The Energy And Market Page, Part 2, T+255 -- October 2, 2017

Who wudda thought? Jet fuel was the most consumed fuel, accounting for 44% of total U.S. government energy use in FY 2016 -- again, this is for US government use, not total US -- and one wonders who used most of that jet fuel? Yes, it had to be the USAF.

The close. All four major indices set new records -- Russell 2000; S&P 500; NASDAQ; and, Dow 30 -- and when CNBC covers the close -- not one mention of what might be going on. We are almost into a full year since the presidential election and not one mention of that milestone coming up. 

Fast food. I missed this one: McDonald's increased their dividend recently, from 94 cents to $1.01/share/quarter, I believe. By the way, if you scroll through the headlines for McDonald's today, you will see more than a dozen articles suggesting a surge in burger sales. One article from CNBC:

McDonald's new burgers are a big sales hit with consumers, according to one small Wall Street firm, which lit a fire under the stock on Thursday.

Longbow Research raised its rating on the restaurant chain to buy from neutral, predicting McDonald's will report sales above Wall Street expectations. "Given our latest positive checks and favorable short and long-term view of MCD's fundamentals, we are upgrading the shares this morning," analyst Alton Stump wrote in a note to clients Thursday.

"Beyond positive trends for the current quarter, we believe the shares of MCD deserve to trade above the company's own historical multiples in light of its ongoing turnaround story both in the U.S. and internationally." 

I don't know if there is something going on in the burger industry or if this is "specific" to McDonald's.

However, I did note this: two Subway restaurants in our neighborhood closed in the past year or so. Some would argue that McDonald's is the antithesis of Subway.

So, what's going on with Subway? From Bloomberg back in April, 2017:

Subway Restaurants closed hundreds of domestic locations last year, marking the biggest retrenchment in the history of a chain that spent decades saturating America with restaurants.

The company lost 359 U.S. locations in 2016, the first time that Subway had a net reduction. The store count dropped 1.3 percent to 26,744 from 27,103 in 2015, but Subway remains the nation’s most ubiquitous eatery. (McDonald’s Corp. is No. 1 by sales.)

The closely held company is coping with a sales slowdown in the U.S., made worse by the emergence of newer fast-casual rivals and the industry’s heavy reliance on discounts and promotions. Subway also has lost some of its luster as a healthier-food option. It’s been working to restore its status by eliminating antibiotics from its chicken and switching to cage-free eggs. 

Well, that's a start: antibiotic-free chickens and cage-free eggs. LOL. I am obviously living in the wrong generation. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, travel, job, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.

Disclaimer: I have never directly invested in McDonald's and have no plans to ever do so. I have to say "directly" because I assume some of the mutual shares that I hold are invested in McDonald's.

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A Man And A Dream

The roof trusses arrived this morning. Remarkably, the individual delivering the trusses took a look a look at the transmission line over the building being constructed, said he could do it, and he did: he raised and lowered eleven frames to the top of the building, missing the power line.