Friday Links -- Part 2

Wow, this is a great story sent to my Don, SeekingAlpha.com on the "premium oil" for refiners.

As a long-time shareholder of ConocoPhillips, I also became a shareholder of Phillips66 earlier this year when the mother ship spun off its refining, chemicals, and mid-stream assets into the stand-alone company.

The results have been fantastic.

PSX shares are up nearly 50% since May. PSX has benefited from lower feedstock costs in two of its three business groups. Margins and returns in the chemical joint venture with Chevron (CPChem) have been boosted by low domestic natural gas prices. At the same time, PSX's huge refining business has benefited from the spread between domestic oil prices and the worldwide price of oil reflected by the price of Brent crude.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Make no investment decisions based on what you read here.

I've always said Bakken was good for two reasons:

a) North Dakota economy
b) laboratory for fracking

Then, I had to add a third:

c) the US economy (when it was clear that more than just ND was benefiting -- just ask: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Wyoming, Warren Buffett, for starters)

Now, I have to add a fourth:

d) once refineries are configured to handle light oil, their margins will be huge.

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Right-to-work in Michigan? Closer.

Detroit, MI: state laying ground for managed bankruptcy. Lessons learned from the 29-day GM bankruptcy.

The case would be filed under Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code, according to two ranking sources familiar with the situation, following efforts to reach prenegotiated settlements with as many key creditors — unions, vendors and pension funds among them — as possible before any filing.

"Clearly, we will always try to do that," one source familiar with the situation said in an interview Thursday. "You can move on a much more expedited basis if you can demonstrate that your cash is running out" — as Detroit clearly is with each passing week.

Unemployment rate: now we know why the rate went down -- more than a half million folks dropped out of the job market. Americans are content/satisfied.  Foreshadowing the Great Recession of 2013. Cue up Connie Francis.

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A must-see movie for baby boomers: "Not Fade Away." 112 minutes. 40 songs. 20 different artists.

Apple's power within. The iPhone: a computer that happens to make phone calls.

A Mac that's "Made in USA." Huge front page story, section B, WSJ.

What's wrong in Fort Wayne? A lot of story lines in this article. Floor worker applicants don't have the skills necessary for the jobs? Wow! Speaks volumes about US public education.

Unemployment in this Midwest manufacturing city is 6.8%, below the national average, but far above normal historically. There are 14,600 people locally looking for work, about 60% more than six years ago.

Yet for many employers with openings, here and elsewhere, filling those jobs isn't easy and not for a lack of trying.

Most applicants for factory-floor jobs at Fort Wayne Metals don't have the skills needed to do the work, and the medical wire maker is hesitant to do more training.

At Sweetwater Sound Inc., an Internet retailer, applicants often know a lot about guitars and recording gear, but can't schmooze over the phone with the customers, its hiring manager said. The local school system's part-time, classroom aide positions, which pay between $8.65 and $11.79 an hour without health benefits, go unfilled because locals won't even apply for jobs at that wage, officials said.

I keep saying: Americans are content/satisfied. Perhaps this is why. Perhaps $168/day from the government is better than $8.65/hour actually working. [Update: I guess some Americans are not as content/satisfied as I had thought: consumer confidence plunges. It was 83% peri-election; consumer confidence is now 74%. Cut up Connie Stevens.

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Obama's famous tax 'victory.' WSJ, op-ed.

John Kerry, Secretary of What? WSJ, op-ed. I do not care for John Kerry, and I am certainly not an apologist for those those who suggest Kerry for a cabinet position, but one's impressions of Kerry are probably tweaked after reading any of Tim O'Brien's fine books on the Vietnam "War." I can't remember which of his books it was, but The Things They Carried might have been the one that brought back some vivid memories of the late 60's. My,  how things have changed.