Friday, April 9, 2021

A Trifecta! Equity Markets Hit New Records; DAPL To Stay Open; Amazon 1; Unions, 0 -- April 9, 2021

Links, stories, and comments pending.

I'm off on my bicycle to go to "Total Wine" to buy some champagne. 

But, but, but: the judge can easily overrule the US Army Corps of Engineers; and this judge has closed the DAPL before.  



Prince Phillip: the big story no one has mentioned yet?

  • link here, The Cut, November 19, 2015
  • "The Science of Longtime Couples Who Die Together."
  • most famous example: Johnny Cash / June Carter Cash -- within four months of each other;
  • yet to be seen: Jeffrey Epstein / Ghislaine Maxwell

Markets:

  • two weeks in a row -- market surges on a Friday afternoon. FOMO.
  • analyst: one has to "outrun inflation" -- the only way -- the US equity markets;
  • at some point, some analyst is going to make the post-WWII analogy;

AAPL:

  • it certainly looks like a breakout;
  • up a couple of dollars yesterday; now, today, up another 2%;
  • a few weeks ago, trading for $119; in trading range below $120 for quite some time;
  • now, in past two days, moves up, trading at $133;

Saudi Aramco: sells 49% stake in pipelines to foreign consortium;

  • if anyone can their head around this one, you are a better investor than I am;
  • seems that Saudi Aramco is simply renting back their own pipelines; I get it, but the "spread" must be minimal; and, if push comes to shove Saudi Arabia can always nationalize the entire system (again);

How big will the post-Covid-19 opening be?

  • attendance at national parks is expected to swell;
  • demand is predicted to be so hot that Phillips 66 is set to reverse the flow of one of its pipelines so it can carry gasoline from Texas into Denver;
  • switch will occur May 1, 2021;
  • President Biden was heard to say: "Neanderthals"
  • when you visit the Grand Canyon this summer, see if you can hear the "Neanderthal" echo

Bloomberg: driving roars back in US, setting up gasoline for a 7-year high; link here;

  • pump prices could reach $3/gallon for first time since 2014
  • send a note to your Congresswoman reminding her that Biden killed the Keystone

Michigan:

  • the poster child for government overreach and "the mask mandate";

Michigan:

  • the New York Times' list of top-10 cities where the outbreak is worse, nine of those cities are in Michigan
  • the poster child for surging Covid-19 and no history of:
    • Sturgis; and,
    • no back-to-school excuse;
  • amid Michigan coronavirus case spike, epidemiology expert Gretchen Whitmer urges suspension of in-person high school classes;
  • she also called all "Michiganders" to avoid dining and gathering indoors;
  • "we all have to step up our game" -- Governor Gretchen Whitmer
  • Michigan is now the national leader in the number of cases of Covid-19 by population despite increasing vaccinations;
  • for those paying attention, it makes absolute sense what is going on; it's not rocket science;
  • or as Milana Vayntrub would say, "it's not complicated"