A PRESTON CLIVE FORECAST Who are you and what are you up to, Mister Van? (IMAGE: inquisitr.com) With cryptic reports abounding of a mysterious Apple-connected van whirling its way around San Francisco, and with employees from Tesla jumping ship to go work at Apple (with one quote famously reported " Apple's latest project is too exciting to pass up," the person said. "I think it will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money,") the industrial rumor mill is going crazy with theories regarding what this van actually signifies. Is Apple going into the automotive business? Is it entirely a red herring? Is Apple simply testing out software/hardware that will be subcontracted into another company's vehicle (or more than one company) . . . in other words leaving the vehicle manufacturing to the vehicle manufacturers, and with Apple doing what it does best . . . integration of smaller technology into a larger playing field? There are some who are certain that there is an iCar in the future. J Crew CEO Mickey Drexler swears that Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, if he had lived, had plans to build an "iCar." But despite the article above being printed yesterday, we've heard this news before from Drexler. As a matter of fact that quote from Drexler was from 2013. It was originally announced by Drexler during an annual auto show where the iBeetle was claimed to be the equivalent of an iCar, owing to its deep integration with the iPhone. Is the Mystery Van just more of the same? Remember, the ship jumping from one company to another is working both ways. People are jumping from Apple to Tesla as well. There are folks, as you can read in some of the above links, who are saying that the design being worked on and tested is a "car product." That doesn't necessarily sound like a car--it sounds like a car-oriented product. But Apple can be unpredictable when they decide they want to seriously get down and innovate. They can pull the unexpected--many folks thought that the iPad was a huge waste of time and would sink like a lead zeppelin. Instead it changed the industry completely. So what say you whotrades gurus? Are we going to see an actual car leaked in the next 30 days, or will it be something else to work WITH another manufacturer's vehicle? Preston Clive 2/10/2015***