The Market And Energy Page, T+362 -- January 18, 2018

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, travel, or relationship decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

Dow: opens at an all-time high. Essentially flat, but it only had to open up 0.1 point to set an all-time record. But, it's still a "R."

Enbridge: Motley Fool.

KMI: MarketStreet.

Pipeline builders: WSJ. Pipeline builders try new growth strategy: bigger pipes. Facing protests over new oil and natural-gas lines, some companies are expanding old ones.

Super-pads: from oilprice.com. I missed this one. A big "thank you" to a reader for bringing it to my attention --

Shale gas drillers super-sizing their wells. Top shale gas drillers in the Marcellus are super-sizing their wellpads.

In the past, a wellpad would be used to drill a handful of wells. But some gas drillers are building much larger wellpads, and using them to drill upwards of 30 or 40 wells.

These “superpads” can produce a lot more gas in a smaller footprint. It also means that gas drillers can drill a group of wells in one moment, then come back later and drill more wells from the same pad. EQT, the largest gas producer in the U.S., is reportedly one of the leaders of this new practice, which can see $250 million invested in a single supersized wellpad.

Amazon: narrows list of HQ2 cities to 20. The list is here. Dallas and Austin, both in Texas, are on the list. My hunch: Dallas and Austin will make the final ten. Austin or Dallas will make the final five. Austin has the "emotional" edge; Dallas has the "rational" edge. Williston, ND, did not make the list, but I assume that was only because Williston did not apply, nor does Williston have the light rail infrastructure that Jeff Bezos was looking for.

Apple: will build a second campus. Says it won't build in California or Texas because Apple already has a huge footprint in those two states. My hunch: North Carolina.

EVs: LAPD loves 'em. Using BMW EVs to make lunch runs and nail salon runs. Won't use them for patrolling -- officers concerned about limited range. Once an interstate chase begins, it's easy to go more than 100 miles.  By using the BMW EVs for lunch runs and nail salon runs, it saves wear and tear on the muscle cars.

Best decision I never made: not investing in long-term nursing care. Those policies have worked for many, but years and years ago after being "pressured" to buy such "insurance policies," after reading the small print, it was clear that it was more likely things would not work out.

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My Betting On Amazon HQ2

Among the "Final 3" I have lumped Dallas and Austin together. In my mind there is little difference. In the "emotional" arena, Austin beats Dallas, but in the "real world," Dallas beats Austin. But at the end of the day, I think one of the two will be in the final three.

Final 20	Top Ten	Final Five	Final Three	Winner
Atlanta	Atlanta
Austin, TX	Austin, TX	Austin, TX	Texas
Boston	Boston
Chicago	Chicago
Columbus, OH
Dallas	Dallas	Dallas	Texas
Denver	Denver
Indianapolis
Los Angeles
Miami
Montgomery County, MD
Nashville, TN	Nashville, TN
Newark, NJ
NYC
Northern Virginia	Northern Virginia	Northern Virginia	Northern Virginia
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC
Toronto	Toronto	Toronto
Washington, DC