The Energy And Market Page, T+242 -- September 19, 2017

From the September, 2017, CLR corporate presentation. Link here for presentations.

First, look at the breakeven price for crude oil in the Bakken:

 

Then, look at how the DAPL affected takeaway capacity in the Bakken:

Again? It looks like the market may open at new highs in a couple of hours. In the old days, a 75-point rise in the Dow 30, as it did yesterday, would have been noteworthy. Now 75 points barely represents a third of a percent. In fact, one of my personal favorite portfolios actually dropped slightly yesterday despite the fact the market rose. It concerned me until I checked the reason why. Shares in a couple of companies had risen quickly over the past two weeks, and a bit of profit-taking explained the slight drop. The point of all this: any rise or fall in the Dow 30 of 100 points is simply a "flat day" in the big scheme of things. Having said that, 100 points in the "green" is always better than 100 points in the "red."

Toys "R" Us: files for bankruptcy. No link, story everywhere.

EVs. Why switching to fully electric cars will take time -- BBC. It looks like all that talk about EVs is code for: a) hybrids; b) hybrids; c) hybrids. I think of several reasons why the switch will "take time," starting with consumer demand. What does the BBC say?

• conventional the ICE (gasoline and diesel) is not going away
• the definition of "electrified" automobile: more and more it simply means 25-mile-EV-Prius-hybrid range (which does not need to be plugged in to re-charge)
• a mild hybrid is effectively a conventional car, using a small electric engine to take over while an automobile is idling at stoplights
• huge infrastructure still required to meet needs of true EVs
• a lot of batteries will be required to meet needs of true EVs

Actually, the article was a bust. Save yourself some time; don't read it. The article simply reiterated what you already know and said it fairly poorly, considering this was BBC.