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Link to a Most Poignant Post on Another Board

A huge "thank you" to "Bradaz" and "Billoutwest" over on the Teague "Bakken Shale Discussion Group" for their posts of September 24, 2010.

Their posts are most poignant. I found myself having to "time-out" to reflect before pressing on.

None of us will ever forget.

Quiet in the Oil Patch

There's a nice article on oil "supply and demand" in a general sense over at Street Watch.com. I tried to find a better place to link the article, but nothing seemed to work, so the link will get a stand-along post.

The author says things are relatively quiet on the surface in the oil patch, but behind the scenes a lot is going on. I agree completely, and I hope my multiple postings suggest that. Outside of technology, I think the two biggest things going on in the oil patch: 1) scramble to raise money to expedite drilling programs; and, b) merger and acquisition activity (XOM/XTO; DNR/ENC; CHK/SSN; Anschutz/TBD; HES/AEZ; ERF/FBIR).

Most interesting is the author's contention that "supply and demand" is fairly well balanced. Perhaps it is in the big scheme of things when compared to wars and OPEC embargoes, but there are many analysts suggesting there is a lot of oil sloshing around out there, waiting for the global economy to take off.

Enerplus -- Deja Vu All Over Again

I love it when the Motley Fool sees the same thing I do (a rare event, yes, I know).

One or two days ago I pointed out that Enerplus just paid $10,000/acre in the Bakken for some acreage in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Today, there's an article at the Motley Foot site that hgihlights that same data point. The Fool says that data point helps one determine the value of other Bakken players, such as BEXP and NOG.

For Investors Only: Seeking Alpha Update on Rocky Mountain Opportunities

I always have to chuckle when I see the Williston Basin as part of the Rocky Mountain play. Whatever.

Anyway, there's an article over on Seeking Alpha about energy opportunities in the Rockies; most of the companies I don't follow, but some of you may be interested.

I was happy to see I am not the only one who cannot keep up with what is happening in the Williston Basin. The author of that article was surprised to see that SM was the new name for St Mary Land and Exploration. That I knew. But I've missed a lot of other changes in the Bakken.

For Investors: Earnings Reports (3Q10) -- Recession? What Recession?

Bakken oil companies will report:
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So, which is it? A recession or not a recession? I still maintain that we are in a recession, see recent posts.

However, I have been a bit sarcastic about all the negativity presented by politicians and "talking heads" when it comes to the economy. If one only listened to mainstream media, one would get the impression there is no good news in the private sector. Back in July I posted the earnings reports as they were announced.

This is interesting. On September 30, 2010, on national television (CNBC), Daimler-Benz CEO said the folks that make Mercedes Benz will have the best September in the history of their company, worldwide and in the US. 

So, here we go again (I will only be printing the positive news; it's easy to find the negative news elsewhere).  Third quarters earnings season doesn't start until next month (right now we're in the "warnings season"), but some companies will report early.

3rd Quarter, 2010, Earnings , Selected
  • Nike: earnings $1.45, vs $1.01; blows away expectations
  • Walgreens: earnings up 8 percent (their 4th quarter)
  • CSX: earnings jump 43%, beating expectations, and well above year-over-year 
  • INTC: earnings up 59% 
  • JPM: analysts' expectation -- 88 cents; actual -- $1.10 (who says the banks are in trouble?) 
  • GOOG: earnings up 32% 
  • Hasbro, as in toys, earnings up 3%, in a recession? 
  • Halliburton: earnings double, on natural gas drilling 
  • Citigroup, a BANK, beats estimates, worst is over? 
  • Bank of America: earnings, 27 cents; expectations, 16 cents. 
  • Altria: beats expectations by 2 cents; 54 cents vs 42 cents yoy
  • McDonalds: $1.29 vs $1.15 a year ago; beats expectations
  • Caterpillar: $1.22 vs $0.64 one year ago; slow economy 
  • United Airlines: $1.75 this quarter; lost money one year ago; all airlines soaring
  • UPS: 3rd quarter earnings soared, up 81% (hey, how's the US Postal Service doing -- still losing money. I check my mailbox once a week; today -- no first class mail; only election advertising, and local grocery market circulars; all junk mail -- all representing last four days of mail
  • SanDisk (flash memory): earnings soar, $1.30 vs $1.05 last year; beats expectations
  • SLB soars: $1.38 vs $0.65 last quarter. Transcript of earnings call
  • DreamWorks Animation (movies): earnings double 
  • Norfolk Southern: earnings soar; up 47% 
  • Visa: earnings up 51% as credit card usage increases 
  • Shell: earnings up 6% on higher oil prices 
  • Toyota profit quadruples despite recall 
  • Dell: earnings double --- Dell? Doubled? What recession?
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My Prayer, The Platters

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Speaking of "seasons," there are four seasons in Texas: football regular season, play-off and champion season,  recruiting season, and training season.

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Luxury Sales: back to pre-crisis levels

September auto sales:
GM is owned by the unions and the US govt; worse performance a coincidence? I think not.