I think one of the main reasons people do not switch to something like the Prius has to do with the cost. A lot of my car shopping and test driving dealers look at me like im throwing my money away. They ask, Why do you want to get a Prius when you get this car instead for less money??? Granted, i understand I am paying a bit of a premium over say getting a Chevy Cruze... but to me that premium is worth it. But the average consumer will not spend 5-6k more for a Hybrid car. Let's look at the HCH its normal version goes for about 5 k less and gets a claimed 40 mpgs compared to its hybrid counter part that averages 44... Though i got the test drive to 51. Either way, until the PRICE goes down on the hybrid technology i do not see people switching over anytime soon. They have the 'i like to be high up mentality'. I totally understand that, theres a highlander hybrid and a Ford escape hybrid... both outrageously priced and little improvement in MPGs. Until auto makers figure out how to implement the tech successfully in an SUV frame for low cost, I do not see a switch coming.
The silver lining is that the Auto sector helped push retail numbers upward. Btw, could someone translate this article into layman's terms? What the heck is Fibonacci resistance?!? http://m.minyanville.com/?guid=37398&catid=4 The chart below is (XRT) -- the S&P Retail Select SPDR. This ETF is a basket of retail stocks. The five biggest components of XRT are: Apparel Retail (31%), Specialty Stores (15%), Automotive Retail (13%), Food Retail (8%), and Department Stores (8%). You can see from the chart below that XRT took out its September highs and cleared 50. This is a key resistance level for the sector because it was previously support that had turned into resistance as well as the 50% level retracement from the July high to August low. (Retracements tend towards 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8% -- the Fibonacci numbers.) This is a certainly a bullish indication for the retail sector, however now the sector is running into resistance at the upper blue line established from highs in August and September...
I've only skimmed the article but they're talking about technical analysis and http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/etf.asp. I own some ETFs. Fibonacci And The Golden Ratio might help. This something I should try to learn (Cramer talked about it recently, I think). Support and resistance are simple concepts: Technical Analysis: Support And Resistance. Bull and bear markets are simple. See http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bullmarket.asp, to start. I'm trying to learn more about technical analysis myself. You can look up the ETFs mentioned at places like http://finance.yahoo.com/. Some (most?) trading platform software let you draw lines yourself to help you w/identifying resistance and support, trends, etc. I use Thinkorswim which also has some ability to find patterns for you. If you're on TD Ameritrade, they have archives about 6 months back of educational webcasts. They had a pretty good one about support and resistance, long ago.
Yet some consumers are willing to pay WAY more for full-sized SUVs and their associated fuel costs, which in many cases, they don't actually need... Go figure.
