Axial Vector™ Energy Corporation owns, develops and licenses internal combustion engine technologies. The company is applying these technologies to develop a new, smaller and lighter internal combustion engine that produces substantially more horsepower and three times more torque on less fuel than conventional engines of similar size. Although the internal combustion engine as we know it today may never meet the strong demand for cleaner and far greater fuel-efficiency, the Axial Vector engine is designed to easily meet these challenges.

The Axial Vector™ engine will target a number of specific military and industrial applications. The company is also developing a family of electric power generators incorporating its unique Axial Vector™ technology. These generators will consume less fuel per unit of electrical power output and are significantly smaller than any known internal combustion engine generator.

Adaptive Propulsion Systems has partnered with Axial Vector to

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“Global Demand for Oil to Plummet,” screams a recent Financial Times headline.   Huh?  No it won’t.  Who are they trying to kid?

Global oil demand is not going to “plummet.”  And for the FT to say so is just plain silly, if not irresponsible.  OK, I know.  There’s an old saying that they teach in journalism schools.  “You have to sell newspapers.”  But this declaration by the FT highlights the perils of letting a headline-writer do your thinking for you.  It’s what I call “arguing a screaming conclusion.”  And a wrong conclusion at that.

Oil Demand – Down, Then Up

But let’s move past the headlines.  The Financial Times article explains that the World Bank has just issued a new study.  The World Bank believes that the world is entering into the toughest economic times “since the Great Depression.”  Thus overall world oil demand may fall by about half a million barrels per

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Shares in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia all rose sharply on rumors local soveriegn wealth funds intend to buy shares in local companies. Oman Telecommunications and Saudi Basic Industries Corpóration were the biggest benefitiaries of the rumours.

In an all too familiar pattern the Qatar Islamic Bank issued shares worth 3.8 billion riyals to Qatar´s sovereign wealth fund. Qatar Islamic shareholders the issue of about 39.38 million new shares at a price of 97 riyals to the Qatar Investment Authority. This is part of Qatar's $5.3 billion plan plan shore up investor confidence in the banking sector.

A new poll of 11 economists shows that economists expect real economic growth in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to slow - but remain positive!br /br /The good news is that the sconomies are still expected to expand. What is clear, however, is that the Gulf is sensitive to the oil price. Obviously, a fall in oil prices from $147 a barrel to $34 a barrel has an impact. br /br /The forecasts are for real growth of 2.4 percent in Saudi Arabia, 2.7 percent in the UAE and 3.5% in Bahrain. Qatar, the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas, is expected to see the fastest GDP growth next year at 9.5 percent!br /br /We will monitor the extent of the slowdown in the non-oil sectors. across the Gulf will be a key element to monitor," said Giyas Gokkent, chief economist at ...

With all this talk about bailouts here in the U.S., one name is conspicuously absent: Sovereign Wealth Funds. These trillion-dollar national funds made news earlier in the year as they dove headway into big U.S. banks when they began to teeter. The SWFs figured they were buying low, severely underestimating the bottom of the market. So rather than get a bargain, they took a beating - and are now making a hasty retreat from the West.

The withdrawal of SWFs from American markets means that taxpayers must pick up the slack to the tune of $700 billion (or more). It could also mean that the disappearance of this source of capital could further delay any sustained recovery.

The Persian Gulf SWFs, in particular, are redirecting their funds to domestic projects, where they see a higher payoff, according to various news sources.

Dubai International Capital is turning its attention the Middle East, China and

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In the energy market Wednesday, oil prices inched lower, with crude for January delivery closing at $46.79/barrel, down 17 cents. January reformulated gasoline lost 1.68 cents, to $1.0415/gallon.

In its weekly inventory report, the Energy Information Administration said that crude stocks fell for the first time in 10 weeks, easing 400,000 barrels for the week ended November 28. Analysts had been looking for a 2 million barrel increase.

The EIA reported that gasoline supplies also dropped, by 1.6 million barrels, and that distillates were off 1.7 million barrels. Refineries were operating at 84.3% of capacity, down from 86.2% a week earlier.

OPEC continued to send the message that it will cut production at its meeting in two weeks, with Qatar’s oil minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah saying that the group wants crude oil prices at between $70 and $80 a barrel “because $70 is the minimum price at which we can [continue

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November saw the sales of cars manufactured in North America drop to 236,000 units. That's 17% below October (which was already horrible) and 40% below the number sold in November of 2007.brimg alt= style=width: 480px; src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/aa0ff38d-9bb9-44a5-bba5-8be30d8f6977/dom_cars_dec_08.gifbrSource: a style=font-family: verdana; href=http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/12/the_auto_downtu.htmlEconbrowser/a.brbrMeanwhile, a style=font-family: verdana; class=summheadline href=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103sid=aDvTwqi_v3J8amp;refer=newsGM and Chrysler are seeking $11 billion to avert collapse this year. /aIn short, they are simply running out of cash. Democrats pledged to keep them out of bankruptcy without saying how. brbrAnd a style=font-family: verdana; href=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/automakers-post-steep-sales-declines/story.aspx?guid=681021CC-8778-40C2-AC80-822D0321CB9Eamp;dist=SecEditorsPicksMarketwatch tells us/a that Ford, Lincoln and Mercury combined car sales fell 31.5%, GM took an even harder hit with its 41.3% drop, Volvo sales tumbled 46.5% (ouch!) and Hummer sales dropped the most, downa stunning 63.9%.brbrToyota, Nissan and Honda had less-bad news, but each saw sales drop by more than 31%.brbrCars are piling up on the lots. If you think they're cheap now, just wait until the after-Christmas sales. But we may be approaching the point where ...

Key News• Oil prices fell below $53 to almost a two-year low . (AP)• The yield on two-year US Treasury bonds hit a record low of 1.06 per cent, responding both to the fresh flight to safety and the prospect of lower interest rates. Eurozone government bond futures hit their highest level since March 2006. (FT)

• World stock markets tumbled Thursday, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul losing almost 7 percent each. (AP)• Five years after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke helped stamp out the risk of deflation, the threat is returning as the financial crisis and a worsening economic slump pull inflation lower. (Bloomberg)• The RBA said in a monthly bulletin today that it bought A$3.15 billion ($2 billion) of its own currency last month, the biggest net purchase on record, as the local dollar posted a record monthly decline. • U.S. options

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Vladimir Putin has tried to reassure consumers by insisting that his praise of relations with Egypt does not hail the creation of an energy cartel, although Russia is meeting with Iran and Qatar today to discuss mutual natural gas interests. Putin insists that the meeting’s focus is supply, not price. ‘Energy producers, as well as consumers, have the right to — and in my view must — coordinate their decisions, exchange information and do their best to ensure uninterrupted hydrocarbon supplies on global markets,’ he said. Gazprom has announced that it expects consumer gas prices to drop in 2009. Its joint venture with German company Wintershall has released figures for its expected first-year output. In response to demands from oil producers, Russia may overhaul the way its oil companies are taxed. As the price of oil drops to ...