Headlines -- December 14, 2023

Locator: 46306CHINA. 

Last observation: before heading to bed -- midnight, December 14, 2023 ... my favorite color at Christmas -- green:

Bakken: a reader noted that after years (?) of "no activity" in the Bakken, XTO now has an active rig in the state. A huge "thank you" to the reader who alerted me to that observation.

China: all that talk about the cratering Chinese economy -- oh, give me a break. Link here.

Smucker: I mentioned Smucker on the blog on December 5, 2023, but unfortunately, I forgot to provide the link and I don't recall what Smucker was doing that caught my attention. 

I don't have a position in SJM and doubt that I ever will but that doesn't mean Smucker is not worth. Explore it on your own; I don't have time to post much on it tonight

What happened tonight that brought me to JMSmucker. It was Café Bustelo. I saw this in my daughter's kitchen. My son-in-law bought it -- probably at Walmart -- some months ago when coffee was hard to come by due to Covid-related supply chain issues. It is now my wife's favorite coffee when she visits the twins in Portlan, Oregon.

So, what's with Café Bustelo. It turns out Café Bustelo is a JMSmucker brand. From the JMSmucker coffee brand site: 

From Motley Fool, September, 2023. 

***************************
Restaurants

Updates

December 15, 2023: completely unexpected --

Original Post

 The tea leaves suggest we're going to see a lot of regional fast-food and sit-down restaurants start to fail over the next couple of years. Anecdotal, based on what I'm seeing in our north Texas neighborhood, a suburb of Ft Worth / Dallas. 

I think this guy is wrong on the specifics but not the generalities. Link here. He assumes there will be a recession / hard landing.

********************************
In-N-Out

One that won't fail: In-NOut.

Link here. First In-N-Out  the state of Idaho recently opened. Outrageous video.

***************************
EIA Accounting

Link here. 

***************************
Trans Mountain Pipeline Delay

I'm not going to waste time looking for a link -- the link is easy to find -- but it's possible that the pipeline -- scheduled after years of delays to be operational in the next month or so, may now be delayed another two years and another billion dollars or more in overrun costs due to regulators -- bureaucrats who think they understand drilling better than the operators. As long as I don't have a dog in the fight, I don't care. Here's a link: I had to look up something.

*****************************
Hope Springs Eternal

Pending:

• OXY: CrownRock
• CVX: Hess
• XOM: PXD

Headline: "Consolidation Push Could Turn US Oil Industry Into Handful Of Giants." 

Not if the FTC can help it.

******************************
The Area Under The Curve

I still need to talk about "the area under the curve," but I don't have the energy or interest to do it tonight.

Link here for a tease.

*****************************
The Fourth Industrial Revolution

I don't have the energy or interest to write about 4IR either, but here's one article about which to think with regard to 4IR.

********************************
GM EVs

OMG. Ready to spend more time with her family?

Link here.