Wednesday Morning -- Miscellaneous -- April 15, 2015

Everywhere it is being reported that sit-down restaurants are moving to table tablet ordering:

Olive Garden has a tablet for two waiting for you. The Italian restaurant chain said Tuesday that it is installing Ziosk computer tablets at all of its U.S. locations so customers can order and pay by touch screen. Olive Garden, owned by Florida's Darden Restaurants, started using Ziosk tablets in some of its restaurants last year.

The chain said Tuesday that locations using the devices have experienced faster dining times and increased tip percentages for wait staff. It will start rolling them out at additional restaurants next month and expects the 7-inch devices to be in all of its more than 800 U.S. restaurants before year's end. 

Red Robin and Chili's to follow.

By the way, we went out to eat at Red Robin last night; it was the monthly school fund raiser. Incredibly busy. Not impressed with the hamburger meat; I've become "spoiled" by real hamburger and real bison burgers.

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Very Briefly

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment or financial decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

From 24/7 Wall Street:

For the purposes of discussion, the analysts at Credit Suisse have narrowed down to five potential takeover candidates. Three are MLPs and two are general partners. They are ONEOK Inc., ONEOK Partners L.P., Targa Resources Corp., Targa Resources Partners L.P., and MarkWest Energy Partners L.P.

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Briefly

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment or financial decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.

I heard on the radio this morning: "stocks" hit a 14-year high in Europe yesterday. I think the economic crisis in Europe is a bit overblown.  

In the US, pre-market, the Dow is up a bit  and oil is up a bit.

Cracks in OPEC continue to appear. Iran joins Libya in asking for production cuts to be made.

Briefly, from Zacks:

Oneok's favorable cash generating capacity and ongoing investments in growth projects will likely drive its performance in the future. In addition, its practice of paying regular dividends is commendable. However, stringent regulations coupled with dependence on the local distribution companies for supplying energy services remain potential setbacks.

Los Angeles school district okays plans for two all-girl schools.

The AP is reporting that manufacturing activity decreased in New York this past month. The press release suggests this is a reflection of the nation's economy.  I think it's regional. The northeast pretty much has an anti-business bias based on the limited information I have.

Manufacturing activity in New York shrank in April for the first time in four months, a sign that the strong dollar and sluggish consumer spending may be holding back factories.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says that its Empire State manufacturing index fell to negative 1.2 reading from a plus 6.9 in March. The latest reading is the lowest since December.

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Not So Briefly

Reuters at Rigzone is reporting:

The U.S. government on Tuesday forecast domestic crude production will rise even more than expected a year ago, undeterred by the worst price rout since the financial crisis. U.S. crude oil production will peak at 10.6 million barrels per day in 2020, a million barrels more than the high forecast a year earlier, according to the annual energy outlook by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy Department. Crude production will then moderate to 9.4 million bpd in 2040, 26 percent more than expected a year ago, the agency said. The reference case in the report forecasts Brent prices of $56 a barrel in 2015, rising to about $91 a barrel in 2025, $10 a barrel less than levels expected a year ago. The report uses the 2013 value of the dollar as its measure. Despite lower prices, higher production will result mainly from increased onshore oil output, predominantly from shale formations.

Memo to self: memo to Jane Nielson. 

Kemp at Rigzone:

Oil production from major U.S. shale plays will decline by almost 60,000 barrels per day between April and May according to new estimates from the Energy Information Administration.

Production is expected to decline in the Bakken, Niobrara and Eagle Ford plays next month. Only the Permian Basin is expected to post a small month-on-month increase in output ("Drilling Productivity Report" Apr 2015).

With the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States down by almost 53 percent in just six months, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes, the shale boom appears to be approaching a turning point. The crude market remains substantially oversupplied as a result of past production, but the degree of excess supply should narrow in the coming months.