Month: May 2010

WTF/WTH Wednesdays – Still Leaking…

Posted on by Bobby Broadway

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It is now day 36 and the Deepwater Horizon Well is still leaking, well as of 11:22pm (Eastern) 5/26/2010 BP may have made a break through with the “Kill Shot” method of stopping the leak.

A “top kill” consists of pumping huge amounts of mud and cement into the leak in hopes of stopping it. The mud and cement will be pumped at high pressure from barges down 5,000 feet. BP has stockpiled 50,000 barrels of the manufactured mud, AP reported.

At this point BP is telling us that so far so good on the “top kill” process, if you go to the live feed of the well BP is saying there is a good chance right now that the we are watching the mud from the “top kill” spewing instead of oil. Again this is very preliminary as it will take a couple of days for BP to test and verify samples of what is spewing out of well. If BP can confirm that the “top kill” was successful the next step in the process will be capping the well with some kind of concrete dome. So lets pops some bottles and celebrate right??? Not so fast…

This “top kill” process is very sensitive as BP has to make sure that it does not force too much mud into the well and burst other sections of piping. We must all remember that the only sure way to completely stop this leak; is by drilling a relief well. The purpose of the relief well is help bring the blown out well under-control and ultimately stop the leak. In the oil industry drilling a relief well is the only sure-fire way of stopping leaks like this. Everything else up until this point is really a shot in the dark; top kill, containment dome, siphoning tubes, blowing up the well etc… Drilling a Relief Well takes time (about 3 months) and BP started drilling this well earlier this month. So chances are this leak may not be completely sealed until August, and this is something that we must all realize. That includes the media….

I think I will discuss my disdain for the media coverage during this crisis in another edition of “It’s On Broadway”, HA! I rather dedicate an entire blog to that subject.

Until then…

As always….
If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!

WTF/WTH Wednesdays – What to do with BP?

Posted on by Bobby Broadway

With over an estimated 5 million gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the BP Rig explosion; is the government doing enough to protect the environment while this mess is being cleaned up?

I say NO!

Let me explain, I am all for the government allowing/forcing BP to be responsible for this disaster. When you think about the government is not capable of handling this cleanup. Although BP has been a suspect in stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf they are still better suited than the Federal Government. So what President Obama and his administration is doing up to this point concerning this spill seems to be the correct course of action.

The problem is what is the government doing to make sure this does not happen again, how will they improve the regulation of offshore drilling?

One move the government will be making is separating the Minerals Management Service (MMS) oil royalty collection and safety inspection roles. Having these 2 departments under one umbrella is a conflict of interest. It is in the best interest of the oil royalty collection department to have oil rigs running; safety at a certain point is secondary for this group. You can imagine the scenarios where the oil royalty guys call in favors with their safety inspection friends to turn a blind eye on a rig that is making a TON of money!

Kudos to the fed for figuring that one out!

So where is the government missing the boat on preventing another catastrophe?

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Introducing another BP oil rig, the Atlantis. Thanks to The Rachel Maddow Show we have learned that this rig is operating further out and drilling in deeper waters. Now with all the difficulty BO has had in capping the Deepwater Horizon well why would we have any confidence in BO drilling in deeper waters? Why have President Obama and his administration (Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar) shut down BP’s operations in the Gulf until all their rigs can be fully inspected? Instead we allow a company with a sketchy safety record (Texas City Explosion) to continue to operate while they handle what will be the largest environmental disaster (dwarfing Exxon Valdez).

I would like to see the federal government get tough with BP, President Obama has certainly talked a tough game when it comes to who will pay for the cleanup of this spill but what about shutting BP down. I don’t want to see anymore Congressional Hearings with BP executives talking about they will be responsible for paying “Legitimate Claims” (money BP will pay victims of the oil spill) as a result of the oil spill. BP should not be allowed to drill for anymore oil until they can prove they are capable of being SAFE!!! President Obama promised changed, let’s see that change.

DO THE RIGHT THING!!

As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!

F-A-Natic Friday – Flash Crash!!

Posted on by Bobby Broadway

Around 2:50pm yesterday afternoon (5/6/10) the heart of Wall Street skipped a couple of beats as the DOW suddenly dropped nearly 1000 points! This incredible event which is being referred to as a “Flash Crash” had most if not all investors scrambling, well except for Jim Cramer who kept his cool (as cool as Cramer can be, lol).

So what could have caused this event? Initial reports have stated that the drop was possible caused by an error from a trader from a major firm (CITI). They believe there was supposed to be a $16 million trade on an S&P 500 futures-linked contract. The trade was entered in billions instead. So for about 10 minutes it was believed that the stock market was crashing, and we were potentially looking at “Black Thursday”; and this was all caused by some dumbass trader who fat-fingered a deal?!?!?

Amazing!!!

There is also speculation that along with the fat-finger moment that the unstable situation with Greece also contributed to 995 point dip in the DOW.

As a result of this dip the market witnessed the craziest event as 6 companies; Exelon, Accenture, CenterPoint Energy, Samuel Adams, TransMontaigne Partners, and Impax Labortories stocks fell to zero dollars!! So for a short time a regular Joe like me could have bought enough shares in Samuel Adams to be a possible majority owner, LOL! Of course that did not happen as the event occurred so quickly. Although it was said that a few people (with great timing) probably made some money due to this mistake; but that financial gain might be short-lived for the lucky few as news trickled out after the close that deals during the “Flash Crash” will be voided.

With all that said, I will admit that I am that I am no Wall Street Guru and the idea of a trader fat-fingering a deal is kind of funny. At the same time I can’t help but wonder if this fat-finger story is a possible cover-up of a bigger story. Earlier this year the United States admitted that our Power Grid was hacked into by the Chinese and that the U.S. is vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Could it be that the “Flash Crash” was a result of a cyber-attack?

Some might say, “If it was a cyber-attack why only cause such little damage? Why not take down the whole system?” My answer to that is very simple; this was just a test of what the hackers could do. No reason right now to start a potential cyber-war; best believe the U.S. is also heavily involved in hacking other countries systems.

If you’re still doubting my theory remember on the 4th of July in 2009, several Federal web sites were hacked and caused minor insignificant problems (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31789294/ns/technology_and_science-security). The U.S is very vulnerable to a cyber-attack and the current administration is aware of this.

This is only a theory of mine so don’t take it as fact that someone hacked Wall Street, this is just a little something for you to think about as we snicker at the fat-finger story.

P.S. Citigroup has not confirmed or denied that the erroneous trade was submitted by one of their traders.

As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!

Takeover Thursdays – Saw something and said something…

Posted on by Bobby Broadway

If you’re a New Yorker you know the familiar automated message, “If you see something, say something!”. On May 1st Duane Jackson became the poster child of that saying!

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Thank goodness for Mr. Jackson being aware of his surroundings; he was able to alert NYPD and a potential tragic situation was avoided. It was a reminder of the times we live in; terrorism is alive and real on U.S. soil! Although it is unsettling that someone would attempt to blow up a car bomb in the middle of Times Square we can at least appreciate that we (ordinary citizens) are actually being mindful of our surroundings.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Federal Government is still dropping the ball when it comes to identifying possible terrorist and keeping air travel safe. After the Christmas Day Bomber President Obama promised that the failures that allowed the Christmas Day Bomber onto the flight to Detroit would be resolved. It looks like we still have more holes when it comes to Aviation Security; the Times Square Bomber Faisal Shahzad was actually able to purchase a ticket to Dubai!

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Faisal’s name was placed on the “No Fly List” around 12pm Monday afternoon; how is it that approximately 6 hours later he was able to board a flight to Dubai without anyone from the Airline or TSA stopping him???? According to authorities there was a 2 hour delay in Faisal name actually being added to the list, which gave Faisal time to purchase the ticket without raising any suspicion. Then the next failure occurred as once Faisal checked-in he should have been stopped as his name was on the “No Fly List” at this point. So what happened?

Well, Emirates failed to check the latest version of the no fly list which then allowed Faisal to board the flight. Luckily for everyone involved someone at Emirates finally checked the latest version of the list and recognized Faisal name; that is when they called the plane back to the gate and Faisal was finally arrested. Now to be fair Faisal name would more than likely been spotted as a passenger while the flight was heading to Dubai where they would have probably apprehended when he landed (at least we hope so). This is still not acceptable as TSA and Airlines have to do a better job in protecting us!

I know the President can only do but so much, but at the end the day the buck stops with Obama! How many more times can we get lucky in these situations? Sooner or later these bungling terrorist are going to get it right! Hopefully Pres Obama or someone in his administration is chewing someone out as a result of these mistakes!

As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!

Talking Points Tuesdays – Drill Baby, Drill??????

Posted on by Bobby Broadway

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Initially when President Obama proposed the idea of lifting the moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast of the United States, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the northern coast of Alaska; I wasn’t fond of the idea as I felt the President was only trying to win Republican support for his Climate Bill. I then listened to the President’s March 31st speech explaining why he lifted the moratorium; he stated that in order for the United States to prepare for oil independence from foreign oil we had to increase domestic production. This increase in domestic production will lower oil prices as well buy us time as we move in the direction of complete oil independence (electric cars). I have to admit it sounded like a great idea, that was until the BP Oil Rig accident.

It’s not necessarily the accident that changed my mind; in saying that I’m not trying to minimize the terrible environmental impact from the oil spill. What I am saying is that when looking at the track record for Oil Rigs in the U.S. I would say that the likelihood of a major accident did not seem very (I realize that recent information released showed issues with protective measures that did not work. None of those points were mentioned when the President mentioned his plan). My change of heart is more based on the idea that increasing domestic oil production would lower the cost of oil. This is a false assumption that many experts have discussed; this is just not true. The amount of oil that we would be able to produce domestically will not have a significant effect on pricing globally.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration did a study back in 2007; if drilling exploration started by 2012 along the East Coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico it “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030”.

There is also the misconception that oil drilled and produced domestically would belong to the United States for our use; this is simply untrue. That oil would be sold on the global market, we would basically produce the oil and then bid on that oil just like anyone else in the world.

With all that said, Pres Obama will have to remind me again WHY lift the moratorium on domestic offshore drilling? By lifting the moratorium Pres Obama gained the grand total of 1 Republican vote for his gesture. The Climate Bill is necessary, but Democrats (along with Obama) can’t be consumed with the notion of gaining Republican support. This is an issue that majority of the public supports; so treat just like Wall Street Reform. If Republicans don’t want to support the Climate Bill, so be it! It will be another chip for Democrats to use against them in the November Elections.

I will give the President credit for slowing down the process of offshore drilling since the BP Oil Rig accident. They will not move forward with the President’s plan until it is determined what happened in the BP accident. They will also look at the so-called safety measures that failed in preventing this catastrophe.

With all that said, as the oil continues to gush from that open valve; Pres Obama may have to scrap his plan all together. The lasting effects of this accident will be felt for a long time!!!

By the way where are all the “Drill Baby, Drill….” folks at now? Palin, Steele, Rush; where are you guys??? Well Rush Limbaugh weighed in on what he felt REALLY happened in this “accident”!

I think Rush is on that Oxycontin again!!!!

As always….
If there is something to be said, “Its On Broadway” to step up and say it!!!