Everything else is quieting down. Expectations in the Middle East have been lowered. The area is quiet again. The Kurds and the Turks have called a truce. Everybody's feeling better about Cyprus; by Monday, it will have disappeared (not the story, the country -- as a viable tourist destination). The price of oil is going back up but trading in a reasonable range. And, except for the C-companies (CHK, COP, and CLR), things in the oil patch are going swimmingly well.
So, now back to the subject at hand. It seems like this is the day for ObamaCare. From the administration as being reported by The Washington Examiner:
With time-running out before the major provisions of President Obama’s health care law are set to be implemented, the official tasked with making sure the law’s key insurance exchanges are up and running is already lowering expectations.
“The time for debating about the size of text on the screen or the color or is it a world-class user experience, that’s what we used to talk about two years ago,” Henry Chao, an official at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services who is overseeing the technology of the exchanges said at a recent conference. “Let’s just make sure it’s not a third-world experience."
Chao also described himself as “nervous.”Wow, that's lowering expectations.
“Let’s just make sure it’s not a third-world experience."
I don't know if folks saw the button Colin Powell was wearing some months ago, but the button is more relevant than ever: "it could be worse."
***********************
Another "C" word: China. Over at Minyanville, this story: what's going on with the Chinese buying spree and who's next?
In fact, we’ve seen Chinese oil companies embark on an aggressive international energy asset buying spree. In 2012, China’s state-owned oil companies coughed out a record $35 billion buying oil and gas assets all over the world. There was, for example, CNOOC’s $15.1 billion offer to buy Canada’s Nexen, Sinopec’s $2.2 billion purchase of Devon Energy’s shale gas assets in the US, and PetroChina’s $1.63 billion buyout of BHP Billiton’s holding in Woodside Petroleum.What's behind all this?
.... most experts say that Chinese oil companies have been snapping up foreign assets for two reasons: to secure its own domestic energy needs and to pick up expertise in shale gas and oil sands drilling and extraction.So, what's next on China's list to buy? Chesapeake and Range Resources. Go to the link to see more.
“Over 90% of the energy used in China comes from low grade coal, and the Chinese are literally choking on it. Nuclear energy is on the way with more than 50 plants in operation or under construction,” ...“However, they require oil now for transportation and infrastructure needs, and China, while it has oil of its own, does not have prolific oil fields or reserves and must look abroad for both technology and reserves.”