Update On GE-BHI; The Permian: And, OPEC -- October 31, 2016

Update on Russia's Northern Fleet headed to Syria: five minutes ago -- yes, five minutes ago -- the fleet's transponder shows its location to be entering the west channel of the strait between Malta and Sicily. Five minutes ago would have been approximately 10:45 a.m. Central Time. Current local time in Malta is just about 5:00 p.m. Monday. Speed 11.1 knots. 

GE-BHI update: from The Wall Street Journal. From Forbes.  From Zeits. From Bloomberg. From CNBC. And Rigzone (GE, BHI "shrewd move" cold avert anti-trust issues). Slide presentation at SeekingAlpha. These are the words in the headlines and stories of the linked articles that regulators do not like to see:

• energy
• oil 
• deals
• mega-deal
• energy powerhouse
• BHI-HAL

Fortunately, "pipeline" was not seen in any of the articles. Other than that, this proposed merger will sail right through a Hillary presidency. Assuming, of course, the Clinton Charitable Foundation gets a cut of this oil mega-deal that will result in an energy powerhouse that is a story so big that it's a headline in every media outlet today, completely burying any news in the bid for presidency, and the election just a week away. Reporting in the Los Angeles Times today suggests that Ms Clinton already has an insurmountable lead based on exits polls of fourteen early voters.

Rumor, unsubstantiated, and likely to be untrue: Standing Rock Reservation protesters are being encouraged to boycott Sears outlet stores that sell GE microwave ovens, and asking FBI Director Comey to look into why this deal was announced one week before the election. BHI is being given a pass due to its "peculiar" three-letter ticker.

OPEC: never mind. No cut. WTI this morning on that really, really surprising news: down $1.20 to less than $48.

The Permian: skyrocketing West Texas land prices have oilmen uneasy.

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Back to the Bakken

Active rigs:

	10/31/2016	10/31/2015	10/31/2014	10/31/2013	10/31/2012
Active Rigs	35	70	193	180	186

RBN Energy: supplying Mexico's growing natural gas demand, part 3.

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The Market

Mid-day trading: after opening a bit negative, now a bit positive; up about 20 points. NYSE:
new highs - 45: BHI (a big whoop);
new lows - 69: again, not good when the number of "new lows" outpace the number of "new highs"