car:running at rates of 10.6 million, 10.2 million and 10.3 mill

latest news [HMC] Honda U.S. January sales fall 27.9% to 71,031 vehicles
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Car sales could help equities investors find a floor

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
Last update: 2:31 p.m. EST Feb. 3, 2009Comments: 252NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- While January's car sales trickling in Tuesday were projected to be terrible, the fact they seem to be stabilizing -- albeit at an awful rate -- could be a positive for an equities market looking for signs of a floor in order to see better times ahead.
"It is at the trough that investors in riskier assets begin looking over the valley toward better times," said Tony Crescenzi, bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.
Crescenzi and other analysts see indications of a basement in recent sales numbers from the ailing industry, with sales in October through December running at rates of 10.6 million, 10.2 million and 10.3 million units, respectively. January sales are seen running at 10.2 million.
The November figure marked the weakest level since October of 1982, and the uncertain economic climate and tighter credit conditions behind the lousy figures "should continue to be the case in January," said analysts at Action Economics.
Ford Motor Co., the first to report, said U.S. sales dropped a weaker-than-expected 42.1% in January. Read more.
"If there was good news in the report, it was Ford indicating that demand appears to be stabilizing following the freefall in 2008," said the analysts at Action Economics.
Shares of Ford were lately off 2.1%.
Shares of General Motors Corp. (GM:General Motors Corporation
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Last: 2.81-0.08-2.77%

3:26pm 02/03/2009

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GM 2.81, -0.08, -2.8%) were down 6.6% after it reported U.S. sales fell 50.8% in January, more than the expected decline of roughly 40%.
GM was among those weighing on the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU:Dow Jones Industrial Average
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Last: 7,936.83-64.03-0.80%

4:02pm 02/03/2009

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$INDU 7,936.83, -64.03, -0.8%) , which stood at 8,037, up 100.31 points. The S&P 500 ($SPX:S&P 500 Index
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Last: 841.87+16.43+1.99%

3:26pm 02/03/2009

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$SPX 841.87, +16.43, +2.0%) gained 8.48 points to 834.92, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP:Nasdaq Composite Index
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Last: 1,519.60+25.17+1.68%

3:26pm 02/03/2009

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COMP 1,519.60, +25.17, +1.7%) was up 11 points to 1,505.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. (TM:toyota motor corp sp adr rep2com
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Last: 65.75+1.87+2.93%

3:25pm 02/03/2009

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TM 65.75, +1.87, +2.9%) gained 1.5% after the Japanese automaker said its sales fell 31.7% last month.
Crescenzi believes car sales will either hold or rise in coming months as auto manufacturers lower credit standards for perspective buyers and as the Federal Reserve moves to provide money loans to cover cars and car leases.
"It will of course take more than car sales to turn the economy around, but it is important to remember that pockets of weakness accompany every upturn, just as pockets of strength linger when the economy enters a downturn," said