| Supercars that will spoil you
Buyers of ultra-high-end cars have traditionally fallen into one of two camps: performance or luxury. There are the thrill seekers, strapped into million-dollar Bugatti Veyrons, zooming down the autobahn at 200-plus mph. And then there's the chauffeured set, lounging in the backseats of Rolls-Royce Phantoms while sipping glasses of Cristal. Judging by the latest crop of supercars to hit the market, automakers are betting more big-spenders fall somewhere in between the two extremes. You no longer have to choose between ultra-fast acceleration and hand-stitched comfort. In some new models, you get the best of both worlds. No car embodies the Goldilocks approach better than Fiat's Maserati GranTurismo, a supercar that made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show. A sportier update of the four-door Quattroporte, the Pininfarina-designed GranTurismo is more compact and more curvaceous than its predecessor, with a wider grille.
Carmakers take a hammering
Bearish sentiment sent European equities sharply lower on Tuesday after data showed the US services sector shrank in January at the fastest ever pace. Banks and cyclical stocks bore the brunt, but there was selling across all sectors. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 3.1 per cent to 1,314.36, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax lost 3.4 per cent to 6,765.25, and the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 4 per cent to 4,776.86. Every stock in the CAC and the Dax closed in negative territory. Carmakers took a hammering. Porsche fell 5.6 per cent to €1161.00, Renault lost 7.4 per cent to €71.68,and Peugeot shed 6 per cent to €49.06. MAN AG slid 8.2 per cent to €81.40. Almost every European bank suffered sharp falls. Credit Suisse dropped 4.3 per cent to SFr59.15, Anglo Irish Bank lost 4.8 per cent to €9.65, France's BNP Paribas shed 5.8 per cent to €61.44 and Deutsche Bank lost 4.1 per cent to €74.20.
GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times GMT)
As my colleague Bevo points out, bit harsh on Joe, that. Richard Dunne is on 5.38 after his error let in West Ham for the opener. 1652: "After Chelsea, Newcastle and Man City splashed a combined 18m on Asier Del Horno, Jose Enrique and Javier Garrido, is it fair to say that all Spanish left-backs are rubbish? I don't recall Raul Bravo being all that great at Leeds either."James Chello, via text 1648: HALF-TIME Manchester City 1-1 West Ham United 1646: "My friend made a suit for Junior Agogo, ordered it but never came to pick it up, he only found out he was in Ghana yesterday."davidoff2211 on 606 .
Life is still a cabaret for Erv Raible
Since he moved to New York City from Cincinnati in 1978, Raible has been on a mission to find, train and promote new talent in the rarefied art of performing in front of small audiences at intimate clubs. With an eye for gifted performers, Raible helped usher in a cabaret renaissance in Manhattan through the four clubs he owned between 1978 and 2001. Today, despite having sold all his clubs, Raible continues to champion cabaret. He is the driving force behind the annual Cabaret Conference at Yale University, and he watches about 150 acts each year. He is sought after to train and guide performers, direct shows and advise cabaret rooms and networks throughout the United States. The effect hes had on cabaret, whether he realizes it or not, is on a national level, said Michael Miyazaki, a member of the DC Cabaret Network, in Washington, where Raible serves as chairman of the advisory board.
GM bucks Jan. sales slowdown
A string of popular new products helped General Motors Corp. eke out a sales gain last month while the rest of the U.S. auto industry faltered, an early indication that the automaker's design revival is producing results. GM managed a 2.6 percent sales gain last month even as every other major automaker posted declines. Sales were down 4.3 percent for the industry as a whole as jittery consumers stayed out of showrooms. Ford Motor Co. sales fell 3.9 percent, while Chrysler LLC dropped 12.1 percent and Toyota Motor Co. slipped 2.3 percent. .
|
