DMM Cuttarak Hand

With summer in full swing now is the time to make sure your car is looking good. It doesn’t matter if you’re checking out a car show, taking a road trip, or just cruising around town, the cleanliness of your car is something everyone notices. If you’re falling behind, fear not. You have plenty of time to make a good impression. The best place to start is with a wash and a wax, but there are a few additional things you should do that will really make your car stand out from the pack this summer. Read on and check them out.

#1 Thorough Wheel Detail

As I’ve said before, your wheels are one of the tell all areas of your car. Just in one glance they can uncover negligence or make your detailing skills shine. The important thing here is to be thorough. That means don’t just tell the car wash take a few extra minutes on the wheel.. it means get down and dirty and get all that aged brake dust out from the inside of your rims. When break dust is left untreated it can cause etching and pitting, causing irreversible damage to your rims. If that’s not motivation, just think of the heads you’ll turn with your sparkling clean wheels when you’re done. Read: How To Properly Clean Your Wheels.

#2 Paint Decontamination

First things first, see if you have to clay your car (read more). Next, if you’re comfortable with polishing and your car needs it (swirls, holograms, etc.), do so. You can use a machine or polish by hand, and always follow with a glaze to fill any deeper imperfections in before protecting. If you don’t want or need to polish there is a quick and easy way to decontaminate your paint that adds incredible depth beneath your wax or sealant layer: a paint cleanser. Using a paint cleanser decontaminates the surface and uses solvents to break apart embedded contaminants so they don’t cause damage. Additionally, most paint cleanser will properly prepare the surface for wax or sealant application – increasing the strength of the bond as well as its durability. Trust me you won’t be disappointed.

#3 Exterior Trim Revival

Summer gets hot, and currently we’re in the midst one of the hottest on record throughout most of the world. This added heat does affect your car, and UV damage is one of the biggest killers of your car’s exterior appearance. Reviving and protecting your exterior trim – be it plastic, carbon fiber, or rubber – can add significant beauty points. Dark trim fades to grey after a while, and using a conditioning sealant will effectively breathe life back into these accents as well as protect them from future damage this summer. Ask anyone and they will agree… cars with faded grey plastic trim are noticeably uglier than cars with vibrant, deep, black trim. Again, just another small step you can take toward a great looking car this summer.

Like I said before, these details are meant to enhance the appearance of your car this summer. These procedures alone will not give you a perfect looking ride, but when you partner them with a regular wash and wax routine, you’re golden. If not for the glam, at least do it for the car. Over time skipping details like these adds up and can contribute to premature rusting, etching, staining, clear coat damage, swirl marks, and more – all of which lowers the value of your car. So get to chico car wash cleaning and let us know how it goes!

As always, speak up if you’ve got certain things you want to share with Behind the Detail… anything you do special in summer to make sure your car’s looking to the nines?

It’s deja vu all over again in the markets as another twist in the sovereign debt crisis has sent the euro tumbling by the greatest margin in nearly a year. It was only last month that I posted “The Euro (Still) has a Greek Problem,” and yet, markets are once again reacting to the possibility of a Greek default as thought it were a new development. At the very least, investors finally seem to be acknowledging the inevitable.

There have been several factors at work in this latest episode. On Monday, S&P downgraded its credit rating for Greece to CCC, following on a similar move by Moody’s. That means that Greece’s sovereign credit rating is now the lowest in the world, behind such eminent economies as Grenada and Ecuador. While the move was hardly noteworthy in itself, it represents one more straw on the camel’s back.

Greece’s government is increasingly unstable, and Prime Minister George Papandreou has become so desperate that he has suggested forming an alliance with Greece’s most powerful opposition party. Meanwhile, violent riots outside Greek Parliament have reportedly become a daily occurrence, as the Greek populace has proven unwilling to accept wage cuts and tax increases.

As if that weren’t enough, there is tremendous uncertainty surrounding the next stage of the Greek bailout. No one can agree on what amount to give and what should be stipulated in return. Some parties think that private investors should be involved in the bailout by taking a “haircut” on the bonds that they own. Some members of the eurozone are balking about contributing any funds at all, wary of justifying it to their own citizens and that it is merely forestalling the inevitable.

I think the NYTimes offered the best summary: “Funding fatigue is growing in the north European creditor countries, especially Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria, just as austerity fatigue is mounting in Greece.” When you consider that Greek interest rates and credit default swap spreads have surged to record highs, it seems that default is really inevitable. If the IMF and European Union are so determined, they can push off default until 2013. Still, default now or default then is still default.

At this point, then, the only real question is what happens when Greece defaults. Will it be forced to leave the Eurozone? Will that push the rest of the Eurozone fringe closer towards default? Will the Euro collapse and cease to exist as a currency? What will happen then?

Unfortunately, I think the answer to all of these questions is yes. At the very least, Greece will be forced out of the eurozone. Bondholders will push interest rates in Ireland, Spain, and Portugal up to double-digit levels, trapping them in the same cycle in which Greece is currently ensnared. Given the exposure of French and German banks to the sovereign debt of financially troubled eurozone members, they will also require state bailouts, and so on.

In a recent op-ed published in The Financial Times, celebrity economies Nouriel Roubini argued that the only way to avoid a complete eurozone meltdown is if the euro depreciates rapidly “to restore competitiveness to the periphery” or if the European Union is able to rapidly achieve complete fiscal and economic union. Roubini argues that the former is difficult because of the ECB’s hawkishness, while the latter is precluded by political hurdles that remain too formidable to overcome.

As Greece inches ever closer to default, the markets will increasingly become gripped by utter uncertainty over the questions that forex mega robot posed above. Central Banks will stop accumulating euro-denominated assets, and investment funds will similarly shun Europe. (In fact, there is already evidence that this is happening). While European interest rates are attractive relative to the rest of the G4, they are hardly enough to compensate investors for this uncertainty. And when the markets come to terms with this, the euro might finally reach its breaking point.