The Mess That Greenspan Made: Copper wire, sewer grates, and now catalytic converter...

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Now comes word that rising precious metal prices for platinum and palladium have compelled thieves to remove catalytic converters from parked cars using battery-powered saws, sometimes in broad daylight, in order to get a little extra walking-around money. Marty Boyer's carefully maintained sport utility vehicle growled more like a dragster than a 2001 Honda Passport when he turned the key. "The second I turned it over, and it sounded like a tank and a Harley, I knew exactly what had occurred," said Boyer, 33. A half-dozen office colleagues had told him about that roar after their own catalytic converters were stolen, a crime that has been rising rapidly across the country from riverside parking lots in Cincinnati to highways along the California coast. Catalytic converters are said to contain up to a quarter of an ounce of platinum. At a spot price of almost $2,000 per ounce, you can understand how the math might work out.