Cramer's First Ten Minutes -- Thursday -- February 5, 2026

Locator: 49918B. 

YUM Brands: raises dividend from 71 cents to 75 cents, a 6% increase.

The Great Reset: wherever you are "today" in the market -- "today" being defined as the month of February --  this is where the next leg up begins. Which puts me in a great mood.

Iran: the calm before the storm. The Great Stall. Iran negotiated for a new venue for continued "talks." They will do this again and again ... until Hegseth says "enough is enough."

"Too late Jay": the millionaires at the Fed -- their attitude -- let MAGAns eat cake. First time unemployment claims exceed forecasts. This follows a lackluster ADP report earlier. 

GOOG: 2026 CAPEX -- $175 - $185 billion. Unprecedented. The moat. This graphic needs to be updated. This is not an investing site. See blog's disclaimer.

AAPL: I'm hoping this market will last two more weeks. AAPL upcoming dividend -- 

• record date: February 9, 2026 -- is that Monday next week?
• pay date, 26 cents per share -- February 12, 2026 -- is that Thursday next week? 

AAPL: reassuring --

• after a big day yesterday, pre-market AAPL was down slightly; but,
• up very, very slightly at the open; but, of course, the day is just begining; 
• traders desperately looking for a safe haven.

Safe haven? Nope. BRK-B -- is down this morning at the open. Mid-afternoon -- flat, but slightly green.

India: 

• H-1B visas: 
• I assume "everyone" knows this story:
• H-1B visas have been "stopped"
• tech companies will now begin building facilities in India where their engineers will work
• H-1B visas are non-immigrant, specialty occupation visas (e.g., tech, engineering, research) allowing U.S. employers to hire foreign workers with at least a bachelor’s degree. The program is highly competitive, requiring a lottery for 65,000 general slots plus 20,000 for U.S. advanced degree holders. As of September 2025, new, stricter regulations including a $100,000 fee may apply. 
• Trump cuts tariffs on India's imports by half, from 50% to 25%. 

AMD: AMD's new "450" chips have more memory than any Nvidia chip. 

New link being added to the "links" page:

• The Merchants News: link here.
• I don't know anything about it and not sure what one gets with out subscribing for paid account; but what I've read so far is an interesting take on geopolitics.
• substack here. 

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $63.64.

New wells reporting:

• Friday, February 6, 2026: 13 for the month, 66 for the quarter, 66 for the year,
• 41334, conf, Hess, BW-Stoveland-149-100-1003H-5, 
• 41235, conf, Hunt, Clearwater 157-90-14-11H-2, 
• Thursday, February 5, 2026: 11 for the month, 64 for the quarter, 64 for the year.
• None.

RBN Energy: midstreamers stay financially stable despite reacceleration of gas-focused CAPEX. Link here. Archived.

Since 2010, the U.S. midstream sector has moved through a clear boom-bust-discipline cycle: a massive infrastructure buildout in the 2010s, followed by a sharp pullback after 2020, and then a new era of more selective, high-return projects that prioritize asset optimization over large-scale projects. Post-pandemic investor pressure for stronger returns resulted in a strategic shift to financial discipline and significant deleveraging. However, new demand drivers — AI-propelled power load growth and a wave of LNG export expansion — are pushing midstream capex higher again. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll analyze the financial strength of major U.S. midstream companies and examine how they are balancing growth, risk and fiscal responsibility.

As the backbone of the U.S. oil and gas supply chain, midstream operators are forced to respond to volatile changes in hydrocarbon production and demand. In 2010-14, rapid growth in shale production triggered explosive growth in capital spending to the $40 billion-$50 billion per year range to fund long-haul crude pipelines, gathering and processing systems, and NGL fractionation and export infrastructure. There was a pullback after the plunge in crude prices in late 2014, but as shown in Figure 1 below, capex accelerated again in 2017 as Permian production outgrew takeaway capacity. Sectorwide spending reached another high-water mark in 2018-19 with the completion of major crude oil pipeline projects such as Cactus II, EPIC and Gray Oak; Gulf Coast NGL pipelines and fractionators; and the first wave of LNG export terminals.

A Musical Interlude -- February 4, 2026

Locator: 49917AQUARIUS. 

Link here.  

 

Hair (the musical) at wiki. 

I graduated from high school in the spring, 1969.

I began college in the fall of 1969: Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD.

During my freshman year, fall of 1969 - spring of 1970, four close friends and two coeds drove straight through to San Diego, California, for spring break, March, 1970.

While out there, we "experienced" everything from Tijuana, Mexico, to downtown Los Angeles. 

And when I say we "experienced" everything -- I mean everything. LOL.

One of the things we experienced was seeing the musical Hair. 

At wiki. The AI summary:

Disneyland:

The four close friends were pre-med students (myself, John, Richard, and Dick). We drove out to San Diego for spring break! Somehow the two coeds found we were headed to San Diego and the two wanted to join us, one to see her family, the other to see her boyfriend. 

One of the two coeds was Mary Baldino. I was curious if I could find her on the internet. I typed in her name and Augustana College, and the first hit was of Mary Baldino! Holy mackerel. 

It was an entry by her husband. Here are the screenshots of that entry.

First entry:

 I thought that entry above might be too small to read so I zoomed in and took two screenshots:

What an incredible story. So many story lines. 

Meiko McLemore:  

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention -- An Oxymoron -- February 4, 2026

Locator: 49916MEASLES. 

LOL. 

The perfect storm: when antivaxxers led by RFK, Jr., meet Biden's three million uninvited guests. What could possibly go wrong?  Wow, LOL. The perfect storm. 

Of course, Trump will be blamed since he was responsible for the US leaving the World Health Organization.  

Link here. This will sell a lot of newspapers. Clipboard nurses and the CDC graphics department will have a field day. They won't have any effect on the outbreak but they will certainly feel busy. 

Here's the first graphic.

CDC = Centers For Disease Control and Protection --- wow, talk about an oxymoron. Interestingly, we haven't heard a thing about this from RFK, Jr. 

By the way, what's the current US recommendation on measles vaccine? The good news: measles is still "on the list" of pediatric vaccines, but, now the bad news, the emphasis is now on "personal choice." 

That was the compromise made with RFK, Jr., to keep the vaccine on list of pediatric vaccines available in the. US.  

And if you ask a two-year-old if she wants a "shot," she will say "no." And, of course, she's on solid ground. Her parents know that if all the kids at daycare have their vaccines, she will be protected by "herd immunity."  

The history of the vaccine:

• 1963, the first iteration: I was 12
• 1968, the second and better iteration:   I was 17, getting ready to graduate from high school
• 1971: the MMR vaccine was introduction -- in my second year of college. 

It will be interesting to see if the measles vaccine (a series of two vaccinations before the age of six years of age) provides a lifetime of immunity. If so, it will be quite amazing. 

This is the CDC site for tracking measles -- a disease that was "eliminated" in the US in the year 2000.  

Chances Of A US-Pre-emptive Attack On Iran -- February 4, 2026

Locator: 49915IRAN. 

Strike one: Iran flying a drone toward a US Navy ship. Shot down by US Navy. 

Strike two: Iranian gunboats try to board US-flagged oil tanker. Failed when a US Navy destroyer arrived on scene to escort the tanker. 

Strike three: FAFO. 

All indications are this will not end well for Iran. Google Gemini:

What's polymarket have to say about a US-pre-emptive strike on Iran?

• US pre-emptive strike, short-term, days to one / two week: 30%
• US pre-emptive strike, longer-term, two to four weeks: 80%.

What's WTI have to say about a US-pre-emptive strike on Iran?

• WTI: $64.24. Down 90 cents, February 4, 2026.  

Iranians are experts (as most players in the Mideast are) at playing the long game and stalling. US SecDef is not so patient. 

My hunch: if US feels they are being played in Oman, February 6, two days from now, Friday, watch for fireworks. 

The Day The Music Died -- February 4, 2026

Locator: 49914EVS. 

Link here. 

And then BYD:

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And, Then, Of Course, There's Rivian

Link here. 

The downgrade hits Rivian stock at a vulnerable moment. The company just reported 2025 deliveries of 42,247 vehicles, down 18% from the prior year and slightly below Wall Street’s forecast.