TGIF -- April 26, 2024

Locator: 46867B.

Overview:

• earnings:
• tech did great: MSFT, GOOG
• Big Oil mixed: XOM, CVX;
• inflation: OMG --- headlines scary; facts anything but scary
  
• just before the announcement; Dow up nicely (pre-market)
• right after the announcement, Dow drops (pre-market)
• by end of today, all will be forgotten
• probably by noon, all will be forgotten
  
• markets
• NASDAQ should have a great day
• Dow to grind higher
• economy, inflation, Fed rates, consumer spending
  
• yes, Virginia, higher for longer; there will be no Santa Claus rally this year
• consumer spending is crazy; no way this kind of spending will result in lower inflation
• indications: inflation no longer "sticky," but gradually will actually grind higher
• inflation headlines: will gradually see less "sticky" and more "grind higher"
• "sticky" would be nice; but now it's gonna be "inflation is grinding higher" 
• sticky: Fed holds rates until next year
• 'inflation grinds higher: Fed starts talking about raising rates
  
• WMT CEO: says grocery prices ares going in the right direction
• Comment: as I go through one doze news sources and read a gazillion headlines and almost as many ledes, I am really, really excited abou the US economy and investing
• then I read commends on social media in reply to those headlines and ledes, and the pessimism and negativity is truly amazing;
• it's always been there, nothing new, but, wow, how do these folks get through life
• their glasses are always half empty; mine? Always half full
• I think that's why I like Carl Q's tweets -- he seems to be "grounded" but yet seems optimistic

*****************************
Back to the Bakken

WTI: $84.38.

Sunday, April 28, 2024: 56 for the month; 56 for the quarter, 255 for the year
39523, conf, Kraken, Blue 2-35-26-2H,
37520, conf, BR, Mazama 2C UTFH,

Saturday, April 27, 2024: 54 for the month; 54 for the quarter, 253 for the year
None.

Friday, April 26, 2024: 54 for the month; 54 for the quarter, 253 for the year
None.

RBN Energy: evolving LNG market could mean major changes for China's big three.

China regained its place as the world’s largest LNG importer in 2023, a title it lost in 2022 due to COVID-related shutdowns. Given that China only started importing LNG in 2006, the country’s demand growth — imports last year totaled 71.3 million metric tons (~9.5 Bcf/d), just under 18% of globally traded demand — can only be described as spectacular. But this unprecedented growth story is undergoing fundamental changes which are likely to result in major impacts to LNG commerce not only in China but in the Far East and possibly beyond. In today’s RBN blog, we look at some of these changes and ask how the Big Three national oil companies (NOCs) — CNOOC, PetroChina and Sinopec — could change their business models as smaller provincial gas utility buyers pursue their own LNG imports.