The Market, Early Morning Trading, For The Archives -- September 27, 2019

Updates

Later, 10:30 a.m. CT: the market surges; the DOW is up 118 points and Pocahontas now leads in a nationwide poll. The market loves Pocahontas! LOL. What, me worry? And it looks like SRE might just go "green." Wow.

Original Post

Oil: from The WSJ, link here --

Saudi Arabia has moved to impose a partial cease-fire in Yemen, say people familiar with the plans, as Riyadh and the Houthi militants the kingdom is fighting try to bring an end to the four-year war that has become a front line in the broader regional clash with Iran.

Saudi Arabia’s decision follows a surprise move by Houthi forces to declare a unilateral cease-fire in Yemen last week, just days after claiming responsibility for the September 14, 2019, drone and cruise-missile strike on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry. While the Houthis fired two missiles at Saudi Arabia earlier this week, the strike wasn’t seen by Saudi leaders as a serious attack that would undermine the new cease-fire efforts.

Houthi leaders initially said they were responsible for the attack on the oil facilities, but Saudi, U.S. and European officials have dismissed the claims as a transparent attempt to obscure Iran’s role in the strike. Yemeni fighters, these officials say, have neither the weapons nor the skills to carry out such a sophisticated strike.

Definitions

• war: 20 drones/cruise missiles per attack on Saudi assets
• partial cease-fire: 10 - 19 drones / missiles per attack on Saudi assets
• total cease-fire: 1 - 9 drones / missiles per attack on Saudi assets but "aimed" to miss their target
• peace: in the eye of the beholder

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What is the market doing today? In early trading, 9:57 a.m. CT:

• WTI: down again, now at $56.14; for the Saudis, looking at $61.29 for Brent
• Dow: up 84 points

Utilities

• BKH: down a bit; trading at $77.19
• D: up slightly; trading at $80.89; trading at record highs; buzz is that it has room to run; and, it is paying 4.5%;
• MDU: down slightly; has had a great run lately; 
• SRE: down half a percent, profit-taking? trading at $144

Oils:

• RDS-B: up a percent; trading at $59.56
• HES: down a bit; trading at $61.49
• COP: up a bit; trading at $58.05

Autos:

• GM: down eleven cents -- maybe the strike isn't over -- trading at $37.50
• F: up two cents; trading at $9.16;

Pipelines:

• ENB: up 3/4th of a percent; trading at $35.99
• EPD: up half a percent; trading at $28.64
• KMI: up 1%; trading at $20.74

Miscellaneous:

• BRK-B: up half a percent; trading at $208.10
• EW: down 1.35%; down $3.00; trading at $218.76 
• AAPL: up slightly; trading at $220.34
• UNP: down slightly;