Meandering Thoughts On An NFL-Free Thursday Night -- OCtober 26, 2017

I just googled, "NFL tonight" -- wow, this will keep the viewers tuned in. The score is 40 - 0.  I can't remember who is playing -- I guess one of the teams is the Dolphins. I can already hear the play-by-play announcers trying to keep viewers tuned in -- "If they can score on this drive, get an on-side kick and this is a game again." 

World events:

• something tells me "Rocket Man" and his minions are flummoxed by President Trump
• I can't wait to see if President Trump visits the DMZ; I hope he does; maybe even tweet from the DMZ
• Saudi Arabia: talk about being flummoxed; slow train wreck, losing $5 billion / month; strategies not working; 
• Iraq's star rising; Iran, back to square one with the US and world community
• Germany's Merkel: now she knows what quicksand feels like: slow and impossible to get out of

Energy:

• US breaking away from rest of world; US E&Ps targeting $27 oil
• US crude oil exports increasing, and yet US crude oil inventories increase -- so much for re-balancing
• we haven't heard about storage constraints at Cushing for quite some time now; despite rising inventories

Investors:

• value investors talk about looking for "value," but have become "momentum" investors
• growth investors are the new "momentum" investors
• I wouldn't put new money in Big Oil, Medium Oil, or Small Oil right now, but my hunch is that next summer (2018) I'm going to wish I had put new money into Big Oil, Medium Oil, and Small Oil
• tea leaves: Janet Yellen is re-appointed by President Trump for another four years
• stock pickers' market but market has the feel of the Golden Nugget for the first time in quite some time
• a lot of "accidental high dividend payers"
• GE will spin off one or two divisions
• investors have a four-year opportunity that they have not had in 16 years; but the opportunity will last only four years

Oil money

• CEOs, CFO, board directors doing very, very well
• roughnecks doing well but probably not as well as they were doing during the boom
• mineral owners with minerals in "sweet spots" are going to be shocked at how big their monthly checks are with pad drilling
• surface owners: monthly easement checks make life a bit better but still angry they don't have mineral rights
• North Dakota: will see Legacy Fund growing a bit faster in 2018 than in 2017
• investors in equity: doing really, really badly and wondering what happened
• did I forget anyone?

Culture

• music is still not as good as it was in 1969
• the "old" Apple phones are just as good as the "new" Apple phones and a whole lot less expensive
• folks will be underwhelmed by Tesla's Model 3
• YouTubeTV will scare the heck out of Spectrum, Comcast
• NFL-free Sundays will become the new mantra; with TV money, NFL will thrive; if Kaepernick gets a job, that will provide an excuse for the "kneelers" to stand once again; everyone will save face
• every male celebrity, every male journalist is waiting for their sexist past to catch up with them  

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The Art Page

Sophia, age 3.3 years old (3 years 4 month old)
Medium: water color
October 26, 2017
Title: Birds