Oddly Relevant May-5-2013

CST trading regular way: 1,600+ Texas & Canada based convenience stores (~60% owned) at ~8-8.5x 2012 EV/EBITDA (peers @ 7-8x). Above-peer gasoline margin (~20c / gallon) and store traffic but below peer merchandise margin (~30% and has not expanded for years). CEO with solely legal background and declared new strategy in store roll-ups + merchandise margin improvement. [Note: personally, I am skeptical of the margins growth and maintenance of fuel margin at 20c+, current valuation feels a bit rich; but CEO’s background leaves plenty of imagination in REIT conversion]

Open-access scientific publishing is gaining ground: bills coming through to force scientific articles/research free of charge after a time period (6 mo – 1 y). For the $6bn journals industry, the old business model of free submission + 3^rd party vetting + subscription package is quickly changing. [Note: It’s funny note that it takes $40,000 to get an article published on Nature. A bit excessive no? RUK, JW.A]…Source: http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21577035-open-access-scientific-publishing-gaining-ground-free-all

Everything you need to know about the student borrowing bubble in 17 charts: 1Trn student loans outstanding, highest enrollment, highest # carrying student debt, higher balance taken out, with cost inflation far outpacing inflation, while the ones who have jobs are earning less. But the US government backs most of them anyways. [Note: so essentially probably not subprime II, but US credit is on the hook]…Source: http://qz.com/78889/student-borrowing-bubble-in-17-charts/

The 13 Worst Jobs of the Last 2,000 Years: [Note: Hilarious, leech gathering and wool fulling in particular]…Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/the-13-worst-jobs-of-the-last-2-000-years/275474/