Economy Shows Surprising Bounce:  “Early-Year Progress Faces Headwinds, Though, as Washington Drama Still Spooks Many Businesses”  Google the title at the WSJ.

The case for optimism by Scott Grannis.

“That figure was up from the low, reached in mid-2009, of just 2.2 percent, but it was far below the 6.3 percent reached in late 2005, when the housing bubble was at its peak.  The last time housing construction contributed so little to the economy was during World War II.  In normal economic recoveries, housing construction supplies a substantial part of the growth recorded in the first year or two after the recession ends. But in this recovery, it kept shrinking. Over all, real housing spending contracted in every year from 2006 to 2011.”  NY Times

My dad is fond of saying raising the retirement age fixes these Fun debt graphs from The Grumpy Economist.

“(T)o achieve superior investment results, you have to hold non-consensus views regarding value, and they have to be right.  That’s not easy.”  Thus CalPERS is considering going passive.

Hyperinflation? No. Inflation? Yes.  Financial Sense

In light of the rig count collapse last year and the expected and observed effect on production, a friend is quite bullish.

The Bakken is the truest oil play of the the shales, bar none, yet is seeing meaningful natural gas growth.  Shale gas lures global manufacturers to US industrial revival at Reuters.

U.S. Natural Gas Production:  Believe the Shale Boom by Bentek.