WSJ And Other Links

Active rigs in North Dakota: 183 (steady, down a bit)

Wells coming off confidential list have been posted; scroll down.

WSJ Links

Only three sections today.

Section C (Money & Investing):

For investors only: is bull sprint becoming a marathon? This is a great article for newbies, explaining the difference between secular bear markets and shorter-term, or cyclical, bull and bear markets. 

Also for investors only: Time to reap what the oil barons sowed. Majors are having trouble financing the asset-buying spree over the past few years:

Little wonder, then, that the expansionist old guard such as Mr. McClendon is being shown the door. What comes next? Consolidation. This means, in part, fixing finances by selling assets and curbing spending. But it also means mergers and acquisitions. Even if all that hunting and gathering has left companies short of money, they do own a lot of potential resources that could be farmed by someone with more financial firepower.

Fourth-quarter results from the major integrated oil companies suggest that, if they haven't already retained the services of an investment banker, they soon will. Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, in particular, are paying investors with dividends and buybacks to hold their stock in lieu of big growth. Buying a large exploration and production company offers one way of addressing this deficit while giving investors in the sector a chance to pick up takeover premiums.

Section B (Marketplace):

A long story on Tesla; more from the financial angle, as one would expect. See more of the Tesla at "not ready for prime time."

Sports page: "The Loopy Mess of LakerFail."

Section A: 

Front page, this is perhaps the biggest national story of the day -- In Medicaid, a New Health-Care Fight: it's a complicated story, and a quick post is prone to error, but having said that, this is how I read the article:

• employers in several states -- especially the South -- are bracing for higher health care costs
• governors, especially in southern states, are afraid they cannot financial afford expanding Medicaid
• under the new law, lower-paid workers would qualify for national expansion of Medicaid set to begin in 2014
• these low-paid employees would get their health care paid for by federal-state sharing dollars; employers would not pay
• BUT: governors in many states feel they don't have the money to pay for this expansion
• AND: governors have the option to "opt-out" of the program
• companies in states which opt out of the expanded Medicaid program, now must pay for employee-health care under ObamaCare
• these companies "will have to spend thousands of dollars to insure each full-time worker who can't enroll in the program, or pay fines starting at $2,000 a person."

This issue has been discussed before. Remember, the government now defines a full-time work as one who has a 30-hour workweek.

Another note regarding this story: it's not only the southern states that are opting out. Also opting out: IOWA, NEBRASKA, IDAHO, PENNSYLVANIA, MAINE.

Texas is opting out but I've never considered Texas as part of the "southern" bloc of states. NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY have not decided but are leaning to accept the national Medical expansion plan. 

Page 3: With fewer to lock up, prisons shut doors.

A cliff Congress may go over. It's already been discussed. My views have not changed: DOD is due for cuts if they can spend $16/gallon on bio-algae-diesel.

Op-ed: the wind power tax. Iowans paying dearly for wind farm transmission lines and have seen no benefit from wind-generated electricity. Iowa has bragged about being #1 in wind-generated capacity in the US. They can't have it both ways. Cue up Connie Francis.

Op-ed: it's easy to get confused over the good guys vs the bad guys in Syria, but these seem to be the data points --

• bad guys: Syrian president, Syrian government
• bad guys: Iran
• bad guys: Iran throws support to Syrian government
• good guys: Syrian rebels trying to overthrow bad guys in Syria
• President Obama: refuses to help the rebels

Op-ed: despite their doubts, the Hagel democrats walk in lock-step with the President

Recently (was it last week?) I received a response to my comments regarding physician reimbursement under Medicare (physicians win, taxpayers lose). In today's WSJ, a nice letter to the editor suggesting an alternative.

Three must-read opinions: 

• Gun control and the constitution. The courts would no more allow government to undermine the Second Amendment than the First. Ya think?
• The Pharoah fell, but his poisonous legacy lingers. Two million Ministry of Interior functionaires and a lawless police force were bequeathed to Egypt.
• The absentee commander in chief -- the Defense secretary told the president that Americans in Benghazi were under attack Then: nothing.