The Market And Energy Page, T+312 -- November 30, 2017

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

Market: futures suggest the Dow could hit 24,000 today. Watch for great buying opportunities when McCain +3 scuttle the tax bill.

Record: the market has hit five "1,000-level milestones" since Trump was elected president: 20,000; 21,000; 22,000; 23,000; 24,000 -- is that correct? That's what was said on CNBC -- I will have to check. Yup, that's accurate.

ENB, EEP: surge. Whoo-hoo. Enbridge will streamline asset, hike dividend, lower debt.

Shell: selling pipeline assets for about a billion dollars --

Moving ahead with its divestment goals, European oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is set to vend stakes in pipelines and terminals to its subsidiary Shell Midstream Partners LP in an $825-million deal.  

According to Shell Midstream, the purchase price is approximately 8.4 times the pipelines’ projected adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the next one year. The partnership is likely to finance the deal with borrowing under the new and current credit facilities. Subject to satisfactory closing conditions, the transaction is set for closure on Dec 1, 2017. 

Per the deal Shell Midstream will acquire 22.9% and 22% stakes in Mars Oil Pipeline Co LLC and Odyssey Pipeline LLC, respectively. This will increase Shell Midstream’s ownership interests to 71.5% and 71% interests in Mars and Odyssey Pipeline, respectively. Further, the subsidiary will purchase Shell’s entire stake in Triton West LLC, which owns the Anacortes, Colex, Des Plaines, Portland and Seattle products terminals. The partnership will also scoop up 41.48% interest in 55-mile long LOCAP pipeline along with 10% interest in the 1,830 mile long Explorer Pipeline.

The move will help Shell to proceed with its $30-billion divestment program, which is aimed at lowering debt arising from the $47-billion acquisition of BG Group. The latest divestment is expected to enhance Shell’s cash flows and return value to shareholders. With Shell already closing more than $23-billion divestment deals, it remains on track to meet its target by 2018. Further, it announced asset disposals worth around $3 billion and additional $4-billion divestment deals are in advanced talks over and above the $23 billion completed. The move is also in line with the company's aim to upgrade and streamline its portfolio. Shell seeks to simplify the operational structure by offloading assets.

No satellite evidence of global warming for 23 years. Link here. From the article:

"Global warming has not accelerated temperature rise in the bulk atmosphere in more than two decades, according to a new study funded by the Department of Energy.

University of Alabama-Huntsville climate scientists John Christy and Richard McNider found that by removing the climate effects of volcanic eruptions early on in the satellite temperature record it showed virtually no change in the rate of warming since the early 1990s.

“We indicated 23 years ago — in our 1994 Nature article — that climate models had the atmosphere’s sensitivity to CO2 much too high,” Christy said in a statement. “This recent paper bolsters that conclusion.”"

• 2018 - milking this for another decade, Algore
• 2017 - today's headline
• 2007 - Nobel Prize, Al Gore
• 2006 -  An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore
• 1994 - 23 years ago
• 1992 - Earth in the Balance, Al Gore

Snowpack in western US setting November records. Link here. 

Snowpack in parts of the West is at record mid-November levels, and other locations with record low snowpack for this time of year are beginning to get in on the fun.

More than 20 sites in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming currently have their highest mid-November snowpack, reflected by estimated water content in the snow, on record as of November 15, while many other northern tier sites rank in the top five snowiest, according to the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Even nature is making America great ... for skiers.