Updates
Later, 11:54 p.m. CDT: mid-day here in the mid-west. I assume this is the story that brought the market down while I was out biking: IMF cuts US growth forecast; sees greater scope for zero rates. Remember: the definition, unless changed by the Obama administration, of a recession: two consecutive quarters of negative growth. A negative GDP was reported for 1Q14. Shares trading at 52-week highs (so far) today include: APC, APA, Baytex, BCEI, CVX (finally), COP, Crescent Point Energy, DVN, EOG, ECA, GBX, HK, NFX, OKE, OXY, SD, SRE, STO, WLL, WMB, WPZ. But not XOM.
At the linked IMF article:
The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecast for the U.S. economy this year and said the Federal Reserve may have scope to keep interest rates at zero for longer than investors expect.
The Washington-based IMF now sees the world's largest economy growing 2 percent this year, down from an April estimate of 2.8 percent. The IMF left a 2015 prediction unchanged at 3 percent, and said it doesn't expect the U.S. to see full employment until the end of 2017, amid low inflation.I just can't get too "excited" about that report in a "negative" way. I actually see more "positive" in that than "negative." I assume most folks will disagree with me.
Later, 9:25 a.m. CDT: it seemed to take forever, but CVX finally reached its 52-week high. SRE is at a new 52-week high. COP is trading at a new 52-week high. WLL opened at its 52-week high; pulled back a bit, but Yahoo!Finance still shows it "green" for the day.
Later, 9:12 a.m. CDT: in all my years of investing, I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. A mature company in the manufacturing/oil and gas sector surges 20% based on the news of one deal. WMB is now up more than 20%. This is simply incredible. I wish I had access to cable television to see if CNBC is even following this incredible story.
Just as incredible: the US stock market has just turned positive despite the war in Iraq. WTI oil is sitting right at $107. It is quite remarkable how stable WTI oil really is considering what is going on in Iraq. I think one can safely say things would be a lot different if it weren't for the "Bakken experiment."
Original Post
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Futures:
- WMB is up almost 12% in pre-market trading. Steve alerted me to this story two days ago and I finally got around to posting it yesterday.
- TPLM is up over 2% in pre-market tradking.
- SLB is moving up slightly, as is HAL.
I'm sure the list will go on and on.
Why is CEO pay so high? Because of Dodd-Frank. Reuters is reporting:
When the Dodd-Frank Act passed in 2010, its Wall Street reforms included a "say on pay" provision that gave shareholders the right to vote on an executive's pay package every three years.
Companies' boards have responded to this regulation, and there has been a trend toward basing CEO compensation on how well a company is doing in the market relative to its competition.
"They've learned to avoid investor pay irritants and red flags, such as compensation that is not linked to performance and pay perks to cover taxes executives owed," the Wall Street Journal reported in April.
U.S. stocks are at all-time highs, and so it follows that many CEOs of the nation's biggest corporations are making more money than they were a few years ago.
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Active rigs in North Dakota today:| 6/16/2014 | 06/16/2013 | 06/16/2012 | 06/16/2011 | 06/16/2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Rigs | 187 | 185 | 214 | 171 | 129 |
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