Fracking Led To A Lot Of Jobs -- Reuters -- November 7, 2015

Reuters/Rigzone is reporting:

A U.S. oil and gas drilling boom fueled by hydraulic fracturing technology added about 725,000 jobs nationwide between 2005 and 2012, blunting the impact of the financial crisis.

The findings could play into a debate over so-called fracking, in which water, sand and chemicals are injected into underground shale formations to produce oil and gas reserves that were otherwise inaccessible. 

I doubt this study will sway President Obama one way or the other. I haven't seen anything from this administration which suggests it is actually concerned about American jobs. 

By the way, perhaps the study mentioned this also, but if not, remember: these were high-paying jobs. The average income in Williston, North Dakota, was last reported to be $80,000; the national average is $72,000.

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Berkshire Hathaway

Net Income More Than Doubled From A Year Earlier

From Reuters, November 6, 2015, some data points:

• quarterly profit doubled to a record high, reflecting a huge gain on its stake in Kraft Heinz 
• 3Q15 net income rose to $9.43 billion, or $5,737 per Class A share, from $4.62 billion, or $2,811, a year earlier
• among Berkshire's larger businesses
• profit fell 34 percent from insurance underwriting to $414 million;
• rose 12 percent at the BNSF railroad to $1.16 billion; and, 
• rose 13 percent to $786 million at Berkshire Hathaway Energy
• Warren is a "buy and hold" kind of guy: Berkshire said it had lost $2 billion on its IBM stock, or 15 percent of what it paid but still has "no intention" of selling its shares

Also, Berkshire disclosed it bought a bunch of rolling stock for $1 billion:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said the price for the railroad assets it agreed to buy from General Electric Co. in September was about $1 billion.

Marmon Holdings, a unit of Buffett’s company, acquired about 25,000 tank cars and other equipment from GE in the deal.

Wells Fargo & Co., the world’s largest bank by market value, agreed to buy the bulk of a railcar- and locomotive-leasing unit from GE in September as the industrial giant retreats from financial services. The Berkshire and Wells Fargo deals dismantle what was General Electric Railcar Services LLC, a $4 billion-asset business that leases freight and tank cars and offers loans and maintenance services.

This $1 billion deal to buy 25,000 tank cars wasn't widely known until November 9, 2015, when the Bloomberg article was reposted over at Yahoo!Finance. Many of the comments are right in line with what many are thinking: Obama kills the Keystone after Buffett makes the purchase.