Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- January 22, 2020

Wow, I'm in a good mood. Just dropped off Olivia at evening soccer practice. Pitch black outside, Texas starting to shut down for the night, but still see hard-working Americans working hard. Perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me ... the years I spent overseas, especially in Turkey and Africa to get a better perspective on America. America simply gets things done. No, one step forward, two steps back. Can-do attitude. On the way home, two new hotels have just opened up about a mile from where we live. So much construction, hard to believe. On the north side of DFW airport.

Schwab. Another pleasant experience at our local Schwab broker today. Truly amazing how efficient they are. I had a check for $29.87 to deposit. LOL. The broker said $29.87 is better than zero. [Yes, deposits can be done online but I had other business and besides, they always have a huge chocolate candy dish.]

ENB. Oh, before I get started, the usual disclaimer:

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

Back to ENB. I completely missed this, or at least I don't recall blogging about it. This was back in early December. Will increase its dividend by 9.8%; will lead to a dividend yield of 6.3%. Is scheduled to report earnings February 21, 2020. I believe ENB, in after-hours trading hit a 52-week high.

KMI: Reuters headline today -- Kinder Morgan profit, cash flow rise on Gulf Coast Express pipeline strength. From the article:

... a 26% rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, benefiting from higher gas takeaway from the Permian Basin through its Gulf Coast Express pipeline.

The pipeline, which can transport 2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) [about 350,000 boepd], came into service in September when drillers were burning off natural gas at record rates due to lack of transportation capacity from the shale-rich Permian Basin.

Earnings from natural gas transport volumes rose 14% and from NGL transport volumes jumped 23% from a year earlier.

The pipeline operator generated $1.35 billion, or 59 cents per share, in distributable cash flow (DCF) in the fourth quarter, higher than $1.14 billion, or 50 cents per share, in the prior quarter. On a year-over-year basis, DCF rose 6%.

Investors have been pushing U.S. oil and gas pipeline operators to deliver positive free cash flow as low energy prices and idle shale rigs pressure earnings.

KMI: flirting with a 52-week high; pays 4.78%. I assume it will increase its dividend in the April, 2020, time period. I honestly don't know if I hold KMI. I bought a position maybe two or three years ago, can't recall if I sold it, kept it. I'll see when end-of-year statements start arriving.  

EPD: brings Mentone natural gas unit online. 

... the coming online of the Mentone cryogenic natural gas processing plant in the Permian Basin. The facility is located in the Loving County of Texas that marks the seventh natural gas processing unit of the partnership in the Delaware Basin, a part of the famous Permian.

The plant — supported by a long-term acreage dedication agreement — has a natural gas processing capacity of 300 million cubic feet per day (Cf/d) and natural gas liquids  extraction capability of more than 40,000 barrels per day.

Comment:  I've been blogging on the Bakken since 2007. This blog began in 2009. That's ten-plus years of blogging. 

The first few years of blogging was all about getting the initial wells drilled to hold leases by production. Then, it was several years of infrastructure build-out to service the new wells that would be coming in. For the past ten years, it has been spend, spend, spend. Now, there seems to be a new verse to this song: as infrastructure projects come on line, cash flow starts to increase. Will be interesting to follow. Some big-name pipes were stymied by faux environmentalists but a lot of connecting pipeline was put in place. And lots of CBR if necessary. And then all the processing plants, export terminals along the coast. We could really see a golden age of energy here in the states over the next few years. Lots of talk about production cutbacks in the Permian, the Bakken, etc., we'll see.

Coke: wasn't it just a few years ago that Coca-Cola was the global brand leader? Coke held that position for decades? Not any more. Now it's Amazon. Brand value:

• Amazon, #1, $220 billion; the first brand ever to top $200 billion;
• Google, #2
• Apple, #3
• Microsoft, #4, 
• Samsung, #5
• three Chinese brands;
• Facebook
• Walmart
• a google search brand value coca-cola unrewarding. Wow. Also, McDonald's not listed.

MLB and signs: looks like they may have to re-look at a couple of World Series championships.

Blackened scallops. Perhaps one of my favorite entrees. At our favorite restaurant today, blackened scallops were a not-on-the-menu special. Four huge scallops on a bed of vegetables, rice. Each about the size of a small filet. So rich, I can only eat one such scallop at a sitting. So, I had three to take home. One for dinner this evening. Two more for tomorrow, lunch and dinner. Which reminds me. Crawfish season must be just around the corner. Yes, here it is: generally, the crawfish season in Louisiana runs from mid-January through early-July for crawfish caught in the wild, with the peak months being March, April and May.