Eagle Ford: $44,000/Acre -- WSJ Wrap-Up -- Do You Think Some Bakken-Centric Companies Are Undervalued?

Third section, front page: full-page spread on the "nonna" state in Europe:

The reliance on nonni in Italy and Spain creates stronger family ties -- but it also hampers economic growth, as people don't move where the jobs are.

Wow, the third section is awesome: filled with book reviews, a bit of fine art, and almost no ads. There is a huge book review on the President, growing up. There's a  photo of him when he turned 19; he was attending Occidental College in Los Angeles, and then one of him ten years later at Harvard as the editor of the Harvard Law Review.

The fourth section (yes, I pulled the paper apart, out of order, usually I start with fourth section and move forward): food, fashion, travel. A whole page is devoted to beachwear -- the Brazilian blowout -- confirms my thoughts expressed in an earlier blog about Petrobras. (Yes, I think "oil" all the time.)

Second section, front page: the beginning of a long article on Petrohawk. Fascinating. This story alone is worth the price of the newspaper today. Petrohawk is credited with discovering two of the bigger fields in Texas' Eagle Ford, and paid about $400/acre. MRO is in an Eagle Ford deal, now, in which it is said is worth $44,000/acre.  (For Bakken folks, the better Bakken is certainly as good as, if not better, than the Eagle Ford, on an acres-to-acres comparison. I think in Whiting's corporate presentation they say the average price they paid for their Bakken property is under $800/acre. I could be wrong on that, and the average price will melt up as Whiting acquires more Bakken property.) Do you think some of the Bakken-centric companies are undervalued?

Page B5: "China's Cotton Order Jolts Market." I saw this yesterday. Huge story. I can connect the dots back to the Bakken but have to keep moving if I want to get through the paper before soccer.

Page B7: the page is covered with graphics of iPads floating in space calling attention to an article on "money" apps in the cloud. (Speaking of clouds, it is absolutely gorgeous today in Belmont, west of Boston; not a cloud in the sky; perfect for soccer in less than an hour.)

Front page: nice story on Egypt.

The generals who have ruled Egypt since Mr Mubarak relinquished power on Feb 11, 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, were intially dismissed as bumbling neophytes struggling for a grasp on national politics. They now appear as master tacticians who shrewdly derailed a movement that had seemed unstoppable. 

Page 3, again as usual, the second best news page in the paper. First, "Reckless Riders Spur Backlash: Fatal Collision in San Francisco Leads to Manslaughter Charges Against Cyclist."

Below that: "EPA Seeks Tighter Standard on Soot." Santa Claus wins. API disagrees with EPA on this one. I am shocked!

Ms McCarthy added that 99% of US counties are on track to comply with the new standards by 2020, assuming that a slate of other EPA rules currently in the pipeline are enacted by then. Only six counties nationwide, including two in California, would not be in compliance with the new proposed rules, she said.

The Bush standard: 15 micrograms/cubic meter; the Obama standard: 12 - 13 micrograms/cubic meter. It's going to take a "slate of other EPA rules to get from 15 to 12 - 13. Sounds like same metrics as efforts to slow global warming, estimated to be 0.6 degree rise every century.

I'm not sure why the waffling between 12 and 13. I guess it depends on how much of the "slate" is enacted.

Page A7: one of Greece's biggest employers, Carrefour SA (the Wal-Mart of Europe; in fact, Carrefour is the world's second largest retailer after Wal-Mart) is pulling out of Greece. It will be shuttering 800 stores (or at least taking its name off 800 stores; talk about voting with one's feet. No one can predict where this Grecian debacle will end but volumes could be written over this story (Carrefour leaving Greece); one wonders how many other enterprises are leaving. I wonder if Carrefour's taxes will be missed by the government. And that's just one of the stories. If each store employed 100 employees --> 100 employees x 800 stores: 80,000 x 4 family members, 320,000 folks affected. That's a lot of folks on the street demonstrating, and a lot of first-time claims benefits.

And the last page of section one: a wrap-up of the first two days of the US Open (golf). Incredible.