Wednesday, May 5, 2010

SAR #10125

Droit de Seigneur is alive and well on Wall Street.

Domino?  Without admitting any wrongdoing, much less actual guilt, Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay the SEC $450,000 to settle a naked-short selling penalties claim.  Take a number...

Who, Me?  BP says it is not their problem, they had nothing to do with it, but out of the goodness of their heart they'll pay for the cleanup.  Small print will follow.

Spots/Stripes:  Those right-leaning government-hating politicians in the Gulf states are on the phone to Washington non-stop these days, turning down offers of assistance.

Ridiculous Headline #47 & 48:  Here Is The Homegrown "Revolution" That Could Save Us From An Oil Crisis and Four Billion Barrels Of Recoverable Oil Discovered In The New 'Walmart' Of Oil Shale, which celebrate the Bakkan and Three Forks shale formations under MT & ND that over the next 40 years may produce as much a 4 billion barrels of petroleum.  That's equivalent to 100 days of US demand - 2 1/2 days a year for 40 years.  I'm excited.

Runs Rough:  April US new car/truck sales were up 20% y/y but down 4.6% from March's discount/rebate-fueled levels.

Worst Case?  BP told a congressional committee that the worst-case scenario for the Deepwater Horizon leak is 60,000 barrels a day but that a more likely figure would be only 40,000 barrels a day.  Only.

All Due Respect:  With as much respect for the US Senate as it could scrape together, JP Morgan Chase released a report suggesting that the Senate stand aside and let “grownups” formulate financial regulations.

Not If, When: The DH/BP oil spill will eventually get caught up in the Loop Current and be carried around the Florida Keys and up Florida's east coast, washing ashore on rich people's playgrounds and prompting extensive Federal rescue efforts.  'Eventually' is some time in the next week or two.

If the Shoe Fits:  If When its enablers get tired of supporting the US and force the Greek solution on the US budget, it will mean cutting our deficit by $953 billion a year.  That would wipe out all “discretionary” spending except for defense and then slash Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid by half.  No wonder the Greeks are a tad upset.

Unintended Consequences? Roundup has worked so well that it has become the single largest threat to agriculture ever seen – because nothing kills the mutant weeds that manage to develop a resistance to it.

Just Wow!  The relief well being drilled in 5,000 feet of water is planned to intercept the existing well around 13,000 feet below the seabed and permanently seal it.  I'm astounded they can even try to do such a thing & wish them well.

Quoted:  “We run the risk, by laying out the pros and cons of a particular argument, of inducing people to join in on the debate, and in this regard it is possible to lose control of a process that only we fully understand.”  Alan Greenspan, on transparency.  Or not.  Felix Salmon claims. “This was a meta-discussion about how much to discuss discussions.”  I think this is my stop.

Daily Petard:  “We’re very important but the public doesn’t see that,” Lloyd Blankfein , Goldman Sachs.

Independent:  The UK Ministry of Defence is investigating its complicity in the use of (illegal?) chemical weapons during the 2004 massacre of civilians in Faluja that has lead to a significant increase in the number of children there born with deformities.  The US has ruled that the weapons used were humane and legal and will conduct an investigation later.

4 comments:

Dink said...

"it is possible to lose control of a process that only we fully understand."

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!

Anonymous said...

Just Wow! ....

Obviously, BIG OIL had made no preparations for a Worst Case Scenario.

And, like the Financial Debacle, this type of thing was all PREDICTED! By whom? Well, by Nassim Taleb of course. In BLACK SWAN, Taleb talks about 9/11 and why the airlines, the Govt, the aircraft manufacturers, insurers, etc. never applied the obvious (and cheapest) fix to Hijacking. That would have been installing hijack proof cabin doors. Taleb explains that our economic system just does not work to get things like the cabin doors retrofit done. Nor does it work to have oil drilling backup systems.

So too with the Gulf Disaster, the economics just were not there for BIG OIL to have a Plan B or C or D. Our Economics are primitive.

(I suspect that if and when the well is capped or disabled, there will be the usual Heroic MSM stories about drill and BIG OIL workers and execs who miraculously, etc. saved the day. There will be no MSM stories about BIG OIL Hubris and engineering stupidity and failure.)

kwark said...

“We run the risk, . . . of inducing people to join in on the debate, and in this regard it is possible to lose control of a process that only we fully understand.” Right, he and his cronies have demonstrated the depth of that understanding by helping us all loose $Trillions. I guess we have yet further confirmation of just how stupid he thinks we are. Talk about a threat to national security, where are the black helicopters and the jack-booted storm troopers when you need them?

Namke von Federlein said...

Hi;

I'm enjoying your blog every day. I have a little corner in the upper-right hand side of my blog where I just decided to put "Did you know" facts.

Since your comments are always hilariously on the mark, I will probably be quoting you on a fairly regular basis.

I put a link to your site above the comments (ie 'Some Assembly Required Blog comments:')

I used your quip about the shale oil articles today.

Thanks for your blogging. It is a real time-saver and very inspiring.

all the best from

Namke von Federlein