No Evidece of Groundwater Contamination From Fracking In Pennsylvania -- October 13, 2015

A report on NPR this morning while driving the granddaughters to school: no evidence that fracking results in any contamination of aquifers; Pennsylvania; Yale researcher; definitive study. To be published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. There was some ground water contamination but "fingerprinting" revealed that it came from surface spills; not fracking. Levels of "contamination" did not exceed allowable limits.

Here's the NPR link.

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Unexpected: Good News For Truckers

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

After years of spending long hours behind the wheel without seeing their paychecks grow, U.S. truck drivers now have employers fighting for their services.

Many freight haulers have in the past year pushed through their biggest raises in decades. Truck-stop job boards and satellite radio airwaves are saturated with want ads, some offering sign-on bonuses topping $5,000 and free bus tickets to drivers willing to switch employers. Companies are equipping their fleets with satellite televisions and other amenities to make life on the road more comfortable.

It is a bonanza for drivers like Alex Topolse. The 34-year-old Auburn, Maine, resident said he went from flipping burgers and doing seasonal warehouse work to driving a chemical tanker truck in 2013. He said he liked the work but moved to a company based closer to home—and was offered a 50% raise. He said he has already received two small raises with his new employer and is on track to earn nearly $70,000 this year. 

So, what's the deal?

Drivers are in demand in the shifting $700 billion trucking industry. Business is booming because the economy is expanding and the strong dollar is increasing demand for imported goods that must be transported from ports to cities and towns nationwide, though growth has cooled recently. At the same time, interest in the profession is waning. 

And, of course, we just saw that Warren Buffett/BNSF story on double track from Chicago to Los Angeles. The tea leaves suggest a great US economy.

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Train Wreck

The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Healthcare trusts created nearly a decade ago to cover medical expenses for hundreds of thousands of Detroit’s hourly retirees reported a funding shortfall of $20.7 billion last year, more than quadruple the gap recorded in 2013, according to government filings.

It is unclear whether the gap could eventually force the funds—established by the United Auto Workers union to take retiree medical liabilities for factory workers off the car companies’ books—to cut costs and trim benefits.

The trusts representing retirees at General Motors Co. , Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV recorded net assets of $60 billion last year, down less than a percentage point from the previous period.

But the funds’ benefit obligations grew 23% to $80.84 billion from 2013 to 2014. At the end of last year, the trusts were 74% funded versus 93% in the prior year.

The three trust funds spent a total of $3.2 billion last year paying out medical benefits for retirees. The fund attributed the larger shortfall to a change its discount rate and actuarial assumptions.

Nothing to see here, folks. Sounds like a simple accounting change. Not to worry. Washington has this under control.

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Waiting For The March, 2016, Issue? 

I've never subscribed, but maybe it's time.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Playboy Enterprises Inc., which helped usher in the sexual revolution but has stumbled in the digital era, said it no longer would publish nude photos in its flagship magazine, which built its reputation on spreads featuring pop-culture icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett and Madonna.

Playboy, which already has reconfigured its website to make it “safe for work,” said it would unveil a redesign to its magazine with the March 2016 issue. The publication has a circulation of about 800,000, down from a height of 5.6 million in 1975, according to Alliance for Audited Media.

It will be interesting to see if the "new" Playboy is placed "uncovered" on newsstands like Cosmopolitan, and whether it can be sold in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not holding my breath.