TGIF

Updates

Later, 3:40 pm: AT&T was up today despite the sequester. I assume a lot of furloughed government workers will be using their own data plans to access the internet from home, rather than from work.

Later, 12:59 pm: looks like the market likes what it sees. The market is up after the news: the president will go through with the sequester order, at least based on his rambling press conference. Did anyone understand his answer to the first question? I left before the second question was asked.  At least I know it was the "other side's" entire fault. Something about the "other side" not giving the president a "dime" in revenue. The market is closing in on an all-time high. I've always said the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" will widen under this president.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read (or think you read) at this blog.

Original Post

A pack of cigarettes in Chicago: nearly $11.00.

Chicago will be adding another dollar to the city cigarette tax. The price of a pack of cigarettes could be near $11 in Chicago, $6.67 of which is city, county and state taxes. Only New  York City -- at $6.86 in taxes -- slaps on higher taxes.

Crisis: US Navy Blue Angels, US Air Force Thunderbirds will be grounded. Actually, close reading of the stories suggest training will continue, but the shows have already been canceled ... and the sequester hasn't even gone into effect yet.  "If the Blue Angels end, it's going to be a sad, sad day for not just us, but for millions of people all over the country." Millions. The story that isn't on the radar yet: if the US can't even manage a 2% cut in discretionary spending, exempting entitlement programs, the debt ceiling that will be reached in the next couple of weeks will be incredible. [Later, 12:57 pm: the Daily Ticker agrees.]

Wells coming off the confidential list have been posted.

RBN Energy: a must-read -- understanding Brent; the first in a series.

Eurozone jobless hits another record; Spain -- 26%.

Unemployment across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro has risen to a record 11.9 percent but inflation has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half years, official figures showed Friday.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said nearly 19 million people are unemployed in the eurozone following an increase of around 200,000 in January. That took the rate up from January's 11.8 percent, the previous record.

The increase was not a particular surprise given that the eurozone economy as a whole is in recession and expected to continue to contract in the first half of 2013.

The sequestration issue in the US puts the Eurozone austerity program into perspective. The US can't even handle a 2% cut in discretionary spending; and, the "cut" completely exempts defense and entitlement spending.

Carpe Diem has a number of superb posts on US energy.

Ten days and counting: Detroit, Michigan

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WSJ Links

Section M (Mansion): Did not read

Section D (Arena): later

Section C (Money & Investing):

• Buffett to update his hunt

Section B (Marketplace):

• Barnes & Nobel's Nook stumbles: this is not a bit surprising; I haven't seen a Nook in ages; Apple and Kindle; our two granddaughters each have a Kindle, and Kindles appear to be a better "tablet" -- dollar for dollar -- than the iPad; at fourth grade and below, they don't need all that iPad power, but by middle school, it will be the iPad; parental controls automatically limit time on the Kindle and the eReaders are always running out of power, they always seem to need recharging. I go for about a week on my iPad before recharging -- about two hours a day. Steve Jobs was serious about batteries. Apparently, the Kindle not so much.

Section A: 

• The sequester: all over the news; no links
• Page 3 and we've talked about page 3 before: shale-oil boom divides reservation; huge map of North Dakota in which the Bakken is shown to extend to Bismarck, almost to Grand Forks; huge article; native Americans complaining about past deals;
• Op-ed: why public schools should teach the Bible; a non-starter, unfortunately;
• Op-ed: what the oil business could learn from the NRA; I don't think so;
• Op-ed: Obamageddon; yup, it's already in the Urban Dictionary;
• Op-ed: bursting debt bubble; Washington takes over the student-loan market. Delinquencies soar. Predictable.
• Op-ed: the dispiriting evidence on preschool; again, a non-starter; the programs may be a failure, but at least it guarantees equal access to mediocrity (or worse)