Hey…I am a big believer in big business…in capitalism…but only if the consumer benefits first and the investor second. Let me explain…

Wal-Mart has it right. Price things cheap enough and people will come back and buy more. Jeapordy time…This retailer showed and increase in sales and profits in the 3rd quarter…ding…ding…ding… Who is Wal-Mart, Alex.

The consumer wins in this scenario and get’s to buy stuff cheaper, leaving morfe moeny in the checking account for a night out at the local Applebees, head bangers ball, opera, ballgame, or whatever their pleasure.

Wal-Mart also wins…They are the worlds largest retailer…It’s a big more work, but if there is one thing I’d like to say about those fellas in Bentonville, AR…those guys have an unbelievable work ethic…I know, they ude dto be my customer. And they are tough, no BS business people and a model for corporate America.

But they did it without pretention. Their world headquarters is the ugliest, most hodge podge conglomeration of buildings in the western hemsiphere…and they don’t care. It’s not about appearance…it’s about results.

Do the Big 3 think that way? Does big oil think that way? Does the financial industry think that way? Does any corporation that’s in trouble right now think that way? No, No, No and NO!

Downsize, get real, be prudent, live within your means, do your homework, study the market, and sleep well at night…Those are the values my immigrant dad taught me. Some advice he gave me I listened too and prospered…other times I foolishly jumped in blind and lost. It’s OK to take risks, but hedge your bets with knowledge and realistic outcomes. That is lost upon America and coprations today.

How does this tie back into energy efficiency? Corporations need to see alternative energy as a means to cost savings for Americans or the journey will be lost. We want value…We don’t buy the rob Peter to pay Paul strategies anymore. If I save money HERE, I don’t want the prices THERE to go up exponentially. I want cost savings across the board. If I buy a 80MPG car, I don’t want to have to pay $40,000 for that right.It defeats the purpose. I am buying it to save money. Saving the earth is a by product of that cost savings. With American cars that can only be done with UAW pay cuts and back to real word economics.

On another note, the reason why a drop in oil prices hasn’t got us out of the recession is that America doesn’t trust the economy right now and is cautious about everything and rightfully so. To America, the drop in oil prices is more money in their pockets that is going to stay in the pockets until viable solutions to correct the mortgage and credit crisis that we are in.

That means no big purchases like cars, large appliances and anything else that requires credit. Living within their means…is the mantra of Americans and its about time.

My 2 year old could have figured out how to put together a heat map….And if my dog wasn’t color blind, he might have had a good shot at equaling this stupid task. This isn’t news. This is just another chart that displays information we already knew.

Heat map…Pleeeease. OK boys and girls…take out your crayons and lets color in the states that sell the most Hybrids…

No refinancing of debt, no business loans….market is frozen so No one spends money….no one spends money means less need for workers….workers lose jobs creating a viscious cycle of tighter spending controls causing less sales causing more job losses….

In the U.S., billions of dollars flowed out of the country that could have been used to buy clothes, homes, electronics, furniture, and cars. Now, the money and millions of jobs are gone.

Even though oil prices have declined, the jobs have not yet come back, and it will take years of low oil prices to help boost the economy.

Adding a tax to get gasoline back to $4 will extend and maybe worsen the recession.

We need to walk the fine line to take steps to discourage oil consumption and encourage job creation. I believe Obama is on the right track to push for hybrids and creation of jobs related to alternative sources of energy.

However, I believe we could absorb a modest increase to gasoline taxes (maybe $.50/gallon now, and more later).

I just hope we learn to build hybrid batteries in the U.S. If we don’t, then rather than having money flow out of the county to buy oil, we’ll have money flowing out of the country to buy oil and batteries.

Frankly, if we had an intelligent energy policy it would include taxing gasoline to keep the price high (above $4/gallon) which we have now seen does wonders to reduce consumption.

Also, reducing the prices of hybrids seems like a nice idea, but nobody is making money selling hybrids as it is — it has been said that Toyota has yet to turn a profit on the Prius line. Cut the prices further and the auto makers would have to sell that many more non-hybrids to make up the difference . . . or go out of business . . . or ask for a government handout.