Friday -- Aetna Expects To Lose Money Due To ObamaCare

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RBN Energy: how the US shale gas boom benefits Asian LNG importers.

Using the US natural gas production boom to promote the idea of a sustainable “global gas glut”, Asian importers have successfully managed to chip away at the longstanding oil-indexed pricing mechanism for liquefied natural gas (LNG) overthe past two years. While oil-indexation in LNG contracts will certainly not disappear overnight, the shale revolution has provided gas importers with significant negotiating leverage and a new degree of pricing flexibility. Today we examine the trend toward more US centric LNG pricing.

In January 2012, Cheniere Energy signed a 20-year agreement with Korea Gas Corporation  to supply 3.5 million tonnes per annum  of LNG from its Sabine Pass facility (equivalent to 0.5 Bcf/d) for a $3/MMBtu liquefaction fee plus 115% of the current Henry Hub, LA natural gas price.

Subsequent contracts based on Henry Hub prices have followed suit. In November 2012, Japanese power utility Kansai Electric signed a 15-year import contract with BP Singapore with Henry Hub natural gas as the price basis. That agreement marked Japan’s first-ever long-term LNG import contract fully linked to a gas benchmark.

More recently in 2013, Freeport LNG in Texas signed 20-year tolling agreements with Asian industrials Toshiba (Japan) and SK (Korea) for a premium of $7/MMBtu over Henry Hub.

Jobs report: horrendous.

The Wall Street Journal

Pentagon drops plan to mothball the USS George Washngton, aircraft carrier, after the White House intervened to head off a brewing political fight. 

Apple repurchases $14 billion of its own shares in two weeks.

Sony forecasts $1.1 billion loss.

Target breach began with contractor's electronic billing link:

The hackers that carried out the massive data breach at Target Corp. appear to have gained access via a refrigeration contractor in Pittsburgh that connected to the retailer's systems to do electronic billing.

Fazio Mechanical Services Inc., a privately held company with about 125 employees, said Thursday it was "a victim of a sophisticated cyberattack operation" and was cooperating with investigators at the Secret Service.

The details in a statement by the company's owner, Ross Fazio, provide new clues to how hackers infiltrated Target's computer system and eventually stole the data of 40 million credit- and debit-card numbers during a security breach that lasted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 18. The thieves also stole personal data like email addresses and phone numbers of 70 million customers.

Fazio Mechanical began working with Target in 2006 installing and maintaining refrigerator systems in stores as the discounter expanded its fresh food offerings. Through that relationship, the contractor was linked remotely to Target's computer systems for "electronic billing, contract submission and project management," Mr. Fazio said.

LinkedIn, a glorified Facebook for executive-wannabes, sees weak sales. 

Greenbrier to offer safety retrofit for rail tankers.

Greenbrier Cos., the nation's second-largest maker of railcars, said the industry needs to move faster to make tank cars more crash-resistant, and will begin offering to retrofit older tanker cars that carry potentially explosive crude oil.

The move, which comes in advance of expected new federal standards for such cars, makes Greenbrier the first U.S. manufacturer to embrace upgrades proposed by a rail-industry panel for the tens of thousands of older tank cars now in service in the U.S. The cost of the proposed modifications has been estimated at $15,000 to $80,000 a car.

In an interview Thursday, Greenbrier Chairman and Chief Executive William Furman criticized the 10-year timetable for modifying older tank cars that haul crude oil and ethanol suggested by a rail-industry trade group in December. He said safety improvements could be made in half the time, and at less cost, with a slimmed-down list of retrofits.

 AOL blames financial problems on two "distressed babies." Oh, oh.

AOL'schief executive angered employees Thursday when he said that care for two staffers' "distressed babies" in 2012 cost the company about $1 million each, expenses that helped drive up AOL's overall benefits costs and forced management to make difficult decisions to cut the company's 401(k) plan.

The remarks came as CEO Tim Armstrong addressed employees during an all-staff-conference call to explain the company's rational for the cuts, which were disclosed earlier this week.

 Aetna expects to lose money on health-law marketplan. Well, duh.

KKR profits soar. Search the blog for KKR's connection to the Bakken.

The Los Angeles Times

I just love the spin. Everyone knows it was a horrendous jobs report, but The LA Times, in a headline, front-page story: US economy adds a modest 113,000 jobs in January. LOL. The LA Times is more liberal -- or least more of a mouthpiece for Obama -- than the New York Times. But in the very first paragraph, the newspaper was forced to tell the truth, it appears:

Job growth was sluggish in January for the second straight month, likely renewing concerns that the economy and labor market recovery may be faltering again. 

And then this: stocks move higher as unemployment rate falls. Nope: the market moved higher for many reasons but not because the unemployment rate dropped from 6.7% to 6.6%. Which no one believes anyway.

We have another nominee for the fourth product placement vehicle for Liam, Samuel, and Archie: the Jeep Cherokee.