Quiet Sunday Morning -- Except In Saudi Arabia, I Suppose -- Waiting For NASCAR Tonight -- Texas Motor Speedway -- November 5, 2017 -- Another NLF-Free Sunday

Active rigs:

$56.70	11/5/2017	11/05/2016	11/05/2015	11/05/2014	11/05/2013
Active Rigs	55	37	67	190	183

Brent: about $62, I suppose. Haven't checked last 72 hours but assuming $6-spread. OPEC is already thinking about $70-oil. It helps now that one of OPEC's biggest producers, Venezuela, is complying with new quotas. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's national budget has decreased slightly with the arrest and detention of 100's of princes. Assuming average monthly "pension" of $100,000 x 100 = $10 million / month = $120 million / year.

Labor force: Last month, 78.8 percent of adults aged 25 through 54 had jobs. That figure has risen 1.5 percentage points in the past two years. Yet it topped 81 percent in 2000, the last time unemployment was this low. Many potential applicants can't pass drug tests while others can live off government benefits.

Even U-6 unemployment rate is better than the U-3 unemployment rate just a few years ago.

Discussion has changed: no longer about the unemployment rate, now the discussion is bout slow wage growth.