Blurbs

How music royalties work, or the story of how Jerry Seinfeld's ex-girlfriend "owns" six early Beatles' songs.

Best Buy is bludgeoned. But the big story of 2014 or 2015 or 2016 will be the fate of Barnes and Noble, the last big book retailer. My thoughts on B&N are buried in this post. I feel as strongly about the B&N fate as I did about Netflix.

There are (at least) two story lines in this article. First, I was unaware that the federal government had "suspended" subsidies for wind power. I knew that the issue was still being debated, but this article sounds like subsidies may be off the table for awhile. We'll see. Like cockroaches.... The second story line is, of course, the outright lie (or myth) that "the subsideies have made renewable power cheaper than coal." Not even close. Coal is not subsidized and despite the fact that the president has done everything in his power to kill coal, the fossil fuel is still cheaper than wind power for the average consumer even with the subsidies. Wow, what hogwash.

Last year, billions of dollars in wind production tax credits, or PTCs, amounted to some 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour for an industry that has struggled to compete against oil and gas.

But winds of change are blowing. The repeatedly renewed credits expired at the end of 2013, along with many other renewable energy benefits.

Wind energy is now an industry that can "stand on its own," argued Senator Lamar Alexander and other anti-tax-credit lawmakers last month.

"Our nation's energy policy must make economic sense for taxpayers and not manipulate markets," he and Senator Joe Manchin of coal-producing West Virginia, wrote in a position letter.

"After more than 20 years and tens of billions of tax-payer dollars, it's time to let the wind PTC expire and continue to invest in new technologies."

"Invest in new technologies." And what would they be? Algae-bio-diesel. The oil industry is sending a gazillion dollars in taxes to the federal government; has solar or wind sent any tax dollars to Washington, or is the money trail all one-way? For more on how your tax dollars were spent (and lost), see the list of 38.

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The winds of change are also blowing in Hollywood. I guess the Hollywood elite had their fill of the Chicago outsider who never fit in along the west coast. Of course, we're talking about Oprah who was completely ignored in the 2014 Oscar nominations. That offsets a bad day in the market any day. 

Some interesting stories coming out of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway: why he bought BNSF, and why the tea leaves suggest he will buy USG. He already owns 30% of the latter and its market cap, at $160 million, is pocket change. Doesn't BRK have about $42 billion in cash or something like that? I can't deal with large numbers, so let's knock off all the zeroes. $160 million becomes $160 (8 $20-bills). $42 billion becomes $42,000 (2,100 $20-bills). So, while paying for an Omaha steak dinner, Warren hands Charlie the equivalent of 8 $20 bills out of his 2,100 $20-bills to buy USG -- it wouldn't even be noticed. Or even simpler: let's say you had $2,100 and for about $6 you could buy the rest of USG. Remember, he already owns 30% of the company.

Warren Buffet considers BNSF a regulated utility and will move BNSF to the "utility" sector in his portfolio.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you may have read here. 

I will bury a great piece written by a reader and sent to me regarding recent articles on the Bakken by the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. At some later date, I will provide the link. Right now it's an Easter egg.


The "best and the brightest" often don't get it. Case in point: a senior UK defense adviser is quoted as saying "Obama is clueless about what he wants to do in the world." In fact, Obama knows exactly what he wants to do and he has laid much of the groundwork which will play out over the next 20 to 30 years. Unlike ObamaCare, a genie which cannot be put back in the bottle, Obama's foreign policy can be changed (and probably will be changed) in the future by some new president.

Speaking of those who don't get it, H-P getting back into the smart-phone game is doomed to failure. Forget Apple: Google will crush them. Google has its hands full with Apple as a competitor and won't let a new player get a toehold.

Rahm gets it (don't take this as an endorsement): the US energy revolution is as big as the internet revolution. Folks are talking about this in Washington, DC.