Reason #4,484 Why I Love To Blog -- July 22, 2016

Reason #4,484 why I love to blog. 

On car sales trends, I posted this on July 19, 2016, just three days ago, including the original in bold:

• minivans are falling out of favor; gradually disappearing; folks who like minivans are probably transitioning to car-based SUVS
• car-based SUVs are increasing in sales whereas minivans are decreasing; the number of truck-based SUVs seems to have plateaued over the past five or six years
• pickups -- interestingly enough -- have actually been decreasing in sales in the past five years compared to the late 1990s / early 2000s
• if the US "manufacturing economy," housing, general economy picks up, we might see an increase in the sales of pickups, but it certainly looks like the soccer moms are calling the shots -- having moved to car-based SUVs over the past ten years

Today, page B2 of the Wall Street Journal, this headline: VW Designs a Comeback With A Soccer-Mom SUV.

I can't make this stuff up. Three days ago I wrote that " it certainly looks like the soccer moms are calling the shots -- having moved to car-based SUVs over the past ten years." And then today, less than four days later, The WSJ has a story that absolutely validates that observation. The on-line edition has a slightly different headline. Wow! The story leads with this:

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.— Volkswagen AG ’s plan to cede more control to its U.S. operation in the wake of its costly emissions scandal is getting a boost from an unlikely source: a spacious sport-utility vehicle that executives say is designed to appeal to American soccer moms.

Driving the B-SUV on public roads earlier this week, Mr. Woebcken said the car will compete head on with those established products and will have the added benefit of having been crafted by German engineers who focused on driving dynamics. “Soccer moms will love this car,” he said while cornering hard and fast through a roundabout near Volkswagen’s factory here on Monday.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Likewise, there is still another story out there today that suggests "open-carry" in Cleveland actually "damped demonstrations" during the GOP national convention. 

Toni Rozsahegyi, a local organizer with the anti-war group Code Pink, said that intense media coverage about the possibility of violence may also have dampened turnout—especially news media reports that armed demonstrators would be expected in the city.

“One person says one thing crazy and you can scare 10,000 people away,” she said.

Except "open-carry" is not "one crazy thing." My post of July 18, 2016:

• "open carry" will result in a better outcome than had "open carry" been temporarily banned

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The Market

Early afternoon trading with NYSE reporting 158 issues hitting 52-week highs, including:

• CenterPoint Energy
• El Paso Electric
• Exelon

There were five issues hitting 52-week lows.