The Market, Energy, And Political Page -- December 14, 2018

Geico Rock Award: nomination -- honorary life-time award nomination ... drum roll ... for Algore.  The 2018 Geico Rock Award for 2018 will be announced in January, 2019. Current list here. 

Noonan: the most idiotic op-ed ever by Peggy.  It''s over in the WSJ. A reader sent me the link. In my not-ready-for-prime-time response, about the op-ed I wrote:

In my lifetime, the magic ponies go all the way back to JFK and Ronald Reagan.

I can't go back farther than I have personally experienced because prior to JFK anything I knew about presidents was second hand, from books, etc.

I'm not sure what the difference is between charisma and "magic pony."

Cunningham: op-ed almost as idiotic as Peggy's. Over at oilprice. Cunningham says the oil refiners are trying to get Americans to us more gasoline. Well, duh. That's like saying McDonald's is trying to get Americans to eat more hamburgers.

ISO New England, link here:

• good day for consumers
• the daily 0600 spike remained under $80/MWh
• coal: 3%

Tesla: from a SeekingAlpha contributor --

• Estimate: Tesla can deliver 91,085 vehicles, including 61,255 Model 3s in the fourth quarter - up 9% sequentially
• Tesla could beat top-line estimates if they can prevent average sales price from slipping more than 4.5%, all else equal
• The Model 3 MR will push ASPs down, but multiple Tesla price increases may offset those declines, giving Tesla a decent shot of beating analyst top-line estimates

John Kemp: the Reuters London-based oil analyst will be on vacation for two weeks, and completely off the grid; visiting New Zealand

COP: shale output to grow 25% in 2019 even as oil price slides -- from a SeekingAlpha contributor --

• ConocoPhillips expects its shale production to increase 25% next year even as crude oil prices tumble, proving the industry’s resilience in volatile markets, CEO Ryan Lance tells Bloomberg
• The CEO says COP's wells in the Eagle Ford Shale, Permian Basin and Bakken field generate cash when prices hover ~$50/bbl; the company pumped 313K bbl/day from the three regions combined during Q3, or 25% of the company’s global production
• Production growth likely "slows down at $50 but I don’t think it stops at $50 and it certainly continues if prices get back to $60," Lance says, adding that skeptics thought shale "wouldn’t last long but it’s here, it’s a huge resource and it’s going to be resilient and long lasting."

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J & J: I'm not following the market at all right now (and won't until it re-sets and gets back to "normal."  Having said that I, this over at the Boston Globe:

Johnson & Johnson shares plunge after report that says it knew about asbestos in its baby powder: Reuters said the company knew for decades that asbestos was in its baby powder. (CNN) Read the Reuters story here.

If I remember correctly, Jim Cramer was huge "promoter" of J&J. I wonder what he has to say now. I can now put J&J in the same "basket" as Wells Fargo.