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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Siemens To Cut 15,000 Jobs Worldwide By End Of 2014

Several stories.

From Reuters: a third of them in Germany, as part of a $8.1 billion cost cutting program

From The Wall Street Journal: about half the total number will be those cuts completed by September 30, 2013, the end of the company's fiscal year; the other half (about 7,500) will be through September 30, 2014.

The Wall Street Journal article is much more comprehensive in its scope of reporting. I was surprised to see how a) little Reuters actually reported; b) how Reuters seemed to sugar-coat issues with the unions; and, c) the fact that Reuters conveniently failed to mention that Siemens made wind turbines.

This, for example was reported by The Wall Street Journal but not mentioned in the Reuters article:
The company's profits have been hit by a number of mishaps, including delays in completing wind-farm projects in the North Sea and delivering high-speed trains to the German railway. The company jettisoned its loss-making solar-power business and plans to sell other units such as airport luggage systems, water technologies, and mail automation. 
I believe Siemens is best known to some Americans because they see Siemens as a wind energy company. Obviously that is not accurate, but that's how a lot of Americans see Siemens.

This was the extent of the ABC News article:
The Munich-based company has around 370,000 employees and makes a wide range of industrial machinery, including trains, power generators and transmission equipment, and medical scanners.
Not one mention of wind.

MarketWatch mentioned even less.  

In both the Bloomberg article and The Wall Street Journal article, references to GE were made, but no mention was made of GE's increasing shift from wind to the oil and gas industry.

Wells Coming Off The Confidential List Over The Weekend, Monday; BR With Three Huge Wells; HK With A Nice Well

Monday, September 30, 2013
  • 23095, conf, QEP, MHA 5-06-05H-149-92, Heart Butte,
  • 23996, drl, Statoil, Margaret 5-8 5TFH, Spring Creek, 
  • 24435, 482, Hess, BW-Heidi-HO 149-99-3526H-1, Juniper, t8/13; cum --
  • 24891, 1,814, Statoil, Cayko R&P 27-22 1TFH, Briar Creek, t7/13; cum 12K 7/13;
  • 25028, drl, Hess, En-Sorenson A 154-94-0211H-6, Alkali Creek,
  • 25147, 2,256, BR, Gudmunson 11-26TFH, Elidah, t6/13; cum 13K 7/13;
Sunday, September 29, 2013
  • 24339, 2,302, HRC, Fort Berthold 148-94-33D-28-5H, McGregory Buttes, t8/13; cum --
  • 24434, 464, CLR, Tena 1-13H, Corinth, t6/13; cum 20K 7/13;
  • 24629, 2,949, BR, Badlands 31-15TFH, Hawkeye, t8/13; cum --
  • 24979, drl, BR, CCU Corral Creek 41-28TFH, Corral Creek,  
Saturday, September 28, 2013
  • 23995, drl, Statoil, Margaret 5-8 4H, Spring Creek,
  • 24529, drl, Petro-Hunt, Clear crek 152-96-34A-4H, Clear Creek,
  • 24906, 2,971, BR, CCU Meriwether 34-19TFH, Corral Creek, t7/13; cum 3K 7/13;
  • 25083, 193, CLR, Kurtz 21-28SH, Cedar Hills, a North Red River B well; t5/13; cum 16K 7/13;

It Is Possible I Will Be Off The Net Most Of The Day

When I am off the net, I cannot reply to comments. And I cannot answer e-mail. So everything will be delayed.

New Poll: The Showdown

First, the results of a recent poll, in which we asked whether we would see stories on railcar shortages for the North Dakota harvest:
  • Yes, much worse due to the oil boom: 14%
  • Yes, but no worse than previous years: 58%
  • No: 27%
For the record, I did not post any stories on railcar shortages; no one sent me any stories on railcar shortages; and, I did not see any stories on railcar shortages so far this year.

Now, the new poll. On Wednesday, October 2, 2013, for the federal government:
  • it will be business as usual
  • non-essential government workers will be told to stay home

************************************ The Showdown ************************************

This is fluid. I don't get television and I seldom listen to the radio, and I don't get the Sunday paper, so I don't know where this issue stands. The last thing I read was the DrudgeReport headline yesterday morning.

*********************WHERE IT STANDS NOW******************

House majority leader says the Republicans, at least in the House, are going to join ranks and not cave. The president has said he will not negotiate.

1. As he did before, the president will "waive" the government shutdown, saying he wants to give the Senate and the House a few more hours to negotiate (he did that last time; Congress missed the midnight deadline but they were close, so he told the government employees to keep working). [Alternate ending: after "blinking" on Syria, the president may want to emulate Dirty "make my day" Harry, and tell non-essential government employees not to show up for work on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. Name-calling ("rump Republicans") did not help the situation. That may have been the tipping point for the GOP to join ranks.]

2. The question is: how long can the president "waive" the shutdown? If he can "waive" it for 24 hours or 72 hours (whatever it was) like he did last time, can he "waive" it for a week? Can he "waive" it for a month?

3. Obviously there will be a point in time when he can no longer delay the shutdown if an agreement is not made.

4. During this period of "purgatory," for lack of a better word, both sides will see who is getting the most blame. That will determine who blinks first. The media, of course, will blame the Republicans.

5. The end-of-the-September/first-of-October government checks will arrive; they are already in the mail. The mid-month government checks are at risk; military members are paid at the end of the month (technically the first day of the following month). I believe Social Security checks are staggered throughout the month -- though it is my understanding they will be paid regardless because Social Security is separate from the funding bill. I don't know. Government obligations, I assume, can come due any day of the month.

******************THE HOUSE GOP****************
 
1. I don't know if the GOP in the House can hold ranks if the mainstream media supports the president and the polls turn against the Republicans. I don't watch television so I don't know how serious the House majority leader is. For me, the wild card is the House -- whether they can hold their position in the face of a media onslaught.

2. As a body, I don't know if they have much to lose; individually, it depends. My hunch: the Senate GOP will weigh in on their friends in the House.

************************POTUS**********************

1. It is said that presidents are very, very concerned about their legacies. Right now, this president doesn't have much of a legacy and he won't have any legacy if the Affordable Care Act does not succeed.

2. I said this the last time: I don't think the president wants to be a) the first black president; and, b) the first president to permit the US to default on its debts and obligations. Not being a businessman he may not realize how serious that is, and to the 47% they won't understand. But I think even Greece has paid its debts (with the help of German money).


3. Technically, all that is being asked is to "delay the individual mandate." The "employer mandate" has been delayed and "everyone" hates the "individual mandate." This might be a way for the president to save face. I'm using the Syrian analogy.

4. It's pretty obvious the Affordable Care Act -- even if it was a perfect program -- is not ready for prime time. This would be a way for the president to save face, and perhaps save the program: delay implementation, but allow funding to continue to set up the exchanges, so that the program will be in better shape when it does go live.

***************AND NOW THE VIDEO******************

Il Mercenario -- L'Arena, Morricone
 
The man ringing the bell: Chief Justice Roberts
The shooter to the north: the president
The shooter to the south: the House majority leader
The first dead man: the taxpayer