Yahoo!In-Play -- January 15, 2015

Disclaimer.

Target surges on plan to exit Canada; raises Q4 US comp guidance to +3% from +2%: Co plans to discontinue operating stores in Canada Target Canada currently has 133 stores across the country and employs ~17,600 people. Target Canada is seeking the appointment of Alvarez & Marsal Canada as Monitor in the CCAA proceedings to oversee the liquidation and wind-down process for Target Canada and its subsidiaries.

• Target Corporation expects this decision will increase its earnings in fiscal 2015 and beyond, and increase its cash flow in fiscal 2016 and beyond.

Target Corporation now expects to report fourth quarter 2014 U.S. comparable sales of ~3 percent, better than prior guidance of approximately 2 percent, driven primarily by increased traffic and stronger-than-expected digital sales

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Williams Cos announces it delivered a record amount of natural gas on its Transco interstate gas pipeline to meet demand driven by recent cold weather in markets on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard : Two recently completed expansions of Transco, totaling 315,000 dekatherms per day (dth/d) of natural gas transportation capacity, contributed to the volume record in early January.

• The new peak-day mark surpasses the previous high of 11.9 MMdt set on Jan. 7, 2014. Transco also set a three-day market area delivery record Jan. 7-9, averaging 11.9 MMdt. The Jan. 7, 2015 record volume represents enough gas to heat about 50 million U.S. homes.
• Williams expects deliveries to increase substantially in the coming years as additional planned Transco projects go into service.

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McDermott International (MDR) and GE Oil & Gas (GE) launched io oil & gas consulting, a new independent venture to transform front-end offshore field development. Through early engagement at the front end of complex field development projects, io can help ensure sound engineering design from the beginning to create execution efficiencies and improved constructability.

Not ready-for-prime-time comments regarding MDR and GE:

MDR is one company I've been in and out over the last 30 years; I generally am in for the long haul but MDR has always proved to be a problem. But at $2.40, MDR is almost a penny stock. GE should just buy it and put is out of its misery. The question GE is asking: will deep sea drilling ever come back?

I think folks who still talk about deep sea drilling forget a) how easy it is for US shale to ratchet up or down in 30 days (compared to 3 years for deep-sea drilling projects); b) how huge the Permian, Eagle Ford, and the Bakken are; c) the Canadian sands oil once the Keystone is approved; and, d) Mideast countries, like UAE, #5 producer in OPEC, says they are upping their production from 1 million bopd (ball-park some years ago) to 3 million bopd (ball-park by 2017).

I don't know the numbers but everything seems to suggest deep-sea drilling is in deep-sea trouble.

When one can ratchet up or down Canadian sands oil / US shale oil in 30 days, and an OPEC member says we will never see $100 oil again, how does one even begin pricing deep-sea drilling projects? Answer? Very, very conservatively.