No New Permits; One Permit Renewed; Two Permits Canceled -- October 28, 2026

Locator: 52049B.

WTI:

Active rigs: 39. Recent new high.

No new permits. 

One permit renewed:

• 42409, BR, Mavrud 4A-ULW, Dimmick Lake, McKenzie County.

Two permits canceled:

• 42291 - 42292: Hess, EN-Van Berkom ....-4 and -5, NESE 26-157-93, Mountrail County. 

Earnings Today -- October 28, 2026

Locator: 52048MSFT.
Locator: 52048GOOG.
Locator: 52048FORD.

Ford: link here. In the eye of the beholder. Guidance is the big concern. Share price: over five years, down 30% (of course, it depends); max time lookback: current price (~ $12) was first hit in 1997. In between then and now, a high of $35; a low of $2.00 (rounded). Pays 5%. 

Microsoft: beat on almost every metric analysts track.

Google (Alphabet): missed on almost everything analysts track. GOOG sells off after earnings were reported; down almost 9% initially; then more than 10%; may go lower.  

CNBC's "Fast Money" is concerned about GOOG especially when they hear the CFO talking about "FX" (foreign exchange) as part of the problem. FX? See this link: https://share.google/aimode/tbAcIAFwRNva3yc4d.  the "Mad Money" folks laughed -- "no one" ever talks about foreign exchange in these earning calls. 

This is the real concern: personalized bots are cannibalizing Google search (which is very, very scary for Google. Also scary for Apple [Siri]; META [Muse]; all of them.) 

Over and over and over: this statement -- "AI queries" -- specialized bots -- cannibalizing Google search. I almost never use Google search any more. I use "specialized bots." 

Think about it. A year ago: there was really only one search engine and that one great search engine had great advertising. And Google was collecting all that money for search; no real competitors. Now all these competitors, ChatGPT, Grok, Anthropic, etc .... ChatGPT I believe has the greatest market share, not Gemini. Even if GOOG gets their advertising optimized for AI queries (Gemini) they still loosing much of their search to specialized bots "owned" by others. 

This is an incredibly big story, and a concerning story for some of the huge legacy companies, like GOOG.

Holy Mackerel! WTI Surges -- Now Trading Above $103 -- 12:00 Noon -- October 28, 2026

Locator: 52047GENX.
Locator: 52047GREATWEALTHTRANSFER.

Fed rate: left unchanged.  

• the Fed says it needs more data
• fewer dissenters than expected (only two dissenters)
• economy growing more stronger than previously reported by the Fed based on subtle language 
• "solid" vs "strong" -- used the new word "strong" replacing the word "solid"
• GDP will be released tomorrow -- the advance estimate for 3Q26 -- 3.1% to 3.4% expected
• the market today: minimal to no reaction 
• the 10-year Treasury moved slightly -- very sightly upward -- taking it again, very slightly above 5% 
• Steve Liesman: has only one tool in his toolbox -- a hammer (the Fed rate) 

WTI -- OilPrice: $103.50. 

***********************
Generation X: Retirement Planning

Link here. USA Today. Generation x: born 1965 - 1980, currently 46 to 61 years old. 

• Gen X retires:
• irst to retire, age 65, in four years: 2030 or thereabouts:
• last to retire, ag 65, in 19 years; in 2045 or thereabouts.  
• the article: a piece of fluff
• appears to reflect the "feelings" of a young journalist
• if written by AI, simply repeats the well-known memes
• the old canard: social security "won't be there" 
• unless I missed it, no mention of the Intergenerational Transfer of Wealth ("The Great Wealth Transfer"): see this link: 
• this transfer has already begun
• will peak between 2036 and 2044

From that link:

Generation X: 70 million.

• at the low end -- $20 trillion / 70 million = $300,000 per individual

 

CAT Is Back --- October 28, 2026

Locator: 52046CAT.

I Have No Idea What This Means -- October 28, 2026

Locator: 52045ANT.

Tag: Anthropic BRKB Apple AAPL