WSJ Wrap-Up -- Monday Morning -- And a Bloomberg Story

Again, remember, googling subject exactly as it appears should bring you to full WSJ article.

Four sections, as usual, today. The back/last section front page story is all about "natural gas engines": "America, Start Your Natural Gas Engines."

An interesting little article on the military's challenge with proliferation of batteried-devices; and how it is researching solar power in the field: "Fighting Form: Military Takes on Battery Fatigue."

Perhaps some background to Japan's decision to go solar, blogged earlier: "First the iPhone. Now renewables: A Japanese telecommunications magnate has ambitious plans ot remake the country's energy production."

Wow, this is interesting. Plays directly into my earlier posts on the Saudi perspective: price of oil and "glut." Very, very interesting: "OPEC Hamstrung by Uncontrollable Events."  Maybe more on this later; stand-alone post or update of previous posts, same subject.

"Oxy Offers Moxie When Nerves Fail," p C8.

Great, great article with photo worth a thousand words: "App Developers Who Are Too Young To Drive."  The photo is of a "self-taught" 13-y/o working on his latest app....for Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. Huge product placement of a huge MacBook Pro on his laps in front of his Lego set. Incredible. Wow, I wish I could open the blog to all, open access. So many story lines in this one article. The biggest story line: yes, Microsoft has lots to worry about. The next generation (aged 14 and under) is hooked/addicted to the new crack and it is not Android, Microsoft, Blackberry. It's Apple. As long as Apple sticks to its strategy, .... huge article. This alone is worth the price of the newspaper today. Again, this is not an investment site. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell shares in Apple. However, it is a recommendation to go "Apple" next time you are looking for a new computer.

I haven't looked at the market yet today; I can only assume the Greek vote will be helpful. Front page is all about Greece -- well, at least above the fold.

Page A4: "New calculations on immigration after Obama shift."

Page A7: "Biting the bullet at the ballot box: voters give grudging nod to austerity measures, 'I can't play around with the future." Priceless: a photo at leftist party's campaign headquarters in Athens.

Alongside that story was a small dispatch: "The euro zone's bailout funds are now insufficient to aid a large member of the currency area, ...." The euro zone has enough bailout funds for a small country like Cyprus, but not enough for a "larger" country, which I would assume means Greece or Spain. A new infusion is expected in November.

Based on the stories coming out of Egypt: Egypt will look a lot like Turkey with regard to governing. I learned a lot about Turkey while serving there for two years.

Op-ed by Ron Williams, former chairman and CEO of Aetna: "Why I no longer support the health insurance mandate." He says, "should ObamaCare be overturned by the Supreme Court, insurers have solutions to go." I don't know about you, but it seems his mea culpa is a bit late. "I was for it before I was against it. My comment: If the court rejects any piece of ObamaCare the entire house of cards falls, and we will get to relive the nightmare for four more years if Obama is re-elected. We will spend four years debating one industry -- the health industry -- while other industries simply stagnate. Or worse.

The Bloomberg story: the JPM loss pales in comparison to what California lost, is losing, and will lose for decades to come.  This is an incredibly good story, and provides a great warning to every other state, including North Dakota.