WTI Rate Of Rise Quite Remarkable -- July 2, 2024

Locator: 48036B.

Updates

Later, 10:07 a.m. CDT: GM reports best US quarterly sales since 2020. Link here.

• EV sales: increased 40% y/y; units sold: 22,000 (compare with >400,000 Teslas)
• overall report, "meh" -- but Phil LeBeau can spin the report very, very positively
  
• made up 3.2% of total second quarter sales
• most likely, the EVs lost money for GM
  

Later, 9:42 a.m. CDT: "everyone" commenting on this subject suggests that a Trump presidency will result in a significant increase in inflation. Interesting. 

Later, 9:39 a.m. CDT: all indices red -- and quite red -- at the opening, but now NASDAQ has just turned green;

• of note, AAPL up another 1.1%; up $2.38. Never saw that coming.

Later, 8:25 a.m. CDT: HERE IT IS: Tesla reports 443,956 deliveries in 2Q24 -- a 4.8% decrease from last year. 

• TSLA, immediately following release of data:  up 6.1%; up $12.85 / share; slightly higher than just before the release of the data
• CNBC: ignoring TSLA; talking about PARA, Paramount, Diller 
• in mid-morning trading, up almost $20 / share; up 9.4%.
  

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Original Post

Tesla: pending. Pre-market. I may miss the announcement; family commitments.

• the market is "red" across the board, but yet TSLA is up strong in pre-market trading
• TSLA up 3.5% in pre-market trading; up over $8 / share after a strong showing yesterday
• as we get closer to the data release, the share price in pre-market trading keeps rising; 
• now, up 4.7%; up almost $10 / share (8:10 a.m. CDT) 
• now up, 5.5%; up $11.51 / share (8:16 a.m. CDT)
  
• either movers and shakers have advance information or. ..

Behind?

Apple: several reports that Apple is ordering more chips from TSM indicating expectations of huge rollout of new phone.

Biofuels: Shell has just announced it's halting the construction of one of the largest biofuels plants in Europe. Companies don't make these decisions rashly. What Shell saw that resulted in this decision must have been mind-boggling. And this is in Europe. Some use the word "pauses" construction implying ... Bloomberg says "temporarily paused construction."

Bird flu: US awards Moderna $176 million to produce bird flu vaccine.

Presidential immunity, link here. This, from one of the more conservative justices. Folks completely misread the SCOTUS ruling. In addition to "protecting" former president Trump, it has also "protected" Joe Biden and every future president.

Buy or rent: Suze Orman. I wouldn't link her if I didn't agree with her.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $84.20. Over $84 but more importantly, the rate of increase in price is quite interesting. Even after hitting $83, it was up almost 1% overnight; up 82 cents. But it's probably temporary, due to Hurricane Beryl.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024: 4 for the month; 4 for the quarter, 340 for the year
40306, conf, Stephens Williston, Cabot 15591-0112-5H, 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024: 3 for the month; 3 for the quarter, 339 for the year
40264, conf, Stephens Williston, Cabot 15591-0112-4H,

RBN Energy: Supreme Court throws out "Chevron Deference, upends regulatory law.

That the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Deference, a key foundation of modern administrative law for 40 years, in its June 28 ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (Loper Bright) was no surprise, although it does not make it any less disruptive. The order follows a steady drumbeat of Supreme Court decisions issued during this term and in recent prior ones curbing the regulatory enforcement capabilities of Executive Branch agencies. But while this is a landmark case and would be expected to lead to a host of new legal challenges, its practical effect might end up being more nuanced. In today’s RBN blog, we revisit the Chevron Deference, why the Court said it had to go, and what it might mean for economic and environmental regulations impacting the energy industry. 

Before we get into how the Court made its decision, a couple of observations are in order right at the top, given its importance and potential long-term impact. First, reining in Executive Branch agencies can cut both ways. In the last administration, then President Trump often used executive orders and agency actions to implement his vision of the world, including trying to get the Department of Energy (DOE) to force utilities to run their coal plants regardless of the cost relative to natural gas. That’s the kind of action that could be threatened by this decision. Second, as we’ve written many times regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) saga, federal permitting agencies were consistently receptive to the project, issuing permit after permit, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit repeatedly reversed those decisions (see Rescue Me). In other words, the courts haven’t been very shy about jumping into agency decisions favorable to energy companies. (We’ll explore some of the other implications of the ruling in a bit.)