META

I want to blog more. I feel a lot of times that I want to write something, but I have no outlet to do it. I feel like sometimes I confine myself to certain topics, and then when I want to write about something else, I feel restricted by what I've already written. I feel like so often, writing for something is writing about a certain thing. That's not why I created this blog.

Fact is I'm happier when I blog. I like writing. It's like therapy. So you'll be seeing more of it.

The Smart Car Gets Company

Toyota is bringing legitimacy to the Kei Car Market

Toyota is introducing a new micro-compact under the Scion moniker called the iQ. The iQ is the first real competitor against the Smart ForTwo. I see a lot of people look at the Smart Car and laugh at it, but I really see a lot of potential in the Kei Car market. With one of the major automakers entering the segment, the Kei Car market is finally achieving some legitimacy.

With the movement towards smaller more fuel efficient cars, these two seat minicars definitely could become the new craze. First of all, they get better mileage. They're lighter and they have smaller engines. It makes sense for automakers to try to push these cars as they try to meet federal MPG requirements.

Challenges:
The first challenge is price. The Smart Car starts a shade under $12,500 and the iQ should start about two grand above that. These cars aren't exactly cheap. I think there will be a bias against them for that because you can get more car for the same price. The pricing structure of cars in America is such that the more you pay the more you get. For these cars to succeed, they will need to prove they are worth the money. I don't know if better fuel economy and better maneuverability can do that.

The second challenge is safety. No matter how many airbags these companies put in these cars, there's going to be some concern. It's simple physics. The smaller car is going to take more of an impact than a bigger car because of its light mass. When you're driving around larger cars and SUVs, there is going to be inherent danger all around. The only real way to make the cars safer is to surround it on the road with vehicles of similar sizes. That doesn't appear like it will happen.

A third challenge is space. How much can a Kei Car hold? Can it hold groceries? Can it hold golf clubs? I personally feel the need for storage space in a car is overstated, but there has to be a minimum for what it can hold. The Smart Car can hold golf clubs, which means it should be able to hold groceries and whatever other small things you need to carry.

Why It Will Succeed:
Toyota getting into this market is a huge deal. I believe that automakers can create new markets if there is a demand and there is good execution. The SUV wasn't a staple of the auto industry until 20 years ago when Ford introduced the Explorer. I believe that when a brand like Toyota gets into this market segment, it increase the potential of the market to grow.

It's important to keep in mind that these cars are geared towards city folks. The maneuverability and small size should make it easier to get around the city and find parking. Furthermore, how much stuff do people in the city have to carry in their car? I think that the need for trunk space is not as big a deal as people think. The amount of money you save from having a more efficient vehicle probably can help make up the money to rent a vehicle when a trunk is necessary.

I think the safety concern is much more important than the price. The key thing is to market towards the city dwellers. These cars are more at risk where cars operate at higher speeds. In a city, there is less speeding and as a result, these cars will be less vulnerable to dangerous crashes. People aren't going to buy these cars if they don't feel safe in them. There will always be innovation in safety and these automakers must make sure that it trickles down into these cars.

It will be interesting to see how these Kei Cars do and whether they can finally be accepted by Americans.

The Quote of Stupid of the Day: Rick Perry

At the Iowa debate tonight, Rick Perry said the following:

“There are a lot of folks that said Tim Tebow wasn't going to be a very good NFL quarterback. There are people that stood up and said, 'Well, he doesn't have the right throwing mechanisms, or he's not playing the game right,' " and he won two national championships, and that looked pretty good. We were the national champions in job creation back in Texas. And so, am I ready for the next level? Let me tell you, I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.”

That's good enough to win the first quote of stupid of the day. Congratulations Rick!

Gingrich Is Not The Guy

When I look at a candidate, I look first at electability. Is the candidate electable? That's the first thing I look for. If the candidate isn't electable, then what's the point of supporting him or her? They are a losing dog and there's no point in having a stake in their fate.

This might sound very cynical or depressing, in terms of the state of our politics, but it's true.

I don't know think I mentioned it in my previous posts, but perhaps I did on Twitter; I thought that Newt Gingrich would be a dark horse candidate. Of course, I didn't know that much about him. I just thought he performed well in the debates. My biggest qualm, at the time, was his utter disdain for the media.

A couple months later, it seems like he has leapt to the front of the pack. 

This is mostly due to the fall of Herman Cain. Conservatives have been looking for a candidate that wasn't Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich is just the latest cup of tea.

On a national level, against Barack Obama, I don't think he can stand tall. There are too many issues with him. There's the "consulting fees." There's the divorces. He's too easy a target for the Democrats. While the conservatives might be clamoring for a more conservative candidate than Romney, they're going to have problems standing up in a general election.

Rich Perry: Strong

If you're my friend on Facebook or even if you've just been on the internet in the last day, you've probably seen this ad. I went on a mini-rant yesterday and I just wanted to follow up on that.

I've made it clear that I don't like Rick Perry. He's pretty much stands for everything I hate and I'm not talking about policies. I have no idea who approved this video, but it was not the best thing to release. He makes Herman Cain's smoking campaign manager ad look good. Here's what I said yesterday:

My favorite part is when he says "faith made America strong, it can make her strong again" with that nod and that smile like he was thinking to himself "this sounds great." I thought conservatives were the ones that think America is great the way it is and the evil Liberals are the ones that want change. That was a lie? Just an all around laugh.

That nod and that smile are what I'd like to talk about. As we've seen more of Rick Perry, we've seen how inarticulate this man is. I don't have a problem with us mobilizing our energy resources or restructuring our tax system. What differentiates politicians for me is how they carry themselves.

What I value are people who are articulate, intelligent and aware. Rick Perry lacks all of these attributes. This is why I don't like him.

The Power of Sports in the College Landscape

In the fall out of the Penn State scandal, a lot of people are asking whether sports have too much power. This is in response, there has been a particularly a backlash against the students, who have marched in support of Joe Paterno. A couple days ago, I defended the students:

As an alum of a big sports school, I'll defend the kids, not for supporting Joe, but wanting to hold onto the football program. Sports are a big part of the experience at any big time football school. A big part of that is winning. These kids are confused and they're in denial because they're losing something that is dear to them. I'm sure many of them have a great fondness for the program and what JoePa has done for the Penn State football program on the field. Many of them grew up rooting for this team, watching teams like the undefeated 1994 team (I guess these kids might have been too young for that, huh?) or the many other strong Penn State squads of the last 15-20 years. JoePa has been very influential in making their school what it is because of the football program's winning tradition. The football program is a huge source of pride at Penn State. JoePa stepping down is a huge loss to the program and the university. These kids are losing a part of what makes them whole.

In time, they'll understand the wrongdoings of Paterno, but they'll need time to digest the reality and magnitude of what went on.

It's still too early for students to understand what happened. What happened was serious. What happened is ongoing. What happened will have consequences. I still understand why the kids acted the way they did. That doesn't mean I agree with them, but I understand. I felt the same way when I heard about "Practicegate," something that seems extremely small compared to what went on at Penn State. I was in denial. I didn't want something bad to happen at my school. Sports at my school meant so much to me.

The question is do sports have too much power?

I think sports are a great vehicle by which school pride can manifest itself. There aren't many way where you can show your school is better than the other school. Sports allows that. It's become a big business at schools and some schools do give it preferential treatment. That's the bigger problem.

What happened at Penn State, and we're still finding out more every day, was a lack of transparency and a lack of clear-minded thinking. Everything was addressed through the chain of command rather than where it should have been, by the law. The problem isn't with sports. The problem is when sports get special treatment to operate above the laws, not only of the NCAA but also of the land. Penn State had a chance to address these allegations immediately and properly. Now, they will have to face the consequences of their inaction.

Perry's Campaign Dies

How do you offer nothing?

New Cain Accuser

I haven't really written anything lately and this isn't going to be a long one. Herman Cain has been accused of sexual harassment by a new accuser. Here are the details:

Sharon Bialek, who worked at the restaurant group's education foundation until shortly before the alleged groping incident, said Cain unexpectedly put his hand beneath her skirt and between her legs "toward my genitals." She also said he pushed her head toward his crotch.

If he wasn't done before, he surely is now. Why wasn't he properly vetted before he started running? Did they really expect this to not get out?

F-1 Comes To Jersey

I'm excited. If I'm in the area, I might have to go to this race.

Amazon Slips

Fresh off the heels of Netflix's earnings report last night, Amazon (AMZN) posted their earnings today. Needless to say, they were very disappointing:

Amazon.com Inc. is still growing at a fast pace, but Wall Street's concerns about the online retailer's margins are likely to grow after the company posted a 73% drop in quarterly profit Tuesday.

Their margins are starting to kill them:

Sales during the third quarter ended in September rose 44% compared to the same period last year, Amazon said. That's roughly in line with expectations and consistent with growth seen in recent periods. But as Amazon has roped in more sales, it has spent heavily on the expansion of shipping centers and data infrastructure, undercutting margins.

Operating margin as a percentage of world-wide sales slipped to 0.7% in the third quarter, from 3.5% in the period last year, Amazon said.

This was one of the main concerns of investors when Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire. The stock tumbled 12.39% in after hours trading. Much of this due to the gloomy fourth quarter outlook:

"They're basically calling for a break-even fourth quarter," said Ken Sena, an analyst who covers Amazon for Evercore Partners, "which is definitely disconcerting for investors."

The culprit of the margin cut looks like it's the Kindle Fire:

Szkutak danced around the culprit a bit, but the Kindle Fire, priced at $199, is definitely deterring higher earnings estimates. Szkutak also touted the long-term plan for the Kindle Fire, describing it as a “premium device,” and that Amazon takes all of the economics of the Kindle business into account, ranging from the lifetime value to the content available on the tablets and e-readers.

Because the Kindle Fire is sold at a loss, it might be the case that it won't pay off for a while. The real money will be generated in apps, Amazon Prime, and the e-books. For the time being, it's concerning because Amazon is still a strong company. In addition, it compounds the fact that in a week, we've seen Apple, Netflix, and Amazon all miss targets.

The current tech climate is alarming.

Netflix Tumbles

I like this guy, so:

Remember when Netflix raised their subscriber fees and split off their DVD mail-order services, and customers said they would boycott the company? Yeah, it seems they followed through on their words:

Shares in the once-hot but recently troubled subscription video company plummeted 27% in after-hours trading Monday after it reported a loss of 800,000 U.S. customers in the third quarter, more than the 600,000 it told investors to expect.

The stock had found some support after the price hike and the splitting of its streaming and DVD businesses:

For a while, Netflix seemed like the hot name, but it's taken an absolute beating. Reed Hastings, the CEO and graduate of my high school, is still optimistic:

“Pausing is a good thing from an investor standpoint,” Chief Executive Officer Reed Hasting said in an interview. “We are going to pause and restore our global profitability.”

Analysts don't believe it's the end of the world for the company, even though it has lost 2/3rds of its shareholder value:

"If they stop making mistakes, this is fixable," said Dan Rayburn, a principal analyst at consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. "The saving grace is that unlike a lot of other companies that get into this kind of situation, there isn't a competitor eating Netflix's lunch."

I tend to agree. They really don't have much competition and while this is a setback, they will continue to grow their business as they increase their content. They expect to have double the content and as long as it is relevant to subscriber interests, they should be fine. I'm not saying that it's time to buy NFLX. I'm not sure it has felt the entire wrath of the market yet. I do think there is potential for the company to bounce back once it gets back on solid footing.

Earthquake in Turkey

People dying and a country divided. This earthquake came at the wrong time and the people are suffering. A lot of the GOP candidates said we shouldn't give aid to foreign countries. Do you really think we shouldn't help the Turks in this time?

It was a 7.2 earthquake that hit and at least 138 people are dead.

Our thoughts are with them in these tragic circumstance.

Flooding in Thailand

The images are pretty heart breaking.

We Out

Peace out Baghdad! Peace out Fallujah! This occupation is over!

Rick Perry's Flat Tax Hail Mary

Rick Perry finally introduced his tax plan, a couple days after promising to have a plan ready for us in the CNN debate. Perry wants to simplify:

"It starts with scrapping the three million words of the current tax code, and starting over with something much simpler: a flat tax," Perry said.

This isn't the first time that someone has proposed a flat tax; Steve Forbes, Phil Gramm, and Jerry Brown have all run on it in the past. The problem with the flat tax is that it doesn't stick:

The allure of the flat tax is that it promises to wipe clean the complicated tax code. But it does this by throwing out some popular tax deductions, including breaks for mortgage interest payments, charitable giving and employer-paid health care.

We're talking about its popularity, not its viability. The rich would rather pay money to charity and get deductions than give money to the government. There's still the matter of burdening the poor:

The details of each flat tax proposal differ — the overall rate, whether some low-income families will be exempt and which deductions might be spared on the chopping block. But experts say they invariably increase taxes on lower-income households and cut them for the rich, a potentially dicey proposition for voters worried about the country’s decades-long trend of growing income inequality.

There's also the difficulty that goes with passing it:

“At least, in theory, it’s a simple plan, but getting from here to there would be enormously complex,” Bartlett said.

Others believe that the flat tax is a winner:

After all, tax simplification is both needed and polls well, and the flat tax promises a simpler approach to paying taxes. And at a time when President Obama is campaigning against the fact that Warren Buffett and his secretary pay different rates, the flat tax idea might just have met its moment for broader-based appeal.

Given the "class warfare" battles over taxes and spending and everything else, now might actually be a time when the flat tax has its breakthrough on the national stage.

Others believe that it is a joke:

Just because a tax is flat doesn't mean it can't go up. And if Perry's team designs a plan that maintains popular items such as the charitable deduction it's not a flat tax and pretty soon it looks like the same complicated mess we have now.

Th rich will want the ability to deduct no matter what. If he includes that, then the tax isn't exactly flat. In fact, it would skew it the other way.

The tax might help Perry with the Tea Partiers though:

FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey thinks this could revive Mr. Perry’s campaign. “The flat tax does more for Perry’s candidacy than anything else he could have done,” the former House majority leader told The Washington Times in an interview. “If Perry really means it, and he gets elected and makes it the top priority of his presidency, it would be the single best thing that could be done to spur economic growth and job creation in public policy today.”

I'm not so high on it because I don't think it will pass. I think it's very gimmicky. There are going to be questions about whether the poor will be exempt from the tax and what that line will be. There will also be other questions like deducations and things like that. Regarding conservatives, I think Perry is going to win over voters with this. The question is will he stand tall in defending it. There are a lot of things about it that raise questions and to really make a stand, he'll have to start doing well in debates, which, if you've seen the other debates, is as tall a task as Perry can face.

At the end of the day, it's a novel attempt to try and get back in the race. This could be his prayer at the buzzer.