Hmmmm....Haven't We Been Sayng This For Quite Some Time? -- February 22, 2016

UPI is reporting:

The expected decline in U.S. crude oil production boosted market sentiments of a return to balance, pushing crude oil prices sharply higher Monday.

The International Energy Agency said in a report published Monday it revised its total global output forecast lower. In a midterm market report, the IEA said 4.1 million barrels of oil will be added to the global market between now and 2021. That's significantly lower than the 11 million bpd added in the six-year period ending in 2015.

In the United States, which in part helped pushed markets toward the supply side, IEA said oil production reaches its peak of 14.2 million bpd by 2021, but short-term output fades through 2017 under pressure from low crude prices.

So many numbers, so many forecasts. Time will tell. It's data like this that catches my attention.

Tweeting now:  Global oil demand to cross "symbolic" 100 mil b/d mark by end of decade. For the record, US solar energy set an installation record in 2015. Rounding to the nearest tenth of a percent, solar electricity now accounts for 0.0% of all US electricity consumed.

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Smart Fone Fatigue

My Samsung clam shell appears to be back in vogue: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/01ba2970-9e70-11e5-8ce1-f6219b685d74.html#axzz40vWhh2rM. 

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Daytona 500

Wow, I missed a great NASCAR race yesterday. I was at an international FINA Water Pole event.

56 seconds at the end:


2:18 minutes with commentary by Jeff Gordon (repeats the above):


Correct me if I'm wrong, but the commentators were talking about Hamlin in 4th position on the outside with two laps to go, and unlikely to be able to move up. Then Hamlin gets the "push" from #4 (Harvick) and moves to the front position with three wide: Kenseth on the outside, Hamlin in the middle, and Truex on the inside. Kenseth gets tapped, loses it/saves it but drops all the way back to 14th when the race ended. It's a Toyota - Toyota - Toyota top 3 finish, and then Harvick in a Chevrolet.