Who Wudda Guessed? Natural Gas Shale Is Hiring -- Demand Far Exceeds Supply, It Appears

Rigzone is reporting:

Since hitting a 13-year low of $1.82 per thousand British thermal units on April 20, 2012, the benchmark Henry Hub natural gas futures contract price has steadily regained momentum. In fact, it has hovered above the $4- mark for much of the period since mid-March of this year. Like the Henry Hub price, hiring in the Marcellus and other shale gas plays appears to be on the rebound after a lull earlier this decade, a Houston-based oil and gas recruitment specialist told Rigzone at the recent American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Annual Convention and Exhibition 2013 in Pittsburgh. 

"Everybody's recruiting," said James Bradley, permanent hire recruitment manager with NES Global Talent, at the sidelines of AAPG's annual meeting.

Demand is particularly keen for drilling and well completions engineers, subsurface geologists, geophysicists and geochemists, Bradley said, adding that there are not enough specialists with direct experience developing a shale gas play. As a result, operators are wooing candidates with conventional onshore oil and gas experience "who can jump right into shale work," he noted. He acknowledged this is often easier said than done.

LA Times Links: The Train Wreck; Disneyland Prices Just Went Up

Updates

Later, 4:27 pm: Now, CNBC is reporting that up to 2/3rds of Americans not sure if they will sign up for ObamaCare. If this is not a train wreck, I do not know what it. It is interesting that ObamaCare has been ruled a "tax" by the Supreme Court and therefore constitutional. With the IRS under siege, a lot of folks may simply use this as an excuse not to sign up -- at least for the first year, in which the penalty is pretty light: $95 or 1% of income. (It will be interesting to see "how" income is defined.) Since pre-existing conditions cannot be refused, I assume a lot of folks will go without insurance until/unless they develop a condition in which it makes sense to enroll. But I do think enough informed folks are so upset about the IRS, they won't sign up for ObamaCare for that reason alone. Eventually they will (enroll), but the roll out will be a train wreck.

Original Post

The LA Times is reporting:

Beginning in 2014, nearly everyone will be required to have insurance or face a fine — $95 or 1% of their household income in the first year. Many young adults who are not covered through work or their parents may be eligible for Medicaid or the new state-based insurance market places known as exchanges.

Last week, the state released its rates for health insurance under the exchange. While costs vary based on age and income, young adults with low or middle incomes are likely to receive substantial subsidies — for premiums, deductibles and co-pays. For example, a 21-year-old who earns about $16,000 would pay about $45 each month for the mid-level plan. State officials point out that costs could rise in subsequent years if not enough healthy people enroll.

So many story lines in this article.

"Nearly everyone." Who is exempt? The President? And most likely Congress.

The LA Times is also reporting:

A single-day ticket to either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim for visitors 10 or older now costs $92, up from $87 -- a jump of nearly 6%.
The cost of the day pass has risen 28% since early 2010, when it was $72. Prices were previously raised in August 2010, June 2011 and May 2012.

The prices of annual tickets went up too. The Deluxe Annual Passport, which allows admission to both Anaheim parks 315 days of the year, now costs $499 -- up from $469. The Premium Annual Passport, which has no blackout dates, now costs $669, an increase of $20.

The company is now nearing the vaunted $1,000 mark for its ultra-pass. The Disney Premier Passport, which allows unlimited admission to the attractions not only in Anaheim but also in Florida, now costs $979, up from $849.

The gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" continue to widen.

I often wonder why Disney doesn't adjust prices seasonally and/or daily, or even hourly, based on "volume." 

For Investors Only: Cracker Barrel, KOG

Updates

Later, 3:37 pm: SeekingAlpha on the KOG-LR deal:

The transaction appears to be reasonably valued, although by no means a "steal" taking into account the quality of acreage being acquired. I attribute approximately $250-$325 million M&A value to existing production and wells-in-progress included in the transaction (based on the very limited operating data disclosed and using certain decline curve assumptions). That implies approximately $335-$410 million paid for the undeveloped acreage and translates to valuation of ~$10,000-$12,500 per undeveloped acre, assuming that 80% of the acreage being acquired is undeveloped.

Original Post

Cracker Barrel beats by $0.08, beats on revs; raises FY13 EPS, in-line, reaffirms FY13 revs guidance; raises dividend 50%: Reports Q3 (Apr) earnings of $1.02 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.94; revenues rose 5.2% year/year to $640.4 mln vs the $630.56 mln consensus.

KOG buys Liberty Resources. Not mentioned in today's presentation at the RBC Capital Markets Conference (a pdf file).

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on what you read here or what you think you read here.

First, KOG, from Yahoo!Finance which often lags.

• operating cash flow (annual): $320 million.
• total cash: $6 million
• total debt: $1.2 billion; getting close to $2 billion?
• market cap: $2.3 billion

The KOG-Liberty Resources deal:

• $660 million cash / 42,000 net acres = $15,000/acre
• 6,000 boepd production x $50 = $110 million. $660 million - $110 million = $550 million
• $550 million / 42,000 net acres = $13,000/acre
• plus a drilling rig

I've blogged numerous times: one of the problems KOG has -- a Bakken only company. The story continues. 

*********************

Now, back to Cracker Barrel.

Cracker Barrel is a relatively high-cost choice for interstate travelers. McDonald's, et al, are notably less expensive for the family of four.  Beating expectations, three things come to mind: a) Cracker Barrel customers relatively immune to menu prices; b) Cracker Barrel customers traveling; c) gasoline prices not impacting traveling and/or disposable income while on the road.

If "Arab Spring" Spreads To Turkey ...

.. no link.....all over the news. Easy to find.

For archival purposes.

Sea Levels Rose Due To Faster Melting Of Polar Ice Sheets And Mountain Glaciers

The WSJ is reporting.

16.8 millimeters.

Between 2005 and 2011.

Six years.

16.8 mm/6 years = 2.8 mm/year.

OMG.

The popsicle post is here.

The thickness of an average human fingernail is about 0.3 to 0.5 mm thick. According to wiki, human nails grow at an average rate of 3 mm (0.12 inch) per month.

The thickness of pencil lead varies, but is commonly 0.7 mm.