WSJ Wrap-Up for Thursday, June 14, 2012

Note: I read (present tense) the fourth section first and then work my way back toward the front section, saving the best for last, the editorials.

Note: if you want to see the story on-line, you can generally just "cut and paste" the headline inside the quotes into the URL -- you don't even have to go through Google. Try it. Copy the following inside the quote "GM's Opel To Close Car Factory in Germany"; add a new tab or open a new window; and, paste the copied phrase into the URL. 

"Dollars Become Scare as Argentina Cries Peso," p. C1.

So much for global warming: "Colder Forecasts Sink Gas Futures," p. C4.

Wow, wow, wow -- I remember blogging about this new joint refinery some weeks ago -- "Woes Hit Top US Refinery: After $10 Billion Upgrade, Falure Idles New Sections of Shell and Saudi Venture," p. B3. This is the on-line story posted yesterday.

The outage helped spur Gulf Coast spot-market prices for wholesale regular gasoline to $2.73 a gallon on Wednesday, up five cents from Friday. It also added support to gasoline prices at the New York Mercantile Exchange, which closed at $2.66 a gallon Wednesday, down from $2.69 Friday amid economic worries but on the rebound since Monday because of signs U.S. fuel demand is increasing, said Gene McGillian, a broker at Tradition Energy.

Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco is reviewing what to do with the huge amounts of so-called sour crude oil it has shipped to the refinery, said a person familiar with the company. The Saudis had agreed to supply Motiva with all the sour crude it needed for several months while it tested its expansion, because using only one type of oil made the start-up easier. Now the specter of millions of barrels of excess unrefined crude is having an impact on local oil prices in the U.S. Gulf Coast, one trader said.

"GM's Opel To Close Car Factory in Germany," p. B9. This story was getting a lot of coverage earlier this year. Now it's a small story buried in the WSJ. After you read the story: any wonder why unions are failing in the US?

The decision marks a critical step in GM's efforts to turn around its chronically money-losing European business, which has become the U.S. auto maker's biggest albatross since it emerged from bankruptcy three years ago. Opel is under intense pressure to slash excess capacity to help staunch its losses in the region's overcrowded and largely unprofitable auto market. Bochum, one of Opel's oldest and costliest sites, has long been viewed as a prime target for closure.

But the move to halt production in Bochum won't come as quickly as GM officials had hoped. As part of its negotiations with Germany's powerful labor unions, the auto maker said it was discussing holding off any compulsory layoffs in Germany until 2016, two years longer than its current labor agreement provides. GM could still pursue layoffs though negotiations with the union.

Despite tariffs: "US Solar-Panel Demand Expected to Double," p. B9.

"Asian Start-Up Acquires Saab Auto," p. B9. Some weeks ago I blogged about our Saab experience in Europe and Asia.

Product placement: huge Apple MacBook Pro in unrelated photo, p. B10. Apple's product placement is incredible. Most of it is not paid for by Apple.

I have no idea why new allegations against Lance Armstrong merits front page coverage, but there you have it. Lance is the George Bush of the sporting world.