The Market Has A Fantastic Open -- More Later -- Off The Net -- Bike Riding -- December 5, 2016

End of OPEC? Over at SeekingAlpha. Pretty good article; worth the read. I bought into "swing producer" concept some years ago, but since then I have had second thoughts. More on that later, perhaps. I have said for the longest time that OPEC was a myth. Within OPEC it was always all about Saudi Arabia. Interestingly enough, now with resurgence of Iraq and Iran, maybe not so much. Can one say the production for KSA - Iraq - Iran to be about a 10-5-4 split?

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Mideast On The Brink

Quiet? Trump Has Moved The Conversation To China/Taiwan

 

Updates

Later, 7:16 p.m.: Something tells me the US Navy is having tons of fun following this story. See first comment.

A fighter jet based on the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov skid off the deck during landing and became lost at sea after an arrestor gear line snapped and failed to stop the aircraft, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.  

The Su-33 is the second aircraft that has been lost from the Kuznetsov fleet during its ongoing mission in the Mediterranean. Earlier, a Mig-29 fighter jet was not able to land and ran out of fuel because the deck crew of the carrier failed to fix a broken arrestor gear.

I think the carrier only carries a half-dozen aircraft; two down, four to go. 

Original Post

 

So, what are the Russians up to off the coast of Syria? From the transponder, the Nikolay Chiker, latest position, the last ping was three days ago, December 2, 2016. At that time it was still midway between Crete and Tartus, Syria, it's "usual" spot, but moving at 14 knots (fairly fast) in a southeasterly direction, putting it moving toward Tartus. Currently the port of Tartus looks pretty "empty."

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Americans Traveling More Than Ever

Remember all those articles written by millennials living on the East Coast that Americans would eventually give up their love affair with automobiles, preferring public transportation and bicycles?

Now this from Reuters sent to me by a reader (thank you):

US Department of Transportation says motor vehicle travel increased 2.9% in September from year before - Reuters.

OPEC agreed to "cut/freeze" production; price of oil edges up over the weekend. Hmmm. For investors, this seems to be an open book test.