The Market And Energy Page, T+55 -- March 16, 2017

Back Over 21,000
9:04 a.m. Central Time
The Day After The Fed Raises Rates

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Opening

 Weather: incredibly cold on East Coast. More snow forecast over the weekend. 

Trump budget: defense spending up; cuts to State Department, EPA.

The importance of the Oxford comma (which I swear by): over at Fortune. 

Trump wants to privatize air traffic control. Won't happen.

Market (Dow) open up 25 points.

WTI one cent over $49.

MBS? Mohammed bin Salman. CNBC noted. Not to be confused with MLB.

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Futures

Market, WTI: everything green.

Global crude oil production: it's now clear. Russia is #1 reason for increased global oil production despite OPEC "cuts." Turns out Saudi's cuts were trivial in big scheme of things. Iran's production is also increasing substantially. Saudi can "blame" US frackers all they want, but the truth is out there. Headlines over at Rigzone:

• Iraq plans to boost crude oil production and exports this year
• Russia's Lukoil sees hydrocarbon output growth of 3 - 4% in 2017

Tesla raises additional funds for Model 3 debut: in The Wall Street Journal.

• $250 million in common stock
• $750 million in convertible notes due in 2022
• company says it remains on track to "launch a more affordable car this year, but it needs to raise $1 billion to make sure it happens"
• analysts had expected Tesla to seek as much as $2.5 billion