Bakken/WTI At Parity; Despite Sequester: Best Unemployment Number Since 2007! Say What? Sequestor? What Sequester?Thursday Already? This Week Went By Quickly! Links

Physicists: Drudge linking report that the "God Particle" has been found. And a new pope. More on the former later. 

RBN Energy: Isobutane and isopolymerization, part II.

Great way to start the day: how big could the Eagle Ford be for EOG? -- SeekingAlpha. A long time ago, in a land far away, it was mentioned that of the Bakken-centric operators, EOG might be the best bet for investors -- because of the Eagle Ford. So, links to articles on this subject are always exciting. But remember, this is not an investment site; don't make any financial or investment decisions based on what you read, or what you think you read on this site. That was a disclaimer.

Unemployment numbers are going to be out later today. Right now: the CNBC number -- 350,000. And the number is .... 332,000 (down from 342,000 last week); lowest level since 2007. Wow. A new pope, the God particle, and now the lowest unemployment numbers since 2007 -- a trifecta. And, of course, the Dow will hit another all-time high, extending its streak to 10 days in a row, putting itself at the top of the conference, having clinched a playoff spot...oh, wrong, "cut and paste," -- that was the San Antonio Spurs, sorry. The only comment the Business Insider had with regard to best unemployment number in a long time:

This is particularly surprising considering that the sequestration budget cuts began on March 1.

And, in a moment, the wells coming off the confidential list have been posted. ... well, that's a bummer. Three of four wells went to DRL status; only one reported an IP. At least two of the three, and perhaps all three, were put on DRL status due to operational decisions, not due to backlog of frack spreads.

WSJ Links

The other day, "Gary" wrote to tell me that the WSJ links below require a subscription, and yet I'm able to access the articles without logging in. I think I've figured it out. 

If you try to access a WSJ article through a link (as I've done below), you need a subscription. 

However, instead of simply clicking on the link, "cut and paste" the exact "headline" into the URL area at the top of the browser and hit "return" and it will take you to the google list of options, and generally the WSJ story will be at the top. 

Again, to repeat: in 9 out of 10 cases, one should be able to access a WSJ article through "google reader" without a WSJ subscription. I hope this helps.

Section D (Personal Journal):

Section C (Money & Investing):

• The almighty dollar is back; no link; not particularly interested; which reminds me, I need to check the WTI/Brent spread -- WTI, 92; Brent, 109; giving a spread of $17, one of the lower spreads in quite awhile; generally it's been about $20 to $21. By the way, I thought I heard yesterday that glut at Cushing was less glutful yesterday; 
• The bloom falls off Treasury debt; investors are demanding larger yield premiums to comparable securities of other wealthy nations; no link; not particularly interested, but Mr Bernanke has a dour face;
• Dollars and oil: But this I am interested in, heard on the street: firing up stronger dollar with oil and gas.
• Bakken discount: By the way, what's the discount for Bakken light sweet at Clearbrook, MN? 25 cents. Parity for all practical purposes.

Section B (Marketplace):

• The future of typing: smartphones are reinventing -- and ditching -- the keyboard. Of course, Apple led the way on that also. No link. Other than cultists like me, I doubt anyone really cares about Apple
• SandRidge gives in. This could be fun. SandRidge has a lot of acres in the Mississippi Lime. 1.8 million, if I recall. 
• CBS to license 'Good Wife" to Amazon and Hallmark. This is a huge story. Maybe more on this later. A non-intuitive look at Netflix, Hulu, VooDoo, cable. No link.

Section A:

• Page 3, and we've talked about page 3 before. Only one story on page 3 today: squeeze looms for doctors. More medical students are in the pipeline, but too few residencies await them. I haven't read this story yet. This is a huge story and might actually be a good-news story. Again, counterintuitive. Lessons learned in the military might be applicable in the "real world."
• Colorado school names conservative-studies professor. University of Colorado, Boulder. No link. Won't read; but interesting headline.
• Lt Gov of Florida resigns -- gambling probe. No link. Hardly surprising.
• Oh, this is good, page A6 -- a map -- and again, North Dakota and Montana are tied for first place; Texas in second, and the northeast (Pennsylvania/Ohio) in third place. First place for what: relocation for work. More people moving to ND, MT, TX, PA for work. Why? One guess: oil. Americans on the move again. Great story, great map. 
• Four shot dead in New York. No link. Witnesses said the shooter was "a loner. He did a lot of walking around town by himself." Okay. No motive yet; Governor Cuomo calls the situation "truly inexplicable." So far, the shooting has not been blamed on a) Mr Bush; or, b) fracking.

And that's all. For now. Now to go back to the "God particle" article.

From wiki:

The Higgs boson or Higgs particle is a theoretical elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics.

Experiments to detect the Higgs boson resulted in the discovery of a new, previously unknown boson during 2012; however, contrary to widespread misreporting,the new particle is still being studied as of 2013 to learn whether it is the Higgs boson or not.

Confirmation that the Higgs boson exists would be monumental since it would finally prove the existence of the Higgs field, the Standard Model's explanation of why some fundamental particles have mass when the symmetries controlling their interactions should require them to be massless, and - linked to this - why the weak force has a much shorter range than the electromagnetic force.

Its discovery would validate the final unconfirmed part of the Standard Model, guide other theories and discoveries in particle physics, and – as with other fundamental discoveries of the past – potentially over time lead to developments in "new" physics,and new technology.

I assume the president will let us know how he played a key role in discovering the Higgs boson.