Domestic auto sales were also in focus as the week wound down, with February figures from Ford Motor and Chrysler coming in at five-year highs and General Motors topping estimates with a 7% sales increase.

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In response, several bloggers have argued that these elasticities are underestimated, pointing to the unreliability of estimates of long-run price elasticity of oil demand in general and to other literature with higher estimates than the IMF study.

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Figure on more than 140 players still being available by early January, estimates one former general manager, a lot by historical standards.

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