What We Will Be Talking About Thursday -- September 24, 2014

Well, this is an interesting twist. The AP is reporting:

Tantillo disclosed that Ward was under the influence of marijuana the night he died and said two different videos were enhanced, frames were isolated and viewed at at least three different speeds and finally overlaid with grids and data. Both showed Stewart had done nothing wrong.

So who was Tantillo? Go to the linked story.  

The Wall Street Journal
President Obama "implores" world to help. Their word, not mine. To me, it looks like the EU is sitting this one out.

Exactly what I predicted/posted some time ago: DHL will deliver medicine via drone.

USPS seeks to extend grocery deliveries. This is a biggie. My mother, in her 9th decade of life, will be living alone in the Rocky Mountains. She has a house there but has always wintered elsewhere. For the first time, in a very, very long time, she will live-year 'round in the Rockies. I plan to have her non-perishable groceries delivered by Amazon. If USPS does it, that's fine. I'm sure a neighbor will be willing to pick up occasional fresh fruits and vegetables.

This is an incredible story, one I started blogging about a couple of days ago: Siemens shifting its focus on the shale revolution. Siemens lost a decade screwing around with wind turbines.

This is interesting: airlines want new, larger single-aisle aircraft. If you think about it, it makes sense. The real reason, as far as I could tell, is not mentioned in the article.

Raw sugar prices surge ... 3.3%. This will justify a 35% price increase in Hershey Kisses.

And I've been talking about this for quite some time:

Oil cartel struggles to cope with falling prices—the heart bleeds, surely.

Sympathizing aside, OPEC's fiscal health is a big factor in arresting the slide in oil prices, down 15% in three months.

In a report published Wednesday, Citigroup estimated oil prices at which various major exporters balance their books. These range from $44 a barrel for Kuwait up to $184 for Libya.

Some big producers are squarely in deficit territory. Iran's price is $130, for example, while Venezuela's is $161. Brent's average so far this year—the key metric rather than the current price—is $107. The country to watch is Saudi Arabia, with an estimated break-even level of $89. That provides comfort in Riyadh, but not for bulls.

To stop oil's slide, they need Saudi Arabia to curb supply further. In theory, though, oil could average $39 for the rest of 2014 and still come in at $89 for the year as a whole.

Riyadh would obviously react well before prices got anywhere close to that level. Still, this suggests there is room for Brent to fall further before OPEC's kingpin steps in.

Folks would be surprised at the break-even price of oil for Bakken operators. And, yes, that number is floating around out there. One can find it on corporate presentations.

The Los Angeles Times

The US bombs oil refineries in Syria. My how times have changed. Barry Goldwater promised carpet bombing North Vietnam, and he was soundly defeated. And now the Peace President / "Latte" President is doing exactly that. Well, sort of. Syria is a small carpet, geographically.

Here it comes: judge says landowner wrongly denied public access to Martin's Beach.

The F-22 is engaged in combat. And the naysayers said it would never happen.

********************************

More on the Martin Beach story. SF Gate is reporting:

The billionaire owner of a beach near Half Moon Bay who provoked a bitter dispute when he cut off access to the sandy haven must let the public back in, a San Mateo County judge ruled Wednesday.

The written ruling issued by Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach means venture capitalist Vinod Khosla must reopen the gate to popular Martins Beach, a crescent-shaped inlet five miles south of Half Moon Bay.