Not every automaker CEO is down on his knees with cap in hand. Some of them are too proud to beg… and Taipan Daily won’t have to beg either with the right options strategy.

Not every auto manufacturer wants charity, you know.

While Detroit’s CEOs were up on Capitol Hill whining and begging like street junkies for a mere $25 billion to tide them over until spring, salesmen from Bentley, Lamborghini and Maserati were working the floor of the Los Angeles Auto Show like madmen in an attempt to stem their stateside sales losses.

Now don’t let their $500 suits and smooth manners fool you. These guys are hurting too. Lambo’s down 15% (pretty much a match to the whole biz’ 2008 decline). And…

Rumours continue to circulate that former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker will be Obama’s Treasury or Fed chief. Volcker’s hardline anti-inflation stance makes him an exciting prospect for Greenspan/Bernanke critics. But Andrew Carpenter says we should also remember the painful recessions that Volckers’ interest rate hikes induced…

The biggest challenge for President elect Barack Obama is to stop Congress turning this recession into a depression, says Adam Lass. Reckless government spending and “crony capitalism” got us into this mess. And throwing endless credit at non-productive industries will only end up creating inflation and destroying the dollar.

The trouble with getting older…Big Ben expresses himself…Globalization is no longer a force for good – but a force for evil…the Bear Stearns domino effect…End of the road for Hilary…a new hotline service – made just for central bankers…and more!

There seems to be two important consensuses coming from the world’s pre-eminent economic minds. One is that the inflationary policies of the Federal Reserve are setting the economy down a dark path. The other is that the guys in charge of the Federal Reserve are the only ones who don’t realize this.

Everything happens at the margin, said a dead economist. Americans alone probably drive millions of marginal miles – to places they really don’t really need to go…when they don’t really have to be there. At over $3.50 – they’ll drive less.

Accidents don’t cause bubbles – Fed policy does…the world, again, turns its weary eyes to Paul Volcker…The real cost of the war between inflation and deflation hasn’t even begun to register…Why the oil price will correct itself…and more!

Former Fed chief Paul Volcker has warned that the Fed’s recent use of “long-dormant” powers may set a dangerous precedent for the future, causing “market participants” to factor another Fed bailout into their increasingly reckless trading strategies.

“Whatever claims might be made about the uniqueness of current circumstances, it seems inevitable that the nature of the Fed’s response will be taken into account and be anticipated, by officials and market participants alike, in similar future circumstances,” Volcker said in prepared testimony before Congress.

Not a lot happened in both gold and silver yesterday. The tiny rally in the Far East got sold off starting at 3:00 a.m. New York time, then rallied slightly in London and into the Comex open…and that was that once again. Ditto for silver.

Falling house prices, tighter credit and rising prices are going to hurt consumers.