10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 --

Come next summer, 2015, which companies won't be operating any more in the Bakken (as stand-alone companies or gone altogether)? I'm thinking:

• KOG
• Fidelity (division of MDU)
• OXY USA
• CHK 
• Oasis
• Samson Resources 
• MHR (see first comment) 
• Emerald Oil  (see third comment; here's the SeekingAlpha / Filloon link;

Might one add Halcon to the list? Newfield? SM Energy?

I don't know enough about the following companies to comment:

• American Eagle
• Triangle

This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or what you think you may have read here. Make no travel plans based on what you read here. I post quickly and frequently; typographical and factual errors are likely. If this information is important to you, go to the source.

While thinking about that, consider also this post. 

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For Investors

A long, long time ago, a reader mentioned that the biggest beneficiaries of  low gasoline prices might be stores like Dollar Stores and Wal-Mart.

I was reminded of that when I saw WMT on the list of companies trading at new highs today. An analyst suggested that low gasoline prices were likely responsible for Wal-Mart's earnings report. Although not by much, Wal-Mart did beat expectations by 3 cents.

One wonders if McDonald's might benefit.

This is simply idle chatter. I don't trade in either Wal-Mart or Dollar Stores or McDonald's or any of the other companies I might yet name below (if I do, I will say so). This is simply idle chatter. It provides me an opportunity to think about earnings reports a year from now and see how low gasoline prices might have affected them.

I have a brother-in-law who has a brand-new Toyota pick-up truck (has driven Toyota pick-up trucks for as long as I can remember) and always pays for gasoline in cash. I assume he could be used to paying with three $20-bills; now he may be paying with two such bills. Maybe not that big a difference, but one gets the point. He won't, but many folks will then take that "savings" on gasoline and buy something in the convenience store where they bought the gasoline. My brother-in-law will buy a hot dog at Costco. 

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Global Warming

I happened to glance at the weather report here in the DFW area for tonight. It will get into the low 20's. Something I don't think most north Texans have experienced in many previous Novembers. And then this: there is a chance of a light dusting of snow on Sunday. That could be a first, I suppose.