WMB Announces "Healthy" Dividend Increase -- September 14, 2015

This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment or financial decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here.

WMB dividend increased to 64 cents; up significantly over previous and continues to the trend. Back in 2011, it was paying 10 cents.

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Airbus coming to the US? 

CNBC is reporting that Airbus is coming to Alabama. From a press release:

Airbus made history with the start of operations at its A320 Family jetliner final assembly line in Mobile, Alabama – officially called the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility – which is the company’s first production site in America.

This game-changing facility commenced aircraft assembly in July 2015, with first deliveries scheduled to begin in 2016. The Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility is expected to produce between 40 and 50 aircraft per year by 2018 – building the A319, A320 and A321 versions from Airbus’ best-selling single-aisle family of jetliners. 

The $600-million, 53-acre facility at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley represents Airbus’ significant commitment to the U.S. – which is the largest market in the world for single-aisle aircraft. The vast majority of A320 Family jetliners produce in Mobile, Alabama will be delivered to North American customers. 

In addition, the Mobile A320 Family final assembly line builds on an already strong presence of Airbus and its Airbus Group parent company in this Gulf Coast city – which also includes an engineering centre at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley that employs more than 200 engineers and support staff, as well as the Airbus Group’s North American military customer services operation near the Mobile Regional Airport.

Don points out that the undeclared presidential candidate Joe Biden would call this a big f'n deal.

Gee, I wonder why? Let me count the ways:

• no French unions to deal with
• no US unions to deal with
• no French socialist Hollande to deal with
• closer to US customers
• really cheap energy
• did I mention, really cheap energy?
• really smart workforce that wants to work
• did I mention a really smart workforce that wants to work?
• does not have to deal with ISIS down the road 

It's my understanding Airbus is a French/German consortium. Getting state approval and union approval to do this speaks volumes. I hope the deal is truly a done deal. I do not know if Hollande has signed off on this. Operations are underway, but that doesn't mean Bernie Sanders or Hollande could still not get involved. Of course, the latter (Hollande) is busy welcoming 800,000 Syrians to Germany.  I wonder when Barack Obama is scheduled to be on television telling us how he swung this deal, that it what contingent on the Iran deal?

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Misplaced Priority List?

Every day I scan the LA Times on-line, mostly just the headlines because I don't have a subscription (but through google, one can read the stories, but I digress). As I was saying, every day, I scan the LA Times on-line, and today, more than ever, I get the feeling that all the attention on global warming climate change extreme weather whatever resulted in state of California completely missing more pressing needs. The things that caught my attention today: the crime rate in south Los Angeles (homicides, specifically) and the fires out of control north of San Francisco.

At least legislators have the bullet train to think about, to keep their minds off more pressing issues.