Saturday, September 26, 2015

Active rigs:

	9/26/2015	09/26/2014	09/26/2013	09/26/2012	09/26/2011
Active Rigs	71	190	184	187	191

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For The Archives

Hey! The 2Q15 GDP was even better than originally reported -- 3.9% vs 3.7% previous estimate.

GDPNow forecasts 3Q15 GDP at about 1.5 percent. This is seven years into the Obama Recovery and a gazillion dollars in stimulus.

Wall Street braces for grim third quarter earnings season -- Reuters. Little improvement expected any time soon:

Forecasts for third-quarter S&P 500 earnings now call for a 3.9 percent decline from a year ago with half of the S&P sectors estimated to post lower profits thanks to falling oil prices, a strong U.S. dollar and weak global demand.    

 Expectations for future quarters are falling as well. A rolling 12-month forward earnings per share forecast now stands near negative 2 percent, the lowest since late 2009, when it was down 10.1 percent.

Just remember: when facing a grizzly, you only have to outrun your friend. Did I mention that this is seven years into the Obama Recovery and a gazillion dollars in stimulus.

George Soros has the lead article in the most recent issue of The New York Review of Books. He says "Europe now faces at least five crises at the same time: four internal ones -- the euro, Greece, migration, and the British referendum on whether to remain in the EU -- and an external one, Russian aggression against Ukraine." It's a pretty good article -- considering the source -- but I quit reading when his solution was more money from Europe (read, "Germany") to save the Ukraine. No link; this is from the print edition.

The Los Angeles Times has a long article on roof-top solar and net-metering. If you hit the paywall, google utilities seek to charge solar system owners more for connection to grid.

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This Science Is Not Dead

Unlike "global warming," a subject that has been settled, where science is no longer necessary, the search for habitable planets continues to evolve. That science is, apparently, not dead. Quartz is reporting that theoretical astrophysicists have discovered that millions of planets are more habitable than we realized. So, even though the question of anthropogenic "global warming" story is closed for scientific discussion, the search for habitable plants goes on:

The hunt for extra-terrestrials has expanded, after theoretical astrophysicists discovered that millions of planets once dismissed as inhospitable could in fact be suitable for alien life.

Earth-like planets are the obvious first place to look for life, but a large number of these orbit stars known as orange and red dwarfs, which are smaller than the Earth’s sun.

Dwarf stars are extremely common—they make up more than 70% of stars in the universe—and nearly every red dwarf is thought to have a planet located within a habitable distance and with similar water levels to Earth.

But until recently, there’s been a catch—Earth-sized planets rotating dwarfs were thought to suffer from rotational lockup. That means they rotate with one side always facing the star, much like how one side of the Moon always faces the Earth. This would create a planet that was half scorching desert and half ice sheet, which is hardly ideal for life.

A big thank you to Don for spotting the article and the irony.

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For The Granddaughters

It's a long, long story, but suffice it to say that our middle granddaughter had a great day at soccer.

Her "academy" or "club" team  won 6 - 0. On the "club" team, she plays defense.

Her "recreational" or "fun" team won 5 -1. She scored a hat trick (three consecutive points); her friend scored the other two. On the "rec" team, our granddaughter plays midfield.

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Holy Smoke!

This week is "garlic festival" at  Central Market, Southlake, Texas -- the same week that the Pope was visiting the US.

In honor of both -- the garlic and the Pope:

Holy Smoke
I don't know if you can see it -- the barbecue is called the "Holy Smoke." I see that the "H" is not seen in the video, but no, for you Norwegians out there, this is not the "Ole Smoke."