It never fails, we cheer for a team. They lose. We predict rain in a drought. Floods come.

So it didn't come as a surprise and we should have seen in coming. We write that Toyota now has a good reason to stay in Formula One with a driver like Kamui Kobayashi who could finally spark a winning season after eight years of frustration, the world's number one carmaker quits F1.

We can't blame the team. In these tough economic times it would be hard to explain to stockholders about spending hundreds of millions only to see a team lose to teams spending half as much.

But even in quitting F1, Toyota came in third behind Honda and BMW. We shouldn't have hexed our second favorite F1 team in red. The FIA and the Brian Ecclestone are said to be looking at possible legal actions against Toyota for reneging on a contract it signed committing to remain in the sport until 2012.

F1 is worried about losing more major automakers especially with new teams still working out their financing.

So to help F1 out, we're predicting a bad season next year, a small starting grid, more cheating scandals, fewer Finns, Brits, and Spanish as ex-champions. So there. Let's work for our magic to work.

Still our reverse Midas touch may have done some good.

We wrote about police fearing a huge rise in stolen car reports, much of those bogus to go around insurance problems with the flood damage vehicles. And warning scam artists among vehicle owners against doing the deed.

We're watching, the police said. Guess what?

There was an increase in stolen vehicle reports from September to October, but only by 11 cases. A measly increase, consider the thousands of vehicles damaged in the floods with no insurance coverage for Acts of God.

We feared a deluge in stolen car reports from Metro Manila and Luzon and it turned out to be a trickle. Maybe hexed the car thieves and scared the would be con artists with cars totaled by Ondoy. Our friends at Motoring Today were diligent enough to go to the people who should know about stolen cars and stolen car reports, the Highway Patrol Group and its face on the longest running motoring program in the Philippines, Chief Supt. Edwin Butacan.

And here's what the HPG man says about the matter: "Unang-una, maraming speculations dun sa mga nabaha yung sasakyan. Ang sabi nila after mangyari yung mga yun merong mga report na tataas ang carnaping dahil maraming mangangarnap na ka-modelong sasakyan at ibebenta at cho-chop chopin nila yung parts at ibebenta at yun nga merong ding magsasabi naide-declare nila na nawala pero actually yun nga yung nabaha.

"Pero kung titingnan natin yung number of carnapping incidents based on daily reported carnapping incidents na pumapasok na nagfi-file ng complaint as of end of October tumaas siya as compared to last month, tumaas yun ng 11 cases so, last month 139 yung recorded namin carnap incidents ng September ngayon based dun sa October statistics umabot ng 150 so meron tayong 11 na difference."

Here's hoping more vehicle thefts are reported in the next few months.