Jobless Claims Rise To Highest Level In Three Months -- Less Than A Week Before Folks Can Vote To Stay The Course -- November 3, 2016

Active rigs:

	11/3/2016	11/03/2015	11/03/2014	11/03/2013	11/03/2012
Active Rigs	36	69	186	181	188

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DAPL

I said it sometime ago, and I will say it again: it's time for DAPL promoters and North Dakota to part ways. It was real. It was fun. But it was not real fun. Make it a trifecta: the Keystone, the Sandpiper, and the DAPL.

Let's Just Kiss and Say Goodbye, The Manhattans

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Job Watch

The spin continues: Business Insider highlights that the number of people filing for unemployment beneefits is at a 16-year low, but finally get to the point:

Initial jobless claims, which counts people applying for unemployment insurance for the first time, rose by 7,000 to 265,000 last week.

Economists had forecast that the tally fell to 256,000 from 258,000 in the prior week. 

So, not only did the number of claims rise substantially but analysts had actually forecast the number would drop.

And at DOL, the four-week moving average increased by 4,750 (one of the larger increases in recent memory) to 257,750.  

Again, this fits the gasoline demand data.

Yes, here it is, Bloomberg's headline: jobless claims rise to highest in almost three months. The lede includes that word I love: "unexpectedly." Really? Did gasoline demand foretell the trend?

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The Market

Mid-afternoon trading:  Dow 30 absolutely flat; WTI down almost another dollar, now about $44.50.

Facebook dropped more than 8%: CEO Zuckerberg says he anticipates a "meaningful" slowdown in revenue growth rates, and that his plans call for "aggressive" investments next year. For Zuckerberg/Facebook, it seems it's all about advertising dollars. Jeff Bezos continues to look like one of the few that remains a true visionary.

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Brave New World

We have really entered a new world. One of our favorite, and we have many -- grocery stores in the local area is Tom Thumb -- I think it's a Safeway store -- now has home delivery.

I just got an e-mail note that I can order my groceries on-line, and Tom Thumb will deliver (in one-hour delivery windows).

To see how I might like this, they are offering a $10 discount and free delivery on the first purchase.

Truly amazing. Folks can order on-line while at work, and then schedule a delivery for the first hour they return home from work that evening. Truly amazing. Yes, I know everyone in San Francisco and NYC and Chicago have been doing this for ages, but I grew up in North Dakota and never would have imagined this would happen in my lifetime.

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I Hear Hillary's Into Soul Food Now

I'd Love You To Want Me, The Way That I Want You, The Way It Should Be 

This was on the juke-box when she walked into the restaurant:

I'd Love You To Want Me, Lobo