The Market, Energy, And Political Page, T+57 -- April 26, 2018 -- Unemployment Claims At Near 50-Year Low; Trade Deficit Drops First Time In Seven Months

Making America great again: and the tariffs have not even been imposed yet -- the bully pulpit ...

The US trade deficit: drops in March for first time in seven months. The trade gap sinks to $68 billion in March, 2018, down 10% from almost $76 billion in prior month.

Jobs: unemployment claims lowest since 1969 -- almost 50 years ago -- a half-century -- only took President Trump 16 months.

The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended April 21, the lowest level since December 1969. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to 230,000 in the latest week.

The best news: I was not at home, so I did not have to listen to Steve Liesman explain how the numbers are really not as good as they seem once you peel back the layers of the onion.

From econoday, unemployment claims:

• prior revised: 232,000
• forecast: a drop of 2,000 to 230,000
• actual: unemployment claims actually dropped to 209,000 -- that's a drop of 24,000 claims, week-over-week -- well beyond the 2,000 that the experts forecast
• this is really quite incredible

The market? Ho-hum. Up a paltry 120 points after a huge "correction" earlier this week. I'm using the word "correction" very, very loosely.

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TransCanada: We're Baaack!

Report: TransCanada buying up Nebraska land for ... yes, you guessed it ... the Keystone XL. The pipeline lives. A lot of story lines in this Platts report:

TransCanada is now acquiring land in Nebraska for its planned Keystone XL oil pipeline, aimed at shipping incremental volumes of Western Canadian barrels to the US Gulf Coast for local refining and also providing options for exports ...

"The process [of land acquisition] just started last week," ...

The need to acquire new "easements" -- handing over long-term access to land without transfer of ownership -- came after the Nebraska Public Service Commission decision, which approved an alternate route ...

In November (2017), the NPSC upheld its decision to allow TransCanada to build the 830,000 b/d Keystone XL pipeline system on an alternate route.

The Nebraska regulators approved the 'mainline alternative,' which heads east sooner towards the existing Keystone pipeline and parallels it for 96 miles.

A final investment decision is widely due for the Keystone XL system that will ship crude from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, and link up with the Keystone pipeline that runs through Cushing, Oklahoma, to the USGC.

... TransCanada said in January it has sufficient customer support to go ahead with construction of the pipeline in 2019.

... the Keystone XL pipeline system drew 500,000 b/d in firm 20-year commitments from shippers ...

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We're Outta Here

Ford: is getting out of the North American auto market. Repeat: Ford appears to be getting out of the North American auto market. Will refocus only on SUVs and trucks.
... the company announced Thursday that it's shuttering the last of its US sedan brands as it shifts its focus to international markets, trucks and SUVs. It is a drastic move, as the company will be phasing out sedan models that have a long history with the company, including models like the recently revamped Ford Taurus.