The 'cash for-clunkers' cash payment is now likely to receive Congressional approval, something yours truly didn't think would occur six months ago.

Dueling versions of the bill that would grant a voucher worth $3,500-$4,500 to consumers who trade-in their gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more fuel-efficient vehicles are winding themselves through Congress. The House version passed 298-119, Bloomberg News reported. A vote on the Senate version is expected soon. In a nutshell, car purchases get $4,500 for a vehicle that improves mileage by at least 10 miles per gallon, $3,500 if the new vehicle ups mileage by at least four miles per gallon.

Under the radar: Some trends are obvious enough and visible to all investors. Others are more subtle, but are just as potent, and these often slip "under the radar."

Case in point: the Obama administration's new, higher, fuel-efficiency requirement for vehicles. Basically, by 2016 it will cut auto emissions by one-third while increasing the average fuel economy requirement to 39 miles per gallon for cars and 30 miles per gallon for light trucks.

With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.

If you like to play games on your mobile, Gameloft may be worth a test drive. I interviewed Alexandre de Rochefort, Gameloft's CFO, who said "Gameloft was founded in 2000 by the same people who started [French video game publisher] Ubisoft in the 1980s. In the beginning of 2000, the founders saw that there were only a limited number of consumers who realized that game machines and consoles were becoming more powerful. As gaming consoles became more powerful, the industry catered more towards a hardcore audience which resulted in the isolation of casual gamers. Gameloft was created to develop casual games for mass market audience."

Can the U.S. auto sector re-claim technological supremacy in the global auto market?

True, innovation, breakthrough technology, and supremacy are not exactly words that come to mind when one currently hears the corporate names 'General Motors,' 'Ford,' and 'Chrysler.'

The auto sector as an asset, even now?

But Columbia University Prof. Jeffrey Sachs forecasts that the U.S. auto industry can return to greatness, in the nation that's championed innovation and ingenuity during the modern era -- if Congress passes a comprehensive rescue package for the Big Three, C-SPAN reported.

Sachs is doing what academics do best: looking down the field -- to what macroeconomic conditions and global commerce -- and auto demand -- will look like 5, 10, 20 years from now.

General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) rose 69 cents to $4.77, while Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) added 53 cents to $3.25 per share in Monday afternoon trading. Chrysler is privately held.

The first rule of public relations is never get in a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. And a major tenet of investing is don't take a stock position in conflict with Congressional policy, once Congress has committed to a program.

The wisdom behind the second adage, like the first, is obvious enough: Congress has the ability to suddenly and substantially change the investment landscape.

Case in point: Congress, which is currently hearing testimony on a performance-based rescue package for General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F), and Chrysler, could end up further funding reform by the Big Three by buying millions of the companies' vehicles for the U.S. government's auto fleet.

'Catching three fish with one cast'

Economist David H. Wang says the tactic has appeal in several areas -- economic, industrial, energy.

"It would help the three companies retain essential employees while transforming their operations, it would keep more industrial spin-off jobs in the U.S., and it would save energy by increasing U.S. government auto fleet efficiency," Wang said. "It would be like catching three fish with one cast and I think the new Obama administration would look very favorably on the energy efficiency aspect, both private and public sector dimensions."

Shares of GM fell 30 cents to $2.79, while Ford declined 16 cents $1.52 in Wednesday morning trading.

Despite the onset of the latest high energy price era, it goes without saying that the car will remain the main mode of transportation in the United States as the 21st century progresses.

First mass-produced on a national scale by Henry Ford, subsidized by the construction and expansion of the public interstate highway system after World War II, and immortalized by such films as George Lucas's American Graffiti (1973), the car and car culture is intrinsic to modern American life.

The car fuel alternatives

Cheap oil is not intrinsic, however, and that's a major reason why the nation is exploring car / vehicle fuel alternatives. Many options exist, each with strengths / weaknesses, and currently there's no clear winner.

Hence, in a very real sense, your say in the matter will play an important role in determining what fuel most Americans will use for car transportation in the decades ahead.

There's an upside and a downside regarding major auto companies and the quest to develop vehicles with increased fuel-efficiency.

The upside: Auto makers are positioning themselves to carve out niches in fuel-efficient technology and design, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday (subscription required).

The downside: Auto makers appear to be exhibiting a 'herd mentality' on the current propulsion technology -- hybrid engine cars with both a modest electric power source and a mainstay internal combustion engine.

An electric hybrid focus

Following up on its successful electric-gasoline Prius hybrid, Toyota (NYSE: TM) announced it will make hybrid engine systems available on all models by 2020, The Journal reported. Meanwhile, Honda said it would import new hybrid technology to the U.S. to compete with Toyota and Ford (NYSE: F) plans to double its hybrid lineup next year, and Chevrolet's (NYSE: GM) Volt hybrid that will go on sale in 2010.

Economist David H. Wang said investors and consumers should not be overly optimistic or pessimistic regarding the sector's concentration on electric-fuel hybrids.

Ford, the U.S. auto giant facing perhaps its toughest combination of sector competition and economic headwinds in the company's history, is expected to announce it will build a new, seven-passenger luxury crossover, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday (subscription required).

The new three-row Lincoln MKT crossover is expected to go into production next year, and mirror a 'bustle back concept' displayed at the Detroit Auto Show this year, The Journal reported. Its primary competitors would be the Acura MDX, Audi Q7, and Mercedes R class.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) shares were virtually unchanged on the news, up 2 cents to $5.12 in Friday afternoon trading.

Crossovers are larger cars designed to look and function like SUVs, only with better gas mileage.

Analyst takes wait-and-see approach on crossover

Stock Analyst C. Leonard Bauer said he's reserving judgment on the Lincoln MKT, pending performance, fuel economy, and safety test reviews.

U.S. automakers, late to recognize the sales implications of spiraling gas prices, have started to adjust their business models, in at least one modest respect: some luxury cars are now being designed to run on regular unleaded gasoline, USA Today reported Thursday.

Regular unleaded gasoline, with an 87 octane, typically costs 20-40 cents less than premium gasoline, with a 91 octane.

Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) are encouraging dealers to promote their no-premium-gas luxury cars' potential, as a selling point for consumers with budgets pinched by $4 per gallon gasoline, USA Today reported Thursday. Ford rose 5 cents to $4.99, while GM fell 15 cents to $10.10 in mid-day Thursday trading.

Auto mechanic Eddie Renn, based in Larchmont, N.Y., said the fact that automakers are manufacturing more cars designed to run on regular gasoline "is an improvement," but he questions why the automakers are using a lower gasoline cost as a selling point for luxury cars. Renn added that his auto repair business is not affiliated with any auto manufacturer.

Does gas price matter for luxury car owners?

"If you're driving a luxury car and you're concerned about a 20 or 30 cent difference a gallon, maybe you shouldn't be driving a luxury car." Renn said. "The luxury car owners who come in here [to his gas station] aren't concerned about the price of gas, I can tell you that."

Renn said most new cars, excluding sports cars and other vehicles, are designed to run on regular gasoline. A higher percentage of older cars -- particularly those built before 2000, require a higher octane, either mid-grade gasoline (also called 'plus') with an 89 octane, or the aforementioned premium gasoline, with a 91 octane.

You knew it had to happen at some point: the neighborhood street becoming dotted with whizzing golf carts.

With monthly gasoline bills exceeding car payments in some areas of the country, Americans have started to substitute tiny electric cars -- including golf carts and smaller electric vehicles -- for their local transportation needs, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported Thursday.

People are using them for local errands, to visit friends, even for trips to work if the destination is short, The Journal reported. And the habit may turn into a trend if cart use in challenging regions is any indicator: people in the nation of Texas are using them, as well!

Sees robust cart sales

Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks Thursday he's not surprised. "The previous rises in gasoline prices this decade, one [Hurricane] Katrina-related, one refinery-related, were viewed by the public as temporary. Not this time," Langan said. "Americans are convinced that four buck [$4] gas is here to stay, and oil use patterns around the world suggest they're not deluded in that assumption. Golf cart and mini-cart sales should increase at double-digit rates through the end of this decade, and most likely, longer."

Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens has launched a new campaign to substitute at least a portion of the U.S. imported oil with domestic natural gas.

Pickens would like renewable energy sources, wind power chief among them, to run electric power generation plants currently run by natural gas/coal, and use that natural gas to fuel natural gas vehicles.

Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks Thursday the PickensPlan is commendable for a number of reasons (it would lower the trade deficit, create domestic jobs, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions), but investors and readers should not view it as a panacea for the nation's transportation energy bill. "It could be a part of the solution, but it won't address the entire imported oil problem," Langan said.

Another oil saver: better engines

What's another key to reducing both imported oil and U.S.-produced oil consumption? Something that the U.S. auto sector has under-emphasized for more than a decade: technology-driven increases in car/vehicle efficiency, Langan said.

Langan said vehicle weight reduction, transmission/drive train improvements, enhanced aerodynamics, and the biggest factor -- increased engine efficiency -- "have the potential to reduce oil imports by almost as much as the Pickens Plan, and the changes won't take 10 years to see the results."

Further, many of the mpg-enchancing technologies already exist, Langan notes; he suggested an additional federal tax credit for automakers to help them incorporate the changes sooner.

"The fleet [all vehicles driven in the U.S.] should average 25-27 miles per gallon right now. Currently we're at about 20 miles per gallon. With appropriate federal tax credits we could be at 30-32 miles per gallon in five or seven years," Langan said.

Apparently rock musician Sammy Hagar is not one of U.S. Sen. John Warner's (R-Virginia) constituents.

Sen. Warner has suggested that the U.S. Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices, The Associated Press reported.

However, Warner has not specifically sponsored legislation calling for a roll-back to 55 miles per hour: he has only asked U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to research which speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology, and also wants to know if the Bush Administration would support a Congressional effort to mandate a lower speed limit, The AP reported.

Last 55 mph law: 1973-74

The United States last imposed a 55 mph speed limit in 1974, as part of an effort to conserve gasoline in response to the world's first oil shock, the 1973-74 oil crisis.

Sometimes during a crisis the United States rushes toward a solution, only to find that the action was not only not a panacea, it was, in fact, ill-conceived and harmful.

The late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill alluded to this when he noted that, "In the end, America will do the right thing . . . after she's exhausted all other possibilities."

That may very well be the case with corn-based ethanol.

Initially heralded as a renewable fuel that reduces foreign oil imports, it now appears that a powerful coalition is building against corn-based ethanol -- a problematic energy source, in economist Glen Langan's interpretation.

A ' tax dollar not well spent'

The U.S. Government (which means you, the taxpayer) heavily subsidies ethanol from corn production via payments to farmers, Langan said. "The tax dollar is not well spent, either from an environmental standpoint or an energy policy standpoint," he said.

With the oil and refining sectors providing evidence that $4 per gallon gasoline may represent a floor, auto makers are beefing-up efforts to improve and introduce electric cars, MarketWatch reported Wednesday.

While the new wave of hybrids and electric cars will emphasize plug-in technology (the ability to recharge the car's battery from a standard 110-volt outlet), industry executives and think tank analysts underscored that a series of government incentives and programs will be needed to enable large-scale production of plug-in hybrids and electric cars. Selected automakers have set the 2010 model year as a target for rolling out the new cars en masse.

Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks Wednesday the automakers' roll-out timetable may be a tad optimistic.

"What we're seeing now from General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) and others is that classic, delayed, rush-to-the-future response so typical of a sector that's behind," Langan said. "U.S. auto makers and others should have developed at least a hybrid that could compete with gas engines 10 years ago. But they chose not to and battery technology is behind as a result. I don't think we will see a cost-effective plug-in electric in 2010, and we'll be fortunate if a cost-effective, plug-in hybrid will be in mass production by 2012 or 2013."

This energy fact will not be a revelation to American motorists:

The U.S. Energy Department now forecasts that gasoline prices will remain high -- around $4 per gallon -- this year and next, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The Energy Department's Guy Caruso, head of the department's Energy Information Administration wing, announced the revised forecast in testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives committee, The AP reported.

The EIA now expects the average U.S. gasoline price, currently over $4 per gallon, to peak at $4.15 per gallon in August. Regular-grade gasoline, which typically is 87 octane at U.S. gas stations, is expected to average $3.78 per gallon in 2008, or 97 cents above the 2007 average price.

Nevertheless, many high-cost U.S. cities -- including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston -- are already experiencing gasoline prices in the $4.20-$4.60 per gallon range, with selected areas approaching $5 per gallon.

Moreover, the steady rise in gasoline prices is occurring despite the fact that weekly U.S. gasoline consumption has declined, on a year-over-year basis, for more than four months.