Current Events, Part 1 -- October 1, 2019

Updates

Later, just after market open, 9:05 a.m. CT: after "green" futures overnight, the Dow is down about 30 points in early trading.

• AAPL: up $2.75; up about 1.22%; trading at $226.72
• F: green but flat; Ford, Maindra agree to form JV in India; Ford with 49% stake;
• UNP: down again today; down $1.84
• EW: down $.172
• SRE: down 54 cents

Original Post
UAW strike: wearing thin for those on strike. Missed their first paycheck and are starting to have second thoughts. Link at WSJ.

Tesla: the numbers come out later this week. Will deliveries hit a record or will they miss by a "few thousand"?

What do the insiders know ... with regard to the Tesla numbers? The market will tell us ... TSLA shares, futures, right now ... 5:29 a.m. CT, October 1, 2019 ... closed down $1.26 yesterday (0.52%); up $1.07 in trading now (futures) ... I guess no one knows. LOL. Trading at $240.

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

Futures:

• the Dow has been up overnight, all night; dropping back a bit now as we get closer to the open; but look at futures for these:
• SRE: pending
• AAPL: after a great day yesterday (up $5.15, up 2.35%, closed at $224); in futures, up another $1.03/share
• T: a nice day yesterday, up again today in futures
• EW: pending
• UNP: pending

The rally has begun to fizzle. CNN.

Al Franken: new sexual harassment allegation ... just days after he said he was considering another run for the US Senate.

Politics: for anyone paying attention, it's obvious that Hillary Clinton's war room is "running the show" on Capitol Hill.

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Making Texas Great

Announced by President Trump yesterday -- mainstream media won't carry the news -- link here: https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/trump-billions-of-dollars-worth-of-us-investments-auto-companies.

• Navistar: will build a new truck factory in San Antonio, TX -- 600 permanent mobs; 
• Apple: will build its new Mac Pro in Austin, TX (previously announced)

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OPEC's September Oil Production Drops To Near Decade-Low

Link at Reuters. Data points for September, 2019, production:

• 28.9 million bpd
• down 750,000 bpd from August's revised figure
• the drop  would have been larger had it not been for Aramco's decision to drawdown stored crude from its inventories to make up the almost 6 million bpd shortfall
• outside sources put Saudi's production at around 8.5 million bpd, well below its "nameplate" capacity of 11 - 12 million bpd
• lowest monthly total since 2011
• traders not concerned; price back to pre-attack levels (the September 14, 2019, attacks on a Saudi Arabia processing and export terminal; and, an oil field)

October target, Saudi Arabia:

• total production: 9.89 million bpd
• exports: "around" 6.8 million bpd

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Canadian Heavy Oil Exports Surge

Exports to Asia surge since May, 2019. Data points from Reuters:

• surge began before the September 14, 2019, attack on Saudi
• Canadian crude exports may have doubled
• came on the heels of US sanctions on Venezuela in late January
• heavy oil to China, India, South Korea, and Europe (which sounds like everywhere but the US South America, and the Antarctic)
• see graphic at this link -- it's interesting -- there was a spike in May but is now falling back towards historic levels -- FWIW