TransCanada Asks President Obama To Delay Review Of The Keystone Proposal -- November 2, 2015

There is so much going on, and so much to post, but it's been a long day -- blogging as well as biking and spending more time than usual with the youngest granddaughter (15 months old) in the park, I have hit a wall. Can't post any more at the moment. Maybe later tonight; otherwise I will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Whether I get back to these stories or not, I don't know, but I want to post / link them, so I can clear the mailbox:

• Silly season: a White House spokesman says President Obama now senses the urgency to decide on the Keystone; his presidency is nearing its end; the rumor is that the application was misfiled, and while looking for Clinton e-mails, they found the original app for the Keystone pipeline
• But it gets sillier: TransCanada is now asking the Obama administration to delay its review of the proposal.  
• White middle-age men's lives matter. The New York Times reports that eventually all white men will die. Same for black men. Same for white women. 
• 30-year record broken: the EPA finally did them in: Citing required environmental controls, NorthWestern Energy in South Dakota said it will raise its electric rates for the first time in more than 30 years, effective January 1, 2016.  
• Fireworks: MDU earnings at Seeking Alpha: conference call tomorrow. Should be interesting. 
• This is a keeper: a summary of proposed pipeline projects in mid-state Pennsylvania.
• The road to Minnesota: Xcel looking to raise utility rates in Minnesota 10% over three years. Intermittent energy has its costs. 
• Not to be confused with EPCOT: ERCOT says it is in better shape than ever; even better than last update two months ago; ERCOT manages the Texas electric grid; EPCOT is a Disney theme park in Florida;
• The trainwreck gets ever more expensive: the average price of the lowest-cost bronze plan in HealthCare.gov states was rising by an average of 16 percent. The average price of the lowest-cost silver plan was rising by 13 percent, compared to the 3.2 percent rise that was seen for 2015 plans. 
• OPEC Gulf states can't get enough of Saudi's strategy: Gulf States starting to feel the pinch. Be still my heart.  In announcing the downgrade, S&P observed that the kingdom had budget surpluses of about 13 percent of gross domestic product in the 10 years leading up to 2013. Since the price of oil began its plunge, however, the agency said that Saudi's surplus will become a deficit of 16 percent of GDP by the end of fiscal 2015. Be still my heart.
• Only 53 years young. Mike Hammond, who co-founded computer maker Gateway in an Iowa farmhouse in 1985 and helped turn it into an American success story by shipping PCs straight to customers in boxes with a spotted-cow design, has died at age 53.
• What's not to like? The most "common" price I see for regular gasoline in north Texas is $1.99/gallon. It does not take a lot of searching to find gasoline about $1.89/gallon. Across from the swimming pool where the oldest granddaughter trains (water polo), gasoline was $1.81/gallon tonight. 

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Earnings Being Reported Tuesday

Frontier Communications (FTR); forecast a loss of one cent; AP here; 7-cent loss vs forecast of a one-cent loss;
Targa Resources Partners LP (NGLS); forecast 10 cents; press release  here; looks like 2 cents, well off the forecast; shares surge 11% in pre-market trading; Targa Resources to buy Targa Resources Partners; $7 billion deal also reported at FuelFix;
TransCanada (TRP.TO); forecast 60 cents; press release here; 57 cents, it appears;
Sempra Energy (SRE); it was a $1.00 in 2Q15; forecast 88 cents; beats by 11 cents; AP here;

The San Diego-based company said it had profit of 99 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 83 cents per share.

Sprint (S); forecast a loss of 8 cents; loss is greater than twice expected; 15-cent loss vs 7-cent loss at this site; also at The Wall Street Journal;

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (BW); forecast 32 cents; press release here; big miss; 25 cents;
Black Hills Corporation (BKH); forecast 58 cents; 64 cents adjusted; AP here;
MPO: press release here; 95-cent loss; AP here; beats by $2.91;
Newfield Exploration (NFX); forecast of 16 cents; AP story here; huge beat at 21 cents per share;
Oasis Petroleum (OAS); forecast of 6 cents; AP story here; works out to 9 cents/share;
OKE, OKS; AP story; OKE 41 cents vs 39 cents forecast; beats;
Plains All American (PAA); forecast of 25 cents; beats by 4 cents; 28 cents EPS
Tesla (TSLA); forecast a loss of 50 cents; AP story here; loss at 58 cents is bigger than expected; but deliveries better than expected and TSLA surges 7% in after-hours trading