Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- November 7, 2019

Wow, wow, wow -- Saudi Aramco delays payment on Sabic deal by four years ....  huge story ... buried, but a huge story ... Bloomberg --- November 4, 2019 ... 

Saudi Aramco will delay fully paying for the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in petrochemicals company Sabic by four years until September 2025 under terms of a new deal agreed on last month.

Aramco will also only pay the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund about a third of the $69.1 billion price tag in cash, down from half previously, the oil firm said in its intention-to-float announcement

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From twitter:

• high-sulphur marine fuel prices are falling in Rotterdam, IMO 2020
• Russia to "hold out" on IMO 2020 on its "inland waterways"
• Brazil and Chinese state-owned firms only ones bidding on Brazil's off-shore oil in latest round
• Iran nuclear crisis escalating; Americans seem unmoved; same old, same old
• China said to be studying lifting the curb on US poultry imports
• one hour ago: China says US agrees to phased tariff rollback if deal reached
• US-led naval forces formally begin operations to protect Mideast sea lanes

Futures:

• all major indices up significantly; all -- maybe not the NASDAQ -- would open at new highs (?)
• Dow: up about 135 points 
• NASDAQ: up about 40 points
• S&P 500: up about 10 points

Startling:

• Bill Gates says if it comes down to Trump vs Pocahontas, he will vote pragmatically

Pocahontas:
may have had her "Beto O"Rourke" moment when she said, "Hell, yes, we'll take your private health insurance."

Cleaning out the in-box:

• shale wells are on the edge of profitability at current prices, November 10, 2019, WorldOil
• new term for me: half-cycle drilling costs; we'll come back to this later
• the historical floor price for U.S. oil of $45, which in the past has been based on so-called half-cycle drilling costs, is likely to rise to $50 as investors use different metrics
• US productivity plunges for the first time since 2015 as labor costs surge -- zerohedge -- November 6, 2019 -- consider the source when reading the headline and then check out the graphic at the link
• global warming: several blasts of Arctic air will bring early winter to northeast -- zerohedge-- November 6, 2019 -- remember, the 2019 - 2020 Farmers' Almanac said it would be a milder winter -- at least the one I read, but I think you can find anything you want when it comes to weather predictions in the Almanac
• global warming: cold October (and now November) in perspective -- The Next Grand Minimum -- November 3, 2019
• global warming -- Bjorn Lomborg -- Paris climate promises will reduce temperatures by just 0.05°C in 2100 -- November, 2015, peer-reviewd paper
• US holiday to soar -- UPS -- forecasts "peak day" to be 26% higher than 2018 -- recession? what recession? -- Benzinga via Yahoo!Finance -- November 5, 2019
• Texas scores again: national clothing retailer Ross Dress for Less will build massive distribution facility outside of Houston, TX; bizjournals -- November 6, 2019; the Ross facility will be nearly twice the size of the Amazon Fulfillment Center that opened in 2018 in the same area as the new proposed Ross facility

Holidays: I don't know if others have noticed, but here in the southwest, folks are switching out Halloween decorations for Christmas. Thanksgiving will be a speed bump on the way to holiday spending.

• next big thing: year 'round holiday lights; computer-LED color changes based on the season
• we have a huge McMansion in our area that has bright blue-yellow lights on almost year 'round
• from my perspective three variations in holiday lights
• green and red (and or multi-colored across the entire spectrum)
• green and white
• blue and yellow