’s is offset by his recovery ability which makes him much more suitable on the defense.  Though this is a weak argument when you consider that Samantha is usually targeting hidden characters that will be able to attack regardless of the initiative; and Samantha has a large butt to absorb damage on the defense as well.

So what situation would you ever want Scott over Sam (my brother Sam would get a kick out of this sentence!)?  Well I’ve thought of a couple.  The first thing I thought of was mixing Alan up with those astonishing X-Men (the team that OTHER Scott is on).  With Morph on three, Rogue and Alan on turns four and five, and Mimic on turn six, you’d be recovering everyone over and over.  X-Men Assemble would make this all the sweeter.  This wasn’t that appealing of a team-up considering how many recovery effects the X-Men already have, and the high likelihood that the new Evolutions set will help them a lot more than Alan could ever hope to!

The other idea was to stay on team.  After all, JSA is still Silver Age legal for another month or so!  Scott seems designed to stay on team because only they have a card that negates his big exhaustion drawback: Rock of Eternity.  Rock of Eternity is an incredible card that has been used to great effect before in multiple PC top 8 appearances.  Each of these times JSA was teamed up with one of Alan Scott’s other teams: Checkmate.  Checkmate has Ahmed to ensure that Rock of Eternity sees play, and backup characters to take advantage of the Rock’s readying power.  Before Alan Scott, Golden Age Engineer, these decks used turn four to underdrop little guys like Surveillance Pawns to beef up the rest of their board.  Now that the team has a proper on-team four drop, we’re going to change the strategy a little.

The backbone of the deck will stick pretty close to what’s been tread before.  On one we’ll use a bevy of awesome one drops.  Atom Smasher is a monster that grows with the curve, getting bigger even faster once Rock of Eternity is in play.  Connie Webb is crucial too since she’ll get Ahmed for us in an environment that’s missing Enemy of my Enemy.  Our other inclusion is a stat modifier; Surveillance Pawn improves the rest of our board from the safety of the hidden area while helping us meet Ahmed’s loyalty.  Because there are so many awesome one drops, and we don’t want to underdrop on turn four anymore, I’m going to limit myself to only including Jack Knight on turn two.  If we haven’t hit Ahmed by turn two and have a Connie in hand, we’ll be underdropping anyway, so a million two drops would be silly.  Jack’s card draw is too good to exclude though.

On three we’ll have Ahmed of course, but we’ll also include Michael Holt.  If we miss Ahmed, we’ll still have a curve deck that can hold it’s own.  I don’t like decks that completely crumble when one card goes missing!  Also, in case we can’t meet Ahmed’s loyalty requirements, but have Brother I Satellite ready to go, we better include a Christopher Smith to search out.  Similar logic dictates we better include an Adrian Chase on four.  Otherwise our primary four drop will be our featured character: Alan Scott.

On five we’ll include a couple of options.  If we have the initiative and know we can finish off our opponent, Power Girl, Child of Crisis is our go-to gal.  She can attack across the curve, be recovered and readied by Alan Scott, swing down the curve, ready by KOing a resource with her own ability, and attack a third time.  Holy poop!  The other five drop worth mentioning was the same that I wanted to combo with Samantha Parrington: Carter Hall.  Since you can arrange a completely exhausted board through various effects/attacks, you can make him HUGE.  Especially with hidden drops that have stuck around all game.  He’s an ideal recruit on turn five if you evens because you can drop Power girl on six and swing back with both of them, using Alan Scott on whichever gets stunned.

Since the aforementioned drops are our kill conditions we’ll ignore six and seven, except that beautiful utility card, the Phantom Stranger.  This card not only serves as a power-up, but will help make sure the right cards are exhausted before Rock of Eternity kicks in.  This is very important!  JSA Headquarters also helps in this regard, and lessens the pain that the loss of EomE causes.

One important thing to notice about these two teams, other than the complementing exhaustion themes and locations, is their fantastic equipment.  JSA has T-Spheres, and Checkmate has Laser Watch.  Despite the under-utilization of Laser Watch, it is one of the best equipments in the game (next to light armor).  Laser Watch gives +2 ATK, Range, can equip hidden characters, and replaces itself!  Both of these ‘quips also work well with the Checkmate Armory.  Everything else seemed to fall into place.  Check out the final list:

4 Connie Webb, Knight
4 Surveillance Pawn, Army
4 Atom Smasher, Al Rothstein
4 Jack Knight <> Starman, Knight Past
4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King
2 Michael Holt ◊ Mr. Terrific, Renaissance Man
1 Christopher Smith <> Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw
2 Alan Scott, Golden Age Engineer
1 Adrian Chase <> Vigilante, Street Justice
1 Carter Hall <> Hawkman, Eternal Champion
1 Power Girl, Child of Crisis
3 The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero

4 Target Acquired

4 Brother I Satellite
4 Checkmate Safe House
2 The Rock of Eternity
2 JSA Headquarters
1 Brother Eye
1 Stryker’s Island
1 Dr. Fate’s Tower
1 Checkmate Armory

4 T-Spheres
4 Laser Watch
1 Cloak of Nabu

Let me know what else you guys have tried with Alan Scott.  I was also thinking of straight JSA with all the up-the-curve theme cards.  I’m always looking for fun new ways to abuse ANY Green Lanterns!

So it would seem that the VS. Gods are smiling upon thee. After nearly a year of holding onto my Upper Deck Points, UDE has decided to release their first point store-exclusive DC cards!

 

Well, they aren’t really “exclusive,” but since our Hobby League wasn’t up and running at that point I missed out on these goodies the first time around. I’m thrilled to have a chance to receive my own, since they will undoubtedly become anchors in my future Team Superman and Gotham Knights builds.

But the question becomes: Do I burn through my points now, or save them for what’s coming up next?

One of my obsessions is collecting diecast. For those of you who do not know what diecast is you might be familiar with two words “Hot Wheels”. I started collecting years back and not only have I amassed a HUGE collection of diecast I have made some great friends in the hobby. I have been very fortunate to meet some very important & key people in the hobby and industry. Over the past year I have slowed down my collecting quiet a bit due to space issues as well as the overall status of the hobby. I have some very rare pieces in my collection and have thought about selling them but it would not being right seeing as most of them were gifts from people I consider my good friends.  What is the point or purpose of this post? I’m not really sure but I know that I have been thinking about the economy and how it has affected people and their spending. Hopefully, people will continue to buy diecast so my friends stay employed.

Markets in Europe were higher at 6.05 AM New York time.

The FTSE rose 1.1% to 6,264. Barclays (BCS) rose 1.5% to 642.5. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) rose 1.4% to 1305.

The DAXX rose 1.1% to 7,582. Daimler (DCX) rose 2.4% to 64.33. Siemens (SI) rose 2.7% to 93.29.

The FTSE was up France Telecom (FTE) rose 1.4% to 21.8.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre

Markets in Europe were off sharply at 6.25 AM New York time, with some down over 3%.

The FTSE fell 2.6% to 5,951. British Air (BAB) was of 5% to 382.35. Vodafone (VOD) was down 3.6% to 151.9.

The DAXX was off 2.3% to 7,271. Daimler (DCX) was off 3.6% to 60.33. Siemens (SI) was down 3.4% to 86.68.

The CAC 40 fell 2.5% to 5,307. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) was of 2.3% to 7.82. BNP Paribas was off 3% to 74.72.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre

The UAW negotiations with GM (GM), Ford (F), and Chrysler (DCX) has awakened a sleeping dog. Why isn’t Toyota unionized in the US?

The media is filled with data on how much pension and health benefits add to the price of a car made by a US manufacturer. That delta is now about $25 an hour compared to the Japanese according to Forbes.

The argument that Detroit has not made cars as attractive as Toyota or Honda is irrefutbable. The US car companies have shot themselves.

But, it is also true that the cost advantage has helped swell Toyota’s treasury. In other words, as Reuters points out "union supporters argue that the Japanese automaker rode to a $14 billion profit last year on the backs of its nonunion workers."

There is a certain equity in this argument. Labor costs have helped cripple Detroit. That has helped cripple the unions as they have lost membership.

Toyota & Co. has benefitted from having no unions, but that has done nothing for UAW members.

The union may insist that changes. Especially if it has to give up more in this round of talks with the Big Three.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@247wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

DaimlerChrysler (DCX) shares are down another 2% in European trading to 64.4 euros. Just over a week ago they were closer to 70.

It appears that banks involved in the deal for hedge fund Cerberus to buy 80% of Chrysler will have to eat half or more of a $10 billion piece of one of the loans. As The Wall Street Journal points out: "The debt to be held by the banks would bear the first losses if Chrysler has problems repaying."

Trading in Daimler shares may be an indication that the market is still worried that the deal may not get done.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Markets in Europe were off slightly at 5.55 AM New York time.

The FTSE fell .1% to 6,634. BT (BT) was up .2% to 331.25. Vodafone (VOD) was down .5% to 161.1.

The DAXX fell .4% to 7,961. DaimlerChrysler (DCX) was down 1.1% to 66. DeutscheBank (DB) was down 1.2% to 104.8. Siemens (SI) was down 1.4% to 107.16.

The CAC 40 was off .5% to 6,035. Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) was down 1.6% to 10.02. AXA (AXA) was down .5% to 31.81.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre

Consider this. Since late December 2005, GM’s (GM) stock has doubled to about $38. With all of the excitement about the sale of Chrysler, Daimler’s (DCX) stock is up 80%. Ford (F) and Toyota (TM) are up about 20% over that period.

GM’s share of the US car market is actually worse than it was 18 months ago, but several other things have happened.

The largest US car company saw the industry disaster coming and acted earlier than Ford or Chrysler. It began its cutting and took out $9 billion in annual costs. GM’s revenue in North America may never grow again, but it has taken so much out that, with successful UAW negotiations this Fall, it could end up with better net income than it has had since 2004.

GM also got lucky. After spinning off Delphi, its huge parts company, labor costs put it into bankruptcy. GM had signed a deal guaranteeing certain labor costs, and the UAW looked to the car company to honor those. Delphi used the threat of a court-ordered set of cutbacks to get the union to offer reasonable work terms. GM got off the hook for some substantial liabilities. And, a strike at Delphi which could have shut GM down was averted

GM was also early into China. It now, with joint venture partners, has the No.1 market share in the country. Wall St. looks to that market and India as growth engines for all the big car companies, and GM has put itself into a lead.

A lot of investors wanted the GM management fired in early 2006. Kerkorian and Ghosn came calling and GM’s board wouldn’t buying that they could fix the operation. Some of the bond rating agencies even said that there was a substantial chance that GM would have to file for Chapter 11.

GM. Up 100% in a year-and-a-half. Improbable on a good day.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at douglasamcintyre@24/7wallst.com. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.

According to Reuters, Yahoo! (YHOO) made changes in it advertising sales management, pushing out its head of US sales.

Reuters writes that the CEO of DaimlerChryler (DCX) see a good future for the company now that it has sold its US unit.

Reuters reports that Delphi, the auto parts maker in Chapter 11, only intends to keep four plants in the US.

Reuters also reports that the market cap of Nintendo has passed that of Sony (SNE).

The Wall Street Journal reports that negotiations between Dow Jones (DJ) and News Corp (NWS) intensified over the weekend after nearly falling apart on issues of editorial independence.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Cerberus is beginning a road show to raise $62 billion in debt.

The New York Times writes that Hollywood studios are beginning to work aggressively to get their content on to handheld wireless devices.

FT reports that hedge fund Amaranth built up large enough positions in natural gas futures that it caused the market to spike up.

Barron’s reports that Sanford Bernstein initiated Google (GOOG) and Ebay (EBAY) as "buys".

Douglas A. McIntyre

Toyota’s (TM-NYSE) strength in US market share is probably only getting bigger and bigger from here on out.  They aren’t perfect and they will probably have some stumbles along the way, but they are scaring the you know what out of the Big Three.

On tonight’s MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer said he’s tired of the Big Three.  There is a beneficiary of the DaimlerChrysler (DCX-NYSE) and it is not GM (GM-NYSE) or Ford (F-NYSE) since they are only trying to shrink to profits: it is Toyota Motors (TM-NYSE).  That is going to make Toyota the last growth engine. If you will remember this stock was Cramer’s #1 Foreign Stock For 2007 according to Cramer. 

I sometimes argue with Cramer and sometimes back him.  The truth is that Toyota is the true winner.  It has fallen $16.00 in three months and about the only thing scary about Toyota’s stock right now is that the chart looks like it is going to trade like a drunkard until a new trend is more clear. 

Today I heard a local radio commercial from a GM dealership mention accusations naming Toyota as not really being the better auto maker because of the last recall I thought that this was a sheer sign that Toyota hasn’t just been eating its lunch.  GM dealers must be worried this will only get worse and that they have to do whatever they can to scare car buyers away from Toyota.  Toyota is scaring the hell out out of GM, that’s obvious. 

You won’t like what is going to be said if you work for or are related to a UAW member, but this is solely from the investment and economic outlook on what is obvious.  If things continue the way they have been going and if they go the way it looks, then the "Big 3 Monthly Auto Numbers" will soon be reported differently.  The risk is that the new monthly auto numbers will probably be reported at "The Big Red One and The Three Little Pigs."

Jon C. Ogg
May 16, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

AMGN cut to Neutral at Baird.
AOG cut to Hold at Jefferies.
BEAS cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
BHE started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
CLS started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
COGO started as Overweight at Lehman.
DCX raised to Buy at UBS.
EPIC started as Buy at UBS.
FLEX started as Outperform Credit Suisse.
GLP cut to Equal Weight at Lehman.
GM raised to Equal Weight at Lehman.
ICFI cut to Hold at Jefferies.
JAH started as Overweight at Lehman.
JBL started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
MRO raised to Buy at B of A.
PGR started as Reduce at UBS.
PLXS started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
SANM started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
SLR started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
SOFO started as Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald.
STEC cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; cut to Sector Perform at CIBC.
TIBX cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
TSO cut to Neutral at B of A.
VRAZ started as Equal Weight at Lehman.
VLO cut to Neutral at B of A.

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

(ACL) Alcan’s buyout bid by Alcoa is reportedly getting big interest from larger names such as Rio Tinto and others.
(BRLC) Syntax-Brillian filed to sell 25.6M shares, although the shelf was telegraphed with earnings last week.
(DCX) DaimlerChrysler is selling a majority stake in Chrysler to Cerberus Capital for $7.7 Billion; Chrysler will maintain 19.9% stake.
(FACT) First Albany is recapitalizing and will receive a $50M investment from Matlin Patterson.
(GE) GE’s NBC unit could or should merge with Yahoo! (YHOO) according to WSJ.
(GILT) Gilat Satellite $0.13 EPS vs $0.11e.
(INFT) Inforte gets a $4.25 cash buyout from Business & Decision.
(MMC) Marsh & McClennan announced $500M accelerated share buyback program.
(MRK) Merck received and FDA Approvable letter of its NDA for EMEND.
(MWA) Mueller Water names new CFO.
(MYL) Mylan Labs is acquiring Merck KGaA’s generic operations for about $6.7 Billion.
(NAT) Nordic American Tanker $0.85 EPS vs $0.83e.
(NAVR) Navarre is selling its independent music distribution business.
(PLXS) Plexus CFO retiring.
(QTWW) Quantum Fuel signed an agreement to acquire a 24.9% stake in a German solar company.
(SORC) Source Interlink to acquire PRIMEDIA’s Enthusiast Media unit for about $1.2 Billion.
(SYNF) Synergy Financial being acquired by New York Community Bancorp (NYB).
(TRMK) Trimark is paying $85M to acquire DATA RETURN from Saratoga Partners.
(ULBI) Ultralife Battery accepts modified order from last week lowered from $6.9M to $2.4M.
(USBE) US Bioenergy $0.08 EPS vs $0.21e.
(VAS) VIASYS being acquired by Cardinal Health (CAH) for $42.75.
(WMT) Wal-Mart is expanding electronics offerings and will include Skype equipment.

Jon C. Ogg
May 14, 2007

Filed under: Chrysler, Volkswagen
Gee, you lose over $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2006 and all of a sudden you’re not an attractive automotive partner. First, news leaks that Daimler wants to kick the Chrysler group out the window, then Hyundai and Nissan decide that they’re not interested in purchasing the struggling domestic. Now, Volkswagen has made it known that the five-star isn’t on their shopping list, even though Chrysler is currently working with VW to build them a minivan based on the next-generation Town and Country.
As reported here on Autoblog, GM has been mentioned as a potential suitor for Chrysler. We wonder if the General will get a discount if nobody else is interested. It’s hard to believe the company that builds the Viper and the 300C could be wanted like a sweater at Walmart in June.
[Source: Yahoo]
 
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