Idle Rambling Before The Market Opens -- October 10, 2019

Airport:  Before we get started, first things first: United Airlines is scheduled to be first commercial airline to touchdown at the new Williston Basin International Airport this morning. It might be interesting to follow the flight on FlightRadar24. It should be United Airlines flight 4643. It's scheduled to depart Denver at 7:55 a.m. MT this morning, which I guess is 8:55 a.m. CT and land at XWA at 10:50 a.m. An hour later, Delta will land at the airport.

It's hard to believe this was a $275 million project for "little old Williston." As Joe Biden might say, this is a freaking big deal. Almost $300 million and most of it from out of state, I presume. What a great country.

Because of time constraints, I have really cut back posting news from outside the Bakken. In the big scheme of things that's probably fine but there will be exceptions.

This is one exception. The US Supreme Court will take up a pipeline case. From  Bloomberg via Rigzone:

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider jump-starting Dominion Energy Inc.’s proposed $7.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, agreeing to rule on a key permit that would let the natural-gas line cross under the Appalachian Trail.

The market: didn't the market have some kind of correction in September? Nope, I just checked, it was between September 30, 2019, and October 2, 2019, when the Dow dropped from 27,000 to 26,000 (in round numbers). I ask because my quarterly financial statements looked surprisingly good.

EW: I haven't looked at individual stocks in the past week or so. I avoid looking at EW for several reasons (I personally don't hold any EW -- it was another company I missed) but I was curious. So overnight I took a look. Wow. Already doing very, very well this year, it jumped almost $7/share yesterday, up over 3% and now trading at around $225. A high-flyer, as they say.

Dominion Energy (D) was up a bit yesterday. One assumes it was just part of the overall market move, but one wonders if the above news about US Supreme Court getting involved had any effect. I still find it interesting that SCOTUS would get involved in something like this, a pipeline case.

Closer to home, MDU seems to be having a relatively good year. I don't hold MDU either -- I did at one time but haven't held MDU in years.

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.

I was way, way late to the game with AAPL but overall no complaints. I see it had a great day yesterday and futures this morning (5:55 a.m. CT) suggest AAPL could have another good day.

I'm fully invested -- that simply means I'm broke -- I don't have any cash -- so I will have to start saving Starbucks money to prepare for the next market correction.

Oil? With war breaking out in Syria all over again, let's see what WTI is doing. $52.55. Saudi Arabia can't survive on $58.18-Brent oil.

I see that gasoline in north Texas is trending toward $2.00 / gallon (again). This morning, on the way into work, I see the local service station (Exxon) is selling unleaded regular for $2.19, down from $2.39 just a few weeks ago.

Dividends: there are a gazillion financial sites out there. I keep looking for a good "dividend"site. If you're still looking for a good site, I suggest MarketChameleon. And the people said, "Amen."

Hey, speaking of dividends, did you see this one? EPD increased its quarterly cash distribution. LOL. Here's part of the note from the press release:

.....declared an increase in the quarterly cash distribution paid to limited partners with respect to the third quarter of 2019 to $0.4425 per common unit, or $1.77 per unit on an annualized basis.

The quarterly distribution will be paid Tuesday, November 12, 2019, to unitholders of record as of the close of business Thursday, October 31, 2019. This distribution, which represents a 2.3 percent increase over the distribution declared with respect to the third quarter of 2018, is the partnership’s 61^st consecutive quarterly distribution increase.

It's always a hoot to see these "....umpteenth consecutive distribution increase" announcements. The increase went from $0.4400/share to $0.4425 per share, quarter-over-quarter. Really? A year ago, the distribution was $0.4325. So, we're not talking about huge increases here, but it is paying over 6%.  

Meanwhile, Zack's:

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from EPD as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.53, up 3.92% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $8.80 billion, down 8.17% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.18 per share and revenue of $34.93 billion, which would represent changes of +14.14% and -4.4%, respectively, from the prior year.

From one of those commenting at this news: "If the dividend is going up, why is the stock price going down?" Must be new to investing. LOL. I can list a dozen reasons. Well, maybe not a dozen, more like three or four.

And, by the way, not for the faint-hearted, but EPD and Energy Transfer Partners (ET) are locked in an epic battle now at the Texas Supreme Court.

"Legal experts say it is the most important business partnership dispute to be decided by the Texas Supreme Court since Pennzoil v. Texaco in the 1980s."

Unfortunately the story is behind a paywall but if you still have access:

For one side it was a partnership; for the other, it was simply “a feasibility study.”

But Tuesday’s collision between Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners and Houston-headquartered Enterprise Products Partners in the Supreme Court of Texas lived up to its billing as a case that involves more than a failed joint venture and a $535 million jury verdict.

It’s a Hobson’s choice for the state’s highest court: a choice between the statutory law that defines a business partnership in Texas and the four corners of a contract – long regarded by SCOTX as marking sacred ground.

Legal experts say it is the most important business partnership dispute to be decided by the Texas Supreme Court since Pennzoil v. Texaco in the 1980s.

Their argument is over an Oklahoma-Texas pipeline project and the level of commitment that existed between the two midstream behemoths before Enterprise (EPD) jilted ETP (ET) to form a joint venture with a Canadian firm. The Enterprise desertion was deemed a breach of fiduciary duty by a Dallas jury in 2014, which ruled that Texas law does provide for a business version of common law marriage.

That verdict was unanimously overturned in 2017 by the Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals.

I was "hugely" affected by the Texaco-Pennzoil case in the 1980s and came out doing very, very well -- I think I've talked about that on the blog -- so I'm hoping for a similar result with the EPD-ET case or I often mistakenly write, EPD-ETP, case.