The Market And Energy Page, T+109 -- May 9, 2017

Closing: Nasdaq hits another all-time high. Dow 30 was going to finish almost flat but then in the last 30 minutes dropped 70 points, only to close about 30 points down -- reportedly due to "alarm" over NOKO testing another nuclear weapon. WTI was down again today, closing right at $46.03, but I believe I saw WTI touch slightly below $46 about the time the market closed.

Opening: S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new records; S&P now over 2400; big caps and tech pushing us up; energy lagging (badly). 

Futures: Dow 30 up about 38 points; WTI flat at about $46.50.

Whoohoo! SRE beats by 7 cents; 1Q17 EPS of $1.74. Revenue also beats: $3.03B (+15.6% -- wow -- y/y) beats by $160 million. SRE closed down 21 cents yesterday at $111.94; have to see where it goes today.

Permian's good news: from EIA today --

As crude oil production in the Permian Basin of western Texas and eastern New Mexico has increased, pipeline infrastructure has also increased to deliver this crude oil to demand centers on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

One indicator of a potential shortfall in available takeaway capacity in the Permian is a negative spread between the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil at Midland, Texas, and the price of WTI at Cushing, Oklahoma.

Going forward, the Midland versus Cushing discount, which recently widened to more than $1 per barrel (b), is unlikely to be either as large or as persistent as it was following the rapid increase in Permian production from 2010 to 2014. At points in both late 2012 and mid-2014, WTI-Midland was priced at least $15/b lower than WTI-Cushing.

Pipeline capacity expansions and other market changes are now underway to deliver more Permian crude oil to demand centers.

US GOM: new investment crucial to keep deepwater GOM production afloat. 

Hedge funds bail: just before OPEC-driven oil rally vanishes.

So sorry to hear this (LOL): PetroVietnam says Venezuela oil project still stalled.

Amazon unveils new Echo -- oh yeah. I'm getting one! And one for Sophia? We can talk to each other when we are in our own homes.