This just makes me giggle. I believe Oliver calls it a "ObamaBoom".
DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it earned $2.1 billion in the first quarter, another sign the economy is improving as people spend more on big-ticket items like cars. The automaker expects to be solidly profitable this year, a year earlier than its previous guidance.
Ford said its net income per share was 50 cents for the quarter. That's an about-face from the same period last year when it lost $1.4 billion, or 60 cents per share, at the height of the recession. It was Ford's fourth straight positive quarter and its highest quarterly profit in six years.
(snip)
In a sign of its confidence in the economic recovery, Ford said it's boosting North American production in the second quarter to 625,000 vehicles, a 9 percent increase over first-quarter levels. The increase could mean additional hiring by Ford, but Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said Tuesday it's too early to say if the company will be adding workers.
"If we continue to grow, maybe we'll talk about that sometime later," Booth said.
.jpg)