By Simon Lack
Today's news that Chesapeake (CHK) is going to sell $12BN in assets in response to continued weak natural gas prices looks like good news. Depending on the buyers, it's possible that the new owners could have a sufficiently long horizon that they won't need to drill just to generate near term cash flow to finance debt payments. And it may also demonstrate that there are many buyers for natural gas assets in spite of the lousy current economics caused by excess supply. Natural gas is beginning to supplant coal as the marginal fuel of choice for electricity generation, and companies like Exxon Mobil (XOM) and BP (BP) forecast an increasing share of power generation will come from natural gas.
So the news is mildly positive for some of those with low costs of production, such as Devon Energy (DVN), Southwestern Energy (SWN) and Comstock Resources (CRK). However, CHK is weak, since the prospect of shedding around a third of its assets when natural gas is trading at $2.50 reveals some poor financial planning by Aubrey McClendon and his team. The expectation that CHK may have to sell more liquids-focused properties is further disappointment for owners of CHK. It shows that debt is bad and low production costs vital if you're going to earn a decent return on investment in this sector. CHK's actions are helpful for just those types of company, but not for CHK itself
Disclosure: I am long DVN, SWN, CRK.
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Was Judge Andrew Napolitano cutting to close to the bone for the establishment?
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
February 10, 2012
The Fox Business Channel has cancelled one of the only shows on the entire Fox News network that was in any way informative or watchable - Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
In a press release distributed late Thursday, the channel announced that its entire prime-time programming lineup had been changed, with re-runs of already existing programs replacing Freedom Watch.
Napolitano?s show had been airing for a year, in which time he had consistently covered major issues that other news programs would only gloss over, if they devoted any coverage to them at all.
Napolitano?s coverage of the freedom stripping National Defense Authorization Act for one was second to none as far as mainstream news output was concerned. His legal and constitutional expertise on such matters is also unrivalled.
His focus on Austrian economics and Libertarian social policy provided a much welcome alternative to the endless left/right bickering constantly played out on programming from the likes of MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News itself.
Napolitano regularly defended the free market and lambasted the actions of the Federal Reserve, holding it accountable daily for the economic crisis that the US finds itself mired in. Congressman Ron Paul was a regular guest on the show, with a host of other informative analysts who were not merely about peddling the establishment party line or representing special interests.
It is for these very reasons that many fans of the show suspect Napolitano has been axed by the corporate machine.
Regarding Napolitano?s future, Fox Business stated that the judge will be ?continuing to make significant contributions to both FOX Business and FOX News? and would ?be showcased throughout future programming on both networks?
?Currently one of the leading judicial analysts on television, Judge Napolitano will continue his role on both FOX Business and FOX News, providing key legal insights surrounding the growing intersection between Washington and Wall Street.? the statement read.
Linking to the press release on his Facebook page, Napolitano wrote ?sad news friends, but don?t worry I?ll still be here defending liberty.?
Libertarian activist Lew Rockwell is spearheading a campaign to have Freedom Watch reinstated, writing on his website yesterday:
?If you are as outraged as I am at the cancellation of Judge Andrew Napolitano?s ?Freedom Watch,? here is something you can do.?
Please contact Fox Business to ask them to reverse their decision.
Irena Briganti,
Senior Vice President Media Relations
Phone: 212-301-3608
Fax: 212-819-0816
E-Mail: irena.briganti@foxnews.com
?Be respectful but be sure to convey your outrage at this matter, and state that you and many others will boycott the network if the show is taken off the air.? Rockwell added.
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Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/fox-business-news-axes-freedom-watch.html
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