Driving an old car? You're not alone.

From CNBC.com

Getty Images Mechanic Harrison Garcia works on a Ford Mustang at Brake and Wheel Service Center in San Francisco, California.

Feel like you're driving an old car? You're not alone. In fact, the average age of vehicles in the U.S. has hit a new all-time high. Experian Automotive says the average age of the 245 million vehicles registered in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year was 11 years.

That's an increase of just over 2 months compared the first quarter of last year.

What's behind the increase? Part of it is because the recession and sluggish recovery forced many people to put off buying or trading-in for a new or used car. Another factor is the fact cars and trucks are built to run longer. That quality improvement picked up momentum in the early '90s. Now, many of those cars and trucks are 13 to 22 years old, and yes there are millions of them still on the road.

In fact, Experian says more than 52 million cars and trucks in America are 16 years or older. (Related: What models will become collectibles?)

Ford Runs Strong

In its analysis of vehicle registrations, Experian found more Ford Motor [F 10.01 --- UNCH (0) ] models on the road than other model. That shouldn't come as a surprise since the Ford F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 30 straight years. According to Experian Automotive, here the top 4 brands of vehicles in operation in the U.S.:

Ford: 17.2%
Chevrolet: 15.8%
Toyota: 10.4%
Honda: 7.3%

The four most popular models on the road in the U.S., according to Experian Automotive, are:

Ford F-150: 3.4%
Honda Accord: 2.6%
Toyota Camry: 2.6%
Chevy Silverado: 2.0%

One final note: For all the attention that's been given to hybrid and electric vehicles over the last decade, they are just 0.9 percent of the vehicles in operation in the U.S. That works out to a little over 2 million alternatively powered vehicles.

—By CNBC’s Phil LeBeau

USA! USA! USA!, Were Number 5?

"Free fallin, now I am, free fallin..."~ Tom Petty

Excerpt from AgoraFinancial.com

Even the power elite recognizes something is amiss. Each year, the World Economic Forum — the outfit that holds an annual shindig in Davos, Switzerland — issues an annual ranking of the world’s countries and how competitive they are.
The standards are cut and dried: Are property rights protected? Are officials easily bribed? Are the courts independent? Is organized crime a problem?
The United States ranked No. 1 as recently as 2008. By last year, it had slipped to No. 5. And the overall rankings don’t tell the whole story:

 

http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/something-rotten-in-the-state-of-america/

Loosing My Religion!

“I’m not one of those religious believers in gold,” says Matthew Bishop, “but I guess I’ve become a bit of an agnostic/atheist about my faith in government-backed money, so I really think governments are in a position where they’re going to debase in a big way.”
Mr. Bishop is New York bureau chief of The Economist… and he’s penned a book called In Gold We Trust?: The Future of Money in an Age of Uncertainty. He has put us in a difficult position as we aim to stake out “fat tail” ideas.
We likewise have no faith in government-backed money. And we’re agnostic about gold, for that matter. “Just because you understand monetary policy, the Fed and the dangers of fiat currency,” Addison said by IM between meetings this morning, “doesn’t mean you’re necessarily a gold bug.”
In any event, Mr. Bishop is onto something. “People have lost faith in the 20th-century religion of government-backed fiat money,” Mr. Bishop tells The Wall Street Journal’s video unit, “and they’re saying at the moment, ‘We don’t trust governments with our money.’”
To wit: The blogosphere is buzzing this morning with word that the national debt under President Obama has grown by $5,027,761,476,484.56.
That’s now more than George W. Bush racked up in two terms.
Early in Bush’s second term, we were already concerned enough that Addison and Bill Bonner teamed up to write Empire of Debt. Then Addison devoted 2½ years to turn it into a film… before the current occupant of the White House was even part of the national conversation.
Then, few were alarmed that Bush racked up a debt total nearly equal to all his predecessors combined. Now, however, it appears the outrage threshold’s been reached.

http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/fading-faith-in-fiat/

More than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

Evidence is mounting that "sell in May and go away" might be a good idea again in 2012.

CNBC.com Article: World Stock Markets Face 'Risk-Off' Road Ahead: Index

Global stocks are entering a potentially negative period, according to one index with a solid track record that is indicating there is more than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

World Stock Markets Face 'Risk-Off' Road Ahead: Index

Published: Thursday, 12 Apr 2012 | 1:43 PM ET

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By: Jeff Cox
CNBC.com Senior Writer

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Global stocks are entering a potentially negative period, according to one index with a solid track record that is indicating there is more than European debt weighing on investors’ minds.

The Global Financial Stress Index, compiled by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has seen 10 of its 40 components rise to a level associated with risk-off mode in the financial markets, which means investors usually sell more volatile assets like stocks and move to the safety of fixed income.

The GFSI's Critical Stress Signal last flashed risk-off on July 12, 2011 and remained there until Jan. 4. While U.S. stocks, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 [.SPX1377.44-10.13(-0.73%)], fell 2.7 percent during that period, global indexes tumbled 9 percent. BofA says the CSS has been accurate more than 60 percent of the time in predicting global stock drops.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47029609

Ez Credit: Here we go again!

Addison Wiggin – April 12, 2012

• Look out below: Three — no, make it 4 — reasons it feels like 2007-08 this morning…
• Subprime lending up (again… really?), private equity opting for IPO and a shocking fact you didn’t know about oil prices…
• “Normal market behavior”… Vancouver favorite cheers up gold holders who bought at the most recent top…
• Death, taxes and one grim statistic… still time to buy a house… muddy boots in South America… and more!

“Even I wouldn’t make a loan to me at this point,” says Annette Alejandro. Ms. Alejandro recently emerged from bankruptcy, her car was repossessed last year and she has no job.
But her mailbox is stuffed with offers for credit cards and car loans.
We begin today’s episode with “deja vu”-induced vertigo this morning. Three items flitted into our inbox in the last 24 hours. By themselves, the items might not mean much. Coagulated, they give us the same queasy feeling we had in 2007-08.
Credit card lenders issued 1.1 million new cards to subprime borrowers last month — up 12.3% from a year ago, according to the credit-reporting outfit Equifax.
“As financial institutions recover from the losses on loans made to troubled borrowers,” reports The New York Times, “some of the largest lenders to the less than creditworthy, including Capital One and GM Financial, are trying to woo them back, while HSBC and JPMorgan Chase are among those tiptoeing again into subprime lending.”
Plotted on a chart, it looks like this…



http://5minforecast.agorafinancial.com/feeling-the-2007-twitch/

Who is Donald J Lester, CFS?

Since 1998, Don has maintained his life and health insurance license and worked with a clientele comprised primarily of successful entrepreneurs and professionals. He maintains the Certified Funds Specialist designation (CFS) as awarded by the Institute of Business and Finance. CFS designees must adhere to a professional code of ethics and meet annual continuing education requirements to maintain their expertise and CFS certifications.

Specialties

Financial and cash flow analysis
Micro & Macro economic evaluation
Business sense and management
Risk identification and mitigation
Cost / Benefit analysis

Personally, Don grew up a “Farm-Boy” in the small Canadian town of Forest, Ontario.  As the eldest son, he was actively involved in the development and management of the family livestock and farming operation.  He opened his first business as a teenager and has started and sold others since.  He helped found and develop Rubicon Alliance, LLC and its affiliates since the days of conception and is a major factor in the growth and development of the Rubicon’s business model. 

He began playing ice hockey at a young age and developed into an all-star Defenseman while competing in the Canadian Junior Hockey League. He accepted an athletic scholarship from the University of Alaska to play NCAA Division I ice hockey in the fall of 1990.  He was named team Captain and Most Valuable Defenseman his Junior and Senior seasons.  After a successful college career, Don played professional hockey in the East Coast Hockey League spanning over five (5) seasons, which was highlighted in 1995 when he helped the Richmond Renegades capture the Riley Cup as playoff Champions.  Many of the professional teams Don played for took advantage of his financial skills and business experience in the front office to help manage and develop the business aspect of the sport.  Don moved to Colorado Springs in May of 1998 to help facilitate the start up of the Colorado Gold Kings franchise at the Colorado Springs World Arena.  He played his final season as a Gold King and retired from the sport for good in April of 1999.http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=13064

Don resides and works in downtown Colorado Springs and is an active and loving father of his two children; Jasper and Leah.  He is a member of the Penrose Club and Colorado Springs Country Club.  Don enjoys playing golf, vacationing, making a difference in the lives of others, and constant self improvement and continuing education.