Monday -- If I Get Around To It -- May 8, 2023

Locator: 44595ECON.

I don't know if I will get to any of these stories on the blog today, but these are the four stories that interest me most today:

The German recession, and cost of electricity.

AAPL and regional banks.

T and DIS and writers' strike.

Fracking, US oil production, days supply.  

Politics: polling on Biden. Does this change anything? 

BUD: "Houston, we have a problem." Tone-deaf and misunderstanding what this is all about.

• the damage was already done when the photo was releases, April 12/13, 2023
• the CEO's handling of the problem made it a thousand times worse
• we'll see that story reported in mainstream media sooner than later

If nothing else, I will provide the links later and let folks connect the dots themselves for all the stories above.

Miscellaneous:

• WTI: up 2.19%; up $.156; trading at $72.90.
• great day for DVN to post earnings
• DVN: up 1.33%; up 67 cents; trading at $51.04
• Gold: just shy of $2,000

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Beautiful, Beautiful Day On The Balcony

The wind has died down; the sun is now hidden by sparse clouds / clearing sky which makes the northeast-facing balcony so much more pleasurable. Now, thunder in the distance, far to the north/northwest.

I get my best blogging done at Starbucks but I elected to stay home this a.m. Prices are just too expensive at restaurants these days, not just Starbucks. I will spend the same amount but go less often.

I have come closer and closer to perfecting my waffles. And, yes, that was due to the Aunt Jemima

Of all things, my first thoughts went back to the summer of '71 when I met the first love of my life, when I worked in Westfield, New Jersey; and then, again, when we spent more time together during the summer of '73 and shared the experience of Secretariat's record-breaking Kentucky Derby win.

It's funny how the mind works. Perhaps the most important / memorable event that I watched this weekend -- even more so than the coronation and BRK's annual meeting -- was the Kentucky Derby Saturday evening. In the big scheme of things, the KD no longer interests me but perhaps the association with Linda had a subliminal and sublime effect. 

And when the KD was over Saturday night I forgot all about it. Until perhaps this morning before I thought of Westfield which then led me to that '73 KD. 

By the way, on a different note, my first choice in sandwich bread has increased from $1.29 to $1.89 a loaf in a matter of months, it seems. I generally have two slices per day, a really, really great egg sandwich or an equally great grilled cheese sandwich. But I'm betting I would enjoy a one-slice sandwich even better than a two-slice sandwich.

And, speaking of which, when my wife makes chicken and rice -- which again, we absolutely enjoy as a small side dish -- there is way too much chicken. We can easily cut back on chicken by half (or even more) and I will enjoy it even more.

90-second-brand-name rice must have very high margins. Now that I've switched from potatoes to rice (this will last for a year or so, the potato-to-rice switch) I've now gotten a rice cooker to replace the one we threw out years ago. 

So, yeah, the high cost of groceries has a silver lining. Speaking of which, I seldom buy potato chips any more simply because they are way too expensive.

By the way, back to KD and sports. I watched a little -- very, very little -- of the PGA golf tournament this weekend. The leader board -- with the exception of one golfer -- interested me not. 

And I watched no NASAR racing at all -- neither Saturday nor Sunday. I suppose it had more to do with being at the pool with Sophia than anything else.

Well, we're getting a good soaking now -- very steady, straight-down rain. I'm under the pavilion at the pool so the rain doesn't bother me. It will end within the hour and then no more rain forecast for the day; the high is forecast to be 87°F at 4:00 p.m. esta tarde. The rain appears to have already quit.