Delinquencies in the auto-loan market are
ticking up to their highest level in several years. Lenders are tightening terms
in some cases, and interest rates have risen from the rock-bottom levels of a
few years ago. About $575 billion in loans for new and used cars are made
annually, according to the National Automotive Finance Association.
About 4.5% of auto loans made in 2006 to top-rated borrowers were at least 30
days delinquent as of the end of September, up from 2.9% the previous month,
according to a Lehman Brothers survey of companies servicing these loans. That
is the biggest one-month jump in at least eight years. Lehman says 12% of
subprime borrowers, who have poorer credit records, were delinquent on their
2006 auto loans as of September. That is the highest level since 2002 and up
from 11.1% the previous month.
Continue reading "Another shoe dropping? Auto loan delinquencies are on the rise" »
Too much money, too little time: We just came across this and thought it was hilarious. Bertrand Des Palliers, who runs recently opened $340 million hedge fund SPQR Capital, is a busy, busy guy. Too busy and focused, it appears, to retrieve his impounded $160,000 Maserati Cambiocorsa when it was towed away from a square in Knightsbridge in May. He owes about $10K in fines against the car, and officials were said to be completely baffled as to why Des Palliers didn't come forward to reclaim his expensive toy. He didn't even really focus on it until the Evening Standard newspaper notified him that his car was about to be sold:
....he ignored all attempts by TfL to
contact him and let the fines increase at the rate of £25 a day until the
Evening Standard newspaper tracked him down and warned him the car was about to
be auctioned.
Mr Des Pallieres, 39, who owns and runs the
£170 million SPQR fund, left Deutsche Bank with two colleagues in April to set
up his own firm, specialising in complex investments in the debt markets.
He said: "The truth is I was so busy I
did not have time to deal with sorting the congestion charges, paying my road
tax and getting my car out of the pound.
Continue reading "Hedge fund manager too busy to retrieve his $160K Maserati from the pound; even at £25 a day in fines, it's "not that expensive relative to the cost of parking in central London"" »
Ferrari hosted an exotic garage sale at its
factory outside of Maranello, Italy, this week, an event punctuated by a
record-shattering bid for a vintage car.
Sotheby's and automotive specialist RM
Auctions Inc. hosted the Leggenda e Passione, an auction of 33 rare Ferraris,
including a 1962 330 TRI/LM Testa Rossa that sold for $9.275 million – the
biggest sale ever at public auction. When adjusted for inflation, the deal ranks
among the top five public sales, according to auction watchers.
Continue reading "Wall Streeters' wet dream of a sale: Ferrari auction nets $46 million for 33 rare cars" »
How many times have we ridden in a Lincoln Town Car? We can't even count. And how many juicy stories we could tell. But won't. :X That Wall Street transportation staple -- currently representing 80% of the 35,000 NYC fleet for hire -- may soon go the way of the dodo bird, because Ford Motor is closing the Wixom Michigan Plant that makes the car. They haven't committed to produce any more past 2007. (Warren Buffett is selling his on Ebay right now.)
Bloomberg talks about how much a part of Wall Street culture the car has become:
``Christmastime, you get many, many drunk bankers,'' said driver Andy Koksal, 32, parked near Citigroup's offices on Park Avenue. Last December, he had to plead with a female passenger to limit her back-seat activities with a client because the windows were becoming too fogged.
``This is a very embarrassing situation,'' Koksal said. ``But you want to drive safely.'' ....
Continue reading "Wall Street may need to find a new ride; Ford is closing Lincoln Town Car plant" »
This week's Newsweek has a candid interview with Ford Motor CEO Bill Ford Jr. Acknowledging that the company is in trouble, Ford says that if he can find the right talent to bring into the company, that even he's not irreplaceable....
Continue reading "Newsweek's interview with Bill Ford Jr." »
If you're one of the lucky members of this year's multi-million dollar bonus club and are itching to buy a sporty new car, you might want to wait a bit for this baby:
