First Things First -- Yes, President Obama Has Selected The Capitol Christmas Tree -- October 29, 2014

This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, relationship, or travel decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. If any of this is important to you, go to the linked source. I'm only doing this for myself to help me better understand the Bakken and to put the Bakken in perspective. And it gives me something to do when I'm not with the granddaughters.

On tap for later today (Thursday, October 30, 2014), earnings that interest me:

• CARBO Ceramics (CRR), 7:00 a.m. ET; 75 cents; beats by 8 cents; shares fall.
• Cardinal Health (CAH), before market open, 96 cents; beats by 4 cents; shares flat.
• COP, before market open, $1.20; beats by 10 - 12 cents; shares flat.
• EPD, before market open, 37 cents; in-line; misses on revs; shares down a bit.
• Greenbrier (GBX), before market open, $1.03; beats, in-line; shares down a bit.
• Kellogg (K), before market open, 92 cents; beats by 2 cents; sales down (again); shares up
• National Oilwell Varco (NOV), before market open, $1.53; beats by 7 cents; shares fall;
• Tallgrass Energy Partners (TEP), after market close, 9 cents; misses by 5 cents; shares down more than 16%;
• Tesoro (TSO), after market close, $2.16;

This, from Yahoo!Finance; occasionally something changes.

The list has nothing to do with my personal investments. Of the list above, I've only ever invested in three of the companies listed, and have held shares in two of those companies for more than 30 years. I bought shares in the third company by mistake, and it turned out to be one of my best holdings, and I will now hold it forever. I have no plans to buy or sell any shares in any of the companies listed above.

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Is Pinocchio's Nose Getting Longer?

This will be the top story in today's (Thursday) WSJ. The headline and the lede: "Fed Closes Chapter on Easy Money":

The Federal Reserve said it would end its long-running bond-purchase program, concluding a historic experiment that stirred disagreement among policy makers, economists, and investors about its impact even though the central bank said it helped accomplish its goal of reducing unemployment.

Really? $1.6 trillion in easy money and ... unemployment went from 7.8% to 6.0% or thereabouts (and about 25% among those whose sons like Trayvon). [The "7.8%" figure is their number, not mine. I would have guessed much higher.]

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Yes, Virginia, There Will Be A Holiday Tree In DC This Year

Earlier today, rhetorically and tongue-in-cheek, I asked whether the president had decided on the Capitol Christmas Tree yet. There were so many things on his to-do list put together by The New York Times. It turns out that, yes, the Capitol Christmas (aka Holiday) Tree has been selected. CapitolChristmasTree is reporting:

The Chippewa National Forest, in partnership with the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Choose Outdoors, invites the public to the 2014 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree cutting ceremony Oct. 29. The event begins at 12 p.m. with a welcome from Chippewa National Forest Supervisor Darla Lenz; remarks by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Representative Richard Nolan; and a traditional blessing ceremony by Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe members. Minnesota Logger of the Year Jim Scheff will have the honor of cutting the tree, which will then be carefully lowered onto a 100-foot truck and trailer.

Well, at least some decisions are still being made.