SMALL AIRLINES STILL FAILING

Frontier Air has filled for reorganization. Other small airlines that are bleeding include MESA and ExpressJet. The code sharing partners of the majors that continue to do well include Pinnacle, Republic and Skywest. If you want to see the benefit to other lines from the failure of some, take a look at the move in Hawaiian Air after the failure of Aloha.

UAUA is the "big boy" in Denver. The scaling back of Frontier, will benefit UAUA. The stock was up $1.20 yesterday. All the majors will benefit from the closing of smaller competitors.

MOBILE COMPUTING

The latest chip from Intel is pretty dog gone amazing. It holds 45 million transistors and cuts electricity consumption from 35 watts to 3 watts! Forty-five million transistors using less energy that one of the vacuum tubes in my families first radio! Lincoln Mclain, who blogs at Polar Bears and Astronauts, says that we cannot predict future knowledge. Do you suppose the engineer who eliminated the need for vacuum tubes by creating the transistor could have imagined the possibility of 45 million transistors on one chip? Scientist have now cured paralyzed rats by helping them "grow" new spinal cords. The progress of this era is mind boggling. Mobile computing is going to blossom as the power of mobile computers continues to grow at exponential rates and as high speed, low cost connections become available.

BAKKEN RESERVES

A geological survey just increased the amount of recoverable reserves from the Bakken formation 25 times higher than the previous estimate. Still, the new level of reserves is estimated at 3 to 4 billion barrels. The actual amount of oil in this formation is estimated to be from 200 to 500 billion barrels. New drilling techniques have boosted the recoverable reserves 25 times but the total amount of oil is still as much as 125 times what has been declared. These same drilling techniques will boost the reserves at scores of other fields. The "snake eye" drill has demonstrated an ability to turn one vertical well into the equivalent of a dozen wells at a fraction of the cost.

ANOTHER LINCOLN MCLAIN QUOTE

"Quit complaining about too many jobs going overseas and the lack of developmental humanitarian aid at the same time. It's paradoxical."

PRODUCTIVITY IS WONDERFUL

It is productivity that is holding off a world wide recession. More stuff is being accomplished with less effort. South Korea lead the way in the 1990's. From 1992 to 2006 South Korea has averaged an annualized and compounded increase in output per hour of labor of 9%! The USA did not do badly during this stretch at 4.8%! The reason we can afford such high quality health care and so many highly paid service workers such as doctors and lawyers is because we have been so productive. US exports grew by over 20% during the past 12 months! The US Dollar is in the process of making a major turn! Is it not wonderful that we can afford to pay service employees substantial dollars to work on problems such as spinal cord injuries?

Linens and Things, Frontier Airlines and an Australian Bank are in bankruptcy and the IEA says the US recession is pushing down oil consumption. The economic coiled spring is pushed very tight. The recoil should be powerful. If you or a loved one had a spinal cord injury, how much would you be willing to pay for the cure?

WAL-MARTS INTERNATIONAL SALES

Up 19%! This company that has helped Americans live better for less is helping people in dozens of nations live better for less. It is turning a nice profit in the process. The Hill-Obama program is to deny the rest of the world jobs but to send them bags of rice to ease our conscious. The Wal-Mart way is eradicate poverty by buying goods from those who need to work and selling them to those who need low cost goods. The Hill-Obama approach helps the politically connected few and the Wal-Mart approach helps all the rest of us. Ooops, the Ukraine just joined the WTO (world trade organization). Sorry, Hill-Obama but there is now another country that will grow and prosper by buying a selling to and from the rest of the world. If you can't get to the Ukraine on a direct CAL flight now, I bet you will be able to within a year or two!