Volkswagen shares rose nearly 4X as a result of a massive short squeeze. Volkwagen was, at the time of this jump, the most shorted stock on the DAX index (meaning sophisticated investors such as hedge funds were betting the price would go down by borrowing and selling shares which they would have to buy back later). These investors had shorted VLKAY on the expectation that a bid from Porsche would fall through and the stock price would drop - however, Porsche on Oct 26 announced it would increase its bid for the company. As a result, hedge funds were required, by their brokers, to "cover" their short positions by buying the stock - with so many institutions forced to buy, the price when through the roof in a way that was entirely disconnected from market fundamentals - sort of the opposite of a run on the bank - a run *to* the bank.
The legislation passed today increases the federal standard auto makers must meet to an industry wide 35 mpg for passengers cars, SUVs and small trucks. The standard for cars today is 27.5 mpg and for trucks and SUVs 22.2 mpg. It also ramps up production of ethanol use to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022, up from 6 billion gallons produced in 2007.
03/24/2007 - 03/27/07: Porsche AG, the world's most profitable carmaker, has secured a 35 billion-euro ($46 billion) line of credit to finance an increase in its Volkswagen AG stake and make a bid for complete take over of the company.
02/27/2007 - 03/06/07: Volkswagen AG Chairman Ferdinand Piech plans to join MAN AG's supervisory board as Europe's largest carmaker pushes for a three-way combination with Swedish rival Scania AB.
02/19/2007 - 02/02/07: Volkswagen AG announces 2006 profit more than doubled after new Audi and Skoda models attracted buyers and a tax gain added to earnings.
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