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Sunday, October 22, 2023

What's More Exciting? Baseball Or Football? October 22, 2023

Locator: 45797SPORTS.

I'm watching MLB ALCS tonight and NLF SNF and without question..... the baseball game is a gazillion more times exciting than the football game. Just saying. 

Pretty amazing:

  • baseball: FS1
  • football: NBC.

Both available through Hulu at no additional cost over Hulu's basic rate.

Time To Take A Look At CIVI -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45796INV. 

The meme: XOM got into the Permian late.

From CNBC today


Started out as Bonanza Creek, back in November, 2021.

There's a lot packed in this story if one reads in between the lines, notes what is not said.


Ticker:

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

All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.  

Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.

I Now Bike Six Minutes To Wal-Mart Than Two Minutes To Target -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45795RETAIL.

Link here

For me, Walmart beats Target in these four areas:

  • Walmart always has what I'm looking for; much, much larger selection -- hardware, especially;
  • checkout at Walmart so much faster -- endless number of self-checkout terminals at Walmart;
  • prices at Walmart always lower, even if only five cents lower on $1.24 vs $1.29 individual box of Hot Tamales
  • seasonal items -- Halloween "stufff" is incredible

Covid Is Still Out There -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45794COVID.

UPDATES

October 25, 2023: Covid is still out there. Liz Sonders says she has Covid.

October 23, 2023: premiums surge for employers.

In round numbers: trending toward $20,000 per employee per year. Needs to be fact-checked. Will vary but this is a good start at which to begin the discussion.

ORIGINAL POST


Paxlovid:

********************************
Health Insurance

As good a site as any for health insurance data.

I don't believe this site shows the percent of the premium paid by the individual vs the percent paid by the employer, but I've drawn the line which was a composite from other sites that do post this data.


Tricare For Life (military retirees) and Medicare premiums

  • Medicare: $0 for Part A; about $175 / month for most families for Part B (needs to be fact checked).
  • Tricare For Life, military retirees:  

Disclaimer:

All information above needs to be fact-checked. If it doesn't appear correct, it probably isn't.

This site is not associated with any other site: it is not a medical insurance site. It is not connected with government health programs or with private health programs.

I don't understand billing at all. Not entirely true but it can be confusing.

I often make typographical and content errors. If this information is important to you, go to the source.  But wow, "sponsored" sites certainly don't make it easy to find information.

I could be wrong, but it seems the facts are very, very simple and could be easily explained but for some reason, seem very, very confusing.

At the end of the day, I consider myself very, very fortunate. 

Focus On Fracking -- From Last Week -- US Record Production -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45793WTI.

Link to last week's edition.

Tonight's edition.

From last week:

US crude oil production -- an all-time high at13.2 million bopd:

They're Reading The Blog -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45777ECONOMY. 

Locator: 45777RETAIL. 

Updates 

October 22, 2023: The WSJ.

October 21, 2023: not so much talk about a recession right now. JPow has lots of room to maneuver.

October 21, 2023: just out of curiosity, if one was living paycheck to paycheck, if one was worried about the economy, if one was worried about saving money for retirement, what part of your life would you give up first to save cash? Everybody will answer differently.

For me, I would argue that going out to eat would be number one on my list, and if not number one on the lists of other folks, it would certainly be among the top ten "things" to give up. 

[Moving to a state with no state income tax might be the best way to save money, but that's not a reasonable option for many / most.]

US retail sales in September, 2023, came in 4x what was forecast.

Quick! What sector inside "retail sales" led the pack? Answer: restaurants and bars. Is anyone paying attention? Households still have a lot of money.

From CNBC:

 “The U.S. consumer cannot stop spending,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation.
“All three retail sales reports for Q3 were above estimates, which puts us on track for a strong GDP number later this month. It also gives the Fed zero reason to loosen policy, which keeps the 10-year Treasury yield pushing toward 5%.”
Sales gains were broad-based on the month, with the biggest increase coming at miscellaneous store retailers, which saw an increase of 3%.
Online sales rose 1.1% while motor vehicle parts and dealers saw a 1% increase and food services and drinking places grew by 0.9%, good for a yearly increase of 9.2%, which led all categories.
There were only a few categories that showed a decline; electronics and appliances stores as well as clothing retailers both saw decreases of 0.8% on the month.

Original Post

Time to answer the question. Yesterday I posted this:

Link here.

Will be posted later. Connects a lot of dots.

See if you can think what that story will be.

Hints:

  • Fortune 500 company;
  • earnings;
  • record results;
  • meme: it's for old, rich people
  • fact: millennial and Gen Z customers fastest growing demographics

******************************
The Answer: American Express

I think this was the most important retail / financial story yesterday. It connects a lot of dots.

The biggest dot to connect: just where is all that money coming from that allows Americans to keep spending. Remember: in September, American-retail-spending came in four times what was forecast.

Imagine if the headline had been: Apple's profits come in four times expectations.

And yet the fact that Americans spend four times what was forecast seemed to get very, very little media play.

So, from where is all that money coming?

Here are the dots to connect:


They're living at home, rent-free, mortgage-free:

Another dot to connect: how much money is being saved by working from home, not buying gasoline, or even a car in some cases?

Enough of that. I'm sure you can think of a lot more examples. 

Oh, one more example: the millennials have no health care expenses. Their health insurance premiums are being paid for by their employer and because they are in great health (young age and not pregnant) they don't have any deductibles or co-pays about which to be concerned. 

Think how much more discretionary / disposable income you would have if you had:
no mortgage

  • no mortgage or rent expenses
  • no swimming pool expenses
  • no internet, Hulu, Netflix, HBO expenses
  • no car (gasoline, maintenance even if paid for; monthly payments)
  • no health care premiums or out-of-pocket health care expenses
  • no college payments for child (children)
  • no diapers, no formula for new babies
Now back to American Express.

Link here (same as above). From the very, very well-respected Barron's:

From the article:
Consumers keep shopping and traveling and that translated to American Express announcing its sixth consecutive quarter of record revenue.
Revenue at American Express climbed 13% from the year-ago quarter to $15.4 billion.
Profit topped expectations -- by 12% -- growing 30% to $2.45 billion, amounting to earnings of $3.30 a share, another record for American Express. Analysts had been projecting that Amex would earn $2.95 a share. [Think what AAPL would do if profits topped expectations by 12%.]

Total card member spending climbed 7% to $420 billion on a currency-adjusted basis. In the U.S., card spending climbed 9% year over year, while the company’s international segment saw a 15% increase in spending after adjusting for currency. [Of course a lot of that has to do with inflated prices.]

American Express noted that households and businesses have not lost their propensity to spend on going out with travel and entertainment expenditures climbing 13%, helped in large part by restaurant spending.
And then look at this:
The company also was optimistic about its continued ability to court younger clients. Millennial and Gen Z customers are American Express’s fastest growing demographic, with spending up 18% year over year and the group accounting for 60% of new accounts.

Why are millennials and Gen Zers using the most expensive, most prestigious credit card available? Because they can. These are folks with high paying tech jobs with no car payments, no mortgages, no health care costs.

And that's why retail sales came in four times greater than expected

If it weren't for Sophia, I wouldn't need a car. As it is, I'm spending $25 / month on gasoline for a car that has been paid off since 2017. 

Ukraine Helping US Army Get Rid Of Decommissioned Weapons -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45792UKRAINE.

Link here.

Direct to Forbes. Fascinating.

***********
The Movie Page

Ranking Wes Anderson movies.

MOJO on YouTube.

Asteroid City: number 6.

I would move the movie much higher up the list. I think it's his best. Otherwise, the list seems fine. 

Surprised to see Moonrise Kingdom at number three. 

Grand Budapest Hotel: number 1. No bad scenes whereas one could argue a few bad scenes in Asteroid City. “Bad” = didn’t “work” for some reason.

iPhone 15: Apple's Key Chip Suppliers -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45791APPLE.
Locator: 45791IPHONE15.

Link here.

Nvidia Update -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45788NVIDIA.  

Not sure where this is going: link here.


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

All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.  

Again, all my posts are done quickly. There will be typographical and content errors in all my posts. If any of my posts are important to you, go to the source.

Energy Transition Is Over; We Just Don't Know It Yet -- October 22 ,2023

Locator: 45787RENEWABLES. 

The energy transition is over -- we just don't know it yet. Peter Zeihan.

Exhibit A.

Also:

How bad is it for EVs?

Here are the numbers for Polestar, Rivian, Lucid, Arrival, Canoo, 1-year and 5-year, as of October 20, 2023, share price:

  • Polestar: down 51%; down 67%; yesterday, down 8%;
  • Rivian: down 48%; down 87%; yesterday, down 3%;
  • Lucid: down  68%; down 57%; yesterday, down 1.4%;
  • Arrival: down 97%; down 99.8%; yesterday, down 5%;
  • Canoo: down 81%; down 97%; yesterday, down 6%;

Wind and solar, October 20, 2023 

Today: solar stocks plunge. Link here.

Wind is expensive. Link here.

The Dutch have just signed a 27-year LNG deal with Qatar, Shell. As in Royal Dutch Shell. My hunch: Dutch investors got tired of their investments in renewable energy.

Initial Production Data For Wells Coming Off Confidential List -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45786B.  

The wells:

  • 34544, conf, MRO, Storedale 11-17TFH, Killdeer, 

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-2023100244
  • 39597, conf, CLR, Brooks 5-9H, Pembroke, NPD,
  • 39202, conf, Murex, PB-Paul Brian 1-12H MB, Sanish,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-202338991850
  • 39201, conf, Murex, PB-Gunner 1-12H MB, Sanish,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-202395924543
  • 39652, conf, CLR, Brooks 4-9HSL1, Pembroke, NPD,
  • 39321, conf, Oasis, Osprey 5401 44-23 3B, Todd,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20233360830655
7-20233083624502
6-2023298170
5-20231841712892
  • 38758, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 5B, Baker,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232467120117
7-20231896514780
6-20232616310076
5-20233068522369
  • 39720, conf, Kraken Blaine LE 33-28 4H, Oliver, NPD,
  • 38757, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 4B, Todd,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232678619869
7-20232519917721
6-20232553111432
5-20232106614499
  • 38095, conf, Enerplus, Blue 148-93-05D-06H, McGregory Buttes,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-202363317827
7-20231548618933
6-20232700721432
5-20232340727779
4-2023186137
  • 34633, conf, MRO, Satrum 11-17TFH, Killdeer,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20231933514163
  • 31205, conf, BR, Abercrombie 6-8-12UTFH, Olive, NPD,
  • 39719, conf, Kraken, Blaine LE 33-28 11H,
  • 38924, conf, Oasis, Kestrel 5401 43-22 4B, Todd,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232415519788
7-20231777618359
6-20232037119274
5-20232484718051
4-202329111776
  1. 38756, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 3B, Baker,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232628820783
7-20232467317277
6-2023178407427
5-2023175441137
  • 38755, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15-2B, Baker,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232168216937
7-20232196115880
6-20232392710957
5-20232830718867
4-202344255412

39718, conf, Kraken, Sutton 3-10 6H, Oliver, NPD,
39495, conf, CLR, Thaxton 5-35H, West Capa, NPD,
38094, conf, Enerplus, Ommuura 148-93-05D-06H,
31204, conf, BR, Abercrombie 5-8-12MBH,

39494, conf, CLR, Thaxton 6-35H,
38923, conf, Oasis, Kestrel 54001 43-22 3B, Todd,

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20232306822761
7-20232299016531
6-20232983024496
5-20232961023812
4-202328101500

38093, conf, Enerplus, SEI 148-93-05D-06H, McGregory Buttes,

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20231392217251
7-20231799122805
6-2023152689699
5-202338663862
4-202323041329

31203, conf, BR, Abercrombie 44-8-12UTFH, Elidah, NPD,

39678, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Getzlaf 3-25-36-158N-101W-MBH, Little Muddy, NPD,

38092, conf, Enerplus, Baleen 148-93-05A-06H, McGregory Buttes,

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-202330844219
7-20231451020100
6-20232130514174
5-20233165227785
4-202358273021

37449, conf, Hess, EN-Abrahamson-LE-155-93-3019H-1, Alger,

DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20231801329758
7-20232264731696
6-20232473930955
5-20232564326185
4-202388748980
  • 34221, conf, BR, Abercrombie 3-8-12 MBH, Elidah, NPD,
  • 39845, conf, Kraken, Wiseman 31-36-35-34 5H, Hebron, NPD,
  • 39679, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Getzlaf 2-25-36-158N-101W-MBH, Little Muddy, NPD,
  • 39680, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Farthing 5-30-31-158N-100W-MBH-LLW, Church, NPD, 
  • 38276, conf, Hess, BB-Olson-150-95-009H-2, Blue Buttes,
DateOil RunsMCF Sold
8-20231598043806
7-20231114818200
6-20231306919924
5-20232444131521
4-20231108614784
  • 39681, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Clermont 5-19-18-158N-100W-MBH-LL, Little Muddy, NPD,

Wells Coming Off The Confidential List This Next Week -- The Week For Chord / Oasis -- October 22, 2023

Locator: 45785B.  

Wednesday, November 1, 2023: 83 for the month; 83 for the quarter, 633 for the year
34544, conf, MRO, Storedale 11-17TFH,
39597, conf, CLR, Brooks 5-9H,
39202, conf, Murex, PB-Paul Brian 1-12H MB,
39201, conf, Murex, PB-Gunner 1-12H MB,

Tuesday, October 31, 2023: 79 for the month;79 for the quarter, 649 for the year -- Halloween
None.

Monday, October 30, 2023: 79 for the month; 79 for the quarter, 649 for the year
39652, conf, CLR, Brooks 4-9HSL1,
39321, conf, Oasis, Osprey 5401 44-23 3B,
38758, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 5B,

Sunday, October 29, 2023: 76 for the month; 76 for the quarter, 646 for the year
39720, conf, Kraken Blaine LE 33-28 4H,
38757, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 4B,
38095, conf, Enerplus, Blue 148-93-05D-06H,
34633, conf, MRO, Satrum 11-17TFH,
31205, conf, BR, Abercrombie 6-8-12UTFH,

Saturday, October 28, 2023: 71 for the month; 71 for the quarter, 641 for the year
39719, conf, Kraken, Blaine LE 33-28 11H,
38924, conf, Oasis, Kestrel 5401 43-22 4B,
38756, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15 3B,
38755, conf, Oasis, Dahl W Federal 5301 13-15-2B,

Friday, October 27, 2023: 67 for the month; 67 for the quarter, 637 for the year
39718, conf, Kraken, Sutton 3-10 6H,
39495, conf, CLR, Thaxton 5-35H,
38094, conf, Enerplus, Ommuura 148-93-05D-06H,
31204, conf, BR, Abercrombie 5-8-12MBH,

Thursday, October 26, 2023: 63 for the month; 63 for the quarter, 633 for the year
39494, conf, CLR, Thaxton 6-35H,
38923, conf, Oasis, Kestrel 54001 43-22 3B,
38093, conf, Enerplus, SEI 148-93-05D-06H,
31203, conf, BR, Abercrombie 44-8-12UTFH,

Wednesday, October 25, 2023: 59 for the month; 59 for the quarter, 629 for the year
None.

Tuesday, October 24, 2023: 59 for the month; 59 for the quarter, 629 for the year
39678, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Getzlaf 3-25-36-158N-101W-MBH, Little Muddy,
38092, conf, Enerplus, Baleen 148-93-05A-06H, McGregory Buttes,
37449, conf, Hess, EN-Abrahamson-LE-155-93-3019H-1, 
34221, conf, BR, Abercrombie 3-8-12 MBH, Elidah,

Monday, October 23, 2023: 55 for the month; 55 for the quarter, 625 for the year
39845, conf, Kraken, Wiseman 31-36-35-34 5H, Hebron,
39679, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Getzlaf 2-25-36-158N-101W-MBH,
39635, conf, SWD, Dakota Fluid Solutions

Sunday, October 22, 2023: 52 for the month; 52 for the quarter, 622 for the year
39680, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Farthing 5-30-31-158N-100W-MBH-LLW,
38276, conf, Hess, BB-Olson-150-95-009H-2, Blue Buttes,

Saturday, October 21, 2023: 50 for the month; 50 for the quarter, 620 for the year
39681, conf, Crescent Point Energy, CPEUSC Clermont 5-19-18-158N-100W-MBH-LL,