New Records; Dow Hits 36,000 For First Time Ever; All Three Major Indices Hit New All-Time Intra-Day Highs -- November 1, 2021

Note: done quickly. There will be content and typographical errors.

Updates

Reporting today/tomorrow:

• FANG: closed up 4.12% for the day; down 1.17% after hours; earnings here;
  
• WMB closed up 1.60% for the day; up another 1.96% after hours; reporting tomorrow?
  
• Otter Tail Power: closed up 1.10% for the day; flat after hours; reporting tomorrow?
  
• RIG (Transocean): closed up 6.52% for the day; down 5.59% after hours; reporting tomorrow?
• Viper Energy (VNOM):: closed up 1.77% for the day; up another 3.74% after hours; reporting tomorrow?

Last Thursday, October 29, 2020:

• PSX: EPS, $3.18 vs $1.95 cents estimated; revenues of $31.47 billion;
• XOM: biggest profit in seven years;
• earned an adjusted $1.58/share just above the estimate of $1.56
• net income: $6.8 billion, the most since 2014

October 20, 2021:

• SLB:
• estimates: earnings to jump 125% to 36 cents / share; with revenue up 13% to $5.94 billion.
• actual: EPS of 36 cents (in-line); revenue missed, at $5.85 billion

Later, 11:08 a.m. CT: wow, look at this, DVN up almost 5%, up $1.88, now trading just four cents below $42.00. Other oils:

• EOG: up 1.1%
• CVX: up a bit
• CLR: up almost 3%
• OAS: up almost 3%
• PSX: up 3%
• it should be noted the WTI is pretty much flat for the day, although it did go over $84 again; the movement in the prices of oil stocks suggests:
• weaker dollar;
• more inflation; though ten-year Treasury was flat to down today;
• investors starting to look at demand / supply projects; not hearing "good" things from OPEC today; or,
• simply background noise, but the 5% in Devon certainly caught my attention. There is likely other Devon-specific news of which I am unaware (haven't looked). I believe Devon reports earnings tomorrow -- if so, that may be the reason for the sudden interest.
  

Original Post

Ten-year treasury goes below 1.6%: 1.593%.

A few US equity notes:

• Deere, up 5%;
• Starbucks: up 3.5%;
• Southwest Gas: up a bit
• BKH: up a bit
• both MSFT and AAPL down about a percent or more;
• oils, oil services, pipelines, in general, up, of course, following price of WTI, trading just under $85; up $1.05 today, so far;

Cheesecake-to-go: how it saved the Cheesecake Factory. Link to The WSJ. This is such a cool story. This is exactly what I've said before. Some folks used the lockdown to their advantage, using the year to re-think strategy.

With its massive menu offering everything from crispy chicken sandwiches to coconut cream cakes, Cheesecake Factory Inc. already ran among the most complicated operations in the restaurant industry. It’s emerging from the pandemic with a model that’s even more sprawling and complex.

When Covid-driven closures cut deeply into sit-down business in Cheesecake Factory’s cavernous, lavish dining rooms, the 208-restaurant chain emphasized to-go orders to help buttress sales. It worked: The chain is averaging more than $3 million in to-go orders per location this year, more than double its typical amount before the crisis.

Cheesecake, in particular, travels well, and people order it at all hours. The company said it sold more cheesecake as a percent of sales last year than it did before the pandemic. “You have a few more people who are just getting slices at nine o’clock at night delivered to their house,” said David Gordon, the chain’s president.

Now more customers are returning to Cheesecake Factory’s 10,000-square-foot dining rooms too. And the combination has stretched the company and its workers, some of whom say they are at a breaking point.

Personal interest in the Cheesecake Factory: pending.