Hubdub’s Hot Predictions this week, as decided by Hubdub users and staff, are selected based on their newsworthiness for the week. These stories are bound to be big news this week - and we have forecasts on how they’re likely to turn out.

Election 08

Can a African American win the south? Although Barack Obama isn’t likely to win the entire south, out of all the former ‘Confederate’ states Hubdub is forecasting Barack grabs 3 states. At least that’s 3 more than Kerry got!

How many of the former Confederate States will Obama win in the Presidential Election?

Day by day Florida is looking more and more like Obama country. On the 4th though, how well will Obama perform in the specific counties? Currently by a slight margin Hubdubbers predict Obama wins 12-18 counties.

‘08 Presidential Election - How many counties in Florida will Obama win?

Early reports from states all across the country are reporting that early voting lines are systemic. Massive voter turnout is happening everywhere and it isn’t even November 4th. When the dust settles Hubdub predicts 55% of voters will turnout, but with new reports piling in every day we may just breach the 60% ceiling.

What will the voter turnout be for the 2008 Presidential election?

The McCain, Palin ticket is looking a bit drained these days, with the election a week away will Palin attempt to grab more airtime by appearing on the David Letterman show? Hubdubbers say no by 71%

Will Sarah Palin be a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman before the Election?

World News

The Suisse like liberal thinking allot, but how liberal will they go? Currently a law’s being voted on to determine whether weed should be decriminalized, and for now Hubbdubber’s doubt it’ll be passed.

Will the Suisse people vote for or against the initiative to decriminalise cannabis consumption?

Who knew? Apparently Iran has a growing ostrich industry. To celebrate this new culinary investment they created a 1500 meters long ostrich sandwich, and subsequently gobbled it up! Still unclear if it’ll be in the Guinness book of world records though.

Will huge Iranian ostrich sandwich go into the Guiness Book of Records?

Science
With all the problems on Earth right now, it’s hard to remember there’s a whole other world above us. But it’s there, and on November 14th we’ll be visiting it once again. That is, if everything goes to plan. By 82% Hubdub users forecast Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on time.

Will STS-126 (Space Shuttle Endeavour) Launch on or Before Nov 15th 2008?

Sports

Almost every single time someone mentions Lance Armstrong we’re reminded of the numerous drug testing scandals he went through. Lance has always maintained his innocence and nothing’s ever been proven, but the French are at it again, insisting that Lance is a ‘villain.’ Overwhelmingly Hubdub forecasts Lance is not found to be a doper, again…

Will Lance be our Hero or the Villain after all?

Credit Crunch

Markets are down again today, so it seems we’re caught in an endless tumble towards world recession. Every time a shimmer of hope arises on the markets, it’s quickly wiped out. Therefore Hubdub predicts at least 36-40 more triple digit swings on the Dow this year and maybe even more. Don’t worry though there’s good news somewhere…

How many triple digit point swings will the DJIA have left in 2008?

Remember how I was saying there was good news out there? Well it’s the plunging price of gas. So if you can afford the ‘credit tsunami’ drowning Wall Street and don’t drive a tank to work your in alright shape. Here’s some even better news, Hubdub forecasts it’s 80% or more likely that gas falls below $2.50 this year.

Will gas prices drop below $2.50 before the end of the year?

Popularity: 22% [?]

By Andrew (Business Editor)

The first batches of government stimulus checks are being received today, although only for those who opted for a direct deposit into their accounts. These checks are intended as a shot in the arm for the economy and to boost consumer confidence. There is one thing Fed chairman Bernanke want you to do with yours, spend, spend, spend! Both he and the administration are desperate for consumers to spend these checks to make more money flow through the economy. The checks and deposits will continue throughout May and June, with the roll out based on social security numbers. Wall Street Fighter has a good FAQ regarding how much you can hope to receive and when.

While being given a cash “bonus” may sound like grounds for frivolous spending, it’s probably not the best plan if you’re struggling to cope with the crunch. Paying off some loans or a portion (however insignificant) of your mortgage seems a sensible approach if you have found yourself reigning in your spending recently. A counter argument to being that fiscally responsible is this CNN report, speculating that the crunch may be over. Even if it is, using the cash to pay off some debt is normally a good long term plan.

Oil is still very high despite a fall back from the $120 mark when futures trading moved from May to June. This is keeping derivative prices high, such as the diesel price. Gasoline is still rising but Hubdub users don’t think that it will hit $4 per gallon by the 4th of July. What do you think?

Popularity: 7% [?]

  By Andrew (Business editor)

These are far from certain times for the American economy. The Dow is on the slide, closing below the psychological 12,000 mark on Friday and fears of recession seem to be well founded. Warren Buffet has already been quoted as saying the U.S. is in recession but the federal government seems to be hoping its economic stimulus package will get it out before it becomes official. It seems recession is here in everything but name despite the best efforts of the federal reserve to ease tensions with interest rate cuts.

Not to make matters worse but while the Dow goes down, OPEC has decided not to increase production at their meeting in Vienna, Austria. This as expected has caused oil prices to increase and they are now sitting comfortably above the $100.00 point. This is not welcome news for American drivers, as gas prices increase nationwide. While the American economy does have a large effect on the rest of the world it seems that the current economic crisis is going to be most acute in the U.S. with the Dollar hitting new lows against the Euro.

The U.S., despite probably having to go through some harder times than they have had recently will most likely be able to stay afloat just because of how valued a customer base they are to foreign salesmen. For example they are still an essential market for OPEC and if consumers can’t buy oil and its derivatives, that will have a serious negative impact on the OPEC countries. The stalemate that exists between them looks like it is stable until China or India is able to make up the capacity, which may still be some years off.

Popularity: 8% [?]