We purchased our Saturn Aura in February ’07 for $25,000. We took delivery the day before departing on our first major, and only, trip in our 40′ RV. Saturns can be towed easily because their transmissions don’t burn up when towed. We loved the trip and the Aura looked great behind our diesel Mountainaire. We spent six weeks in Naples, sitting on a concrete pad. Said that way it sounds a little grim but really, it was a nice experience.
Yesterday, GM said it will sell or dissolve the Saturn division by 2011. What was worth, maybe, $15,000 yesterday, is today worthless. The Aura is a wonderful car. It is built on a European chassis so it drives in that tight, direct steering, mode of European cars. And, it gets over 30mph on the highway. Pam thinks it is too small but she admits it is the only car we have owned that doesn’t induce painful hips after an all day drive. So, now I will take even better care of this worthless piece of s….teel.
The morning futures point to a modestly up market. Anything is welcome. The fear, of course, is that traders may use the upticks (not that they are needed anymore) to establish more short positions. There are, however, some voices out there that feel we are way oversold.
Corporate news is a mixed bag. Deere tried to paint their report with rose covered glasses. GM’s Rick Waggoner was all over the business shows explaining that bankruptcy would cost more that another $16 billion of our money. Bank stock traders are pushing the shares up a bit. A hospital study was released that showed MRSA, that deadly staph germ found in hospitals, is down 50% over the last decade. I have written about Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) before, suggesting that this one-trick pony of a company may be hurting. Not only are MRSA incidents down, elective surgeries are down because of the economy and Teva Pharmaceuticals has notified Cubist that Teva is developing a generic version of Cubicin. Because of this as well as Teva’s earnings report yesterday I am taking a starter position in TEVA.
At first blush the morning appears to be constructive. Lets see if that sentiment can last through lunch.
