Notes From All Over, Part 2 -- December 2, 2019

First things first: how Americans spent their Thanksgiving (and it wasn't watching Dallas Cowboys lose):



From the linked article:

Disney’s ice princess sequel brought in $85.3 million in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend and earned an unprecedented $132.7 million from Wednesday through Sunday. It has earned $288 million domestically in its 10 days of release.

The record was previously held by "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which grossed $109.9 million in 2013.

“Knives Out,” the innovative and star-heavy whodunit from director Rian Johnson, rode strong reviews and word of mouth to a $27 million weekend and a five-day total of $41.7 million that easily earned back its budget.

Echoing what others have said, "Knives Out" is/was one of the best movies I've seen in a very long time.

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

Market spooked: Dow down 212 points. Buying opportunity!

• Apache plunges as oil-field update offers few details; update on Suriname site disappointed; as its Texas oil fields lose momentum; regular readers know where I am going with this

Disclaimer: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken.

The Bakken, right now, is providing operators best bang for their buck; operators really, really overpaid for the Permian, but they were in a tough position. If they can survive the next couple of years, they will do incredibly well, but a lot of smaller Permian operators are not going to make it in the Permian. Next year, 2020, will probably be the "make or break" year.

The Bakken surprise: from November 30, 2019 --  previously posted --

This is perhaps most surprising news of the day, however.  "Everyone" knew the US was on its way to energy independence; no one saw this coming. Link here.

WTI: holding, and trending up a bit, $55.86, right now.

German car industry faces day of reckoning -- Financial Times. Link here. The number of jobs being lost looks huge but in fact, on a percentage basis, hardly anything to get excited about. The interesting thing is that German manufacturers are able to cut employees -- unions and government regulations make cutting jobs very, very difficult. It's been my observation that when times get tough, the better-run companies will shine. By the way, the FT story is behind a paywall but easy to find similar stories with a google search. Story also here, and not behind a paywall.

Which brings me to this: media outlets that put everything being a paywall are losing a lot of eyeballs and those eyeballs aren't seeing the ads at those sites. Most of us, if we have the headline, can find a way around the paywall. Exceptions: The NYT but that's because most of the original stories are op-ed pieces disguised as news articles. (i.e., fake news).  For the serious investor hobbyist (those playing at home, as Jim Cramer would say) Barron's is hard to beat, and their paywall is pretty much impenetrable. But the library is a great alternative.