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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Locator: 47061ARCHIVES. 

Note: a reader sent me a comment to an earlier post. The blogger app, for some unknown reason, was unable to post my reply, so I've posted the reply in the body of the post at the original post, in case the reader is looking for a reply.

Four hours of uninterrupted reading and blogging. The book today: Washington Irving. Yeah, that one.

Curious. Eggs. Link here. Same price as in 2015, and way lower than what eggs were costing back on January 23, 2023. By the way, bacon according to FRED is about $6.50 pound. Spam, locally, is about $5.75 / pound (12-oz tins). I get at least six servings of Spam from one tin -- may push it to eight servings -- for breakfast, along with my one homemade waffle (which must cost me all of 20 cents per waffle) ..... for the Spam ... $5.75 / 6 = $1.00 / serving. Breakfast at home? About $2 on the high side at home. At First Watch -- I would get a whole lot more, including "Million Dollar Bacon" and a Bloody Mary and it would cost me $20+? Before tip?

  • Local, First Watch, outstanding restaurant, on line, if ordering:
    • breakfast: $12.89.
    • million dollar bacon: $5.49
    • Bloody Mary: not priced on line; I assume it's in the $8.99 range in-restaurant
    • tip: our standard tip is $20 for meals costing between $20 and $60; I pay the restaurant bill with credit card; leave tip in cash.

Where's Waldo?


GALP
:

To put this in perspective: the Bakken holds at least 50 billion bbls, probably much more depending on demand, technology, government policies. To date: 5 billion bbls. One billion bbls every 2.5 years. With 35 active rigs. 

Natural gas consumption, link here:

Home sales, link here:

Amazon, grocery delivery, link here:

Cleveland-Cliffs blooper, link here. Cliffs was the darling of CNBC talking heads just a few weeks ago. I stayed away. Hasn't paid a dividend since 2020 (needs to be fact-checked). CEO must know something we don't know -- using debt to buyback more shares. Interesting to compare CLF with BRK-B over "max" time period.

Flight: this was the least I've paid for cross-country air transportation in a very, very long time. Incredibly inexpensive. Last year about this time I paid about $450; this year, under $325. Round trip. Must have caught a good week. Starting in May, tickets really go up in price. This should be the last time I fly until next October, or thereabouts.

DOJ knows best: Spirit Airlines and JetBlue ended merger talks when federal judge ruled against the merger. We talked about this before. Government said the merger would result in higher ticket prices for fliers. Spirit is at risk of bankruptcy and JetBlue is doing so well its share price plummeted 16% today. Of course, the CEOs of the four -- or is it three --  largest US carriers will be opening the champagne bottles this weekend if two discount airlines go out of business.

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Disclaimer -- Briefly

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site.

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.

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

WTI Could Break Below $81 -- April 23, 2024

Locator: 47060B.

Comment: when I was updating the "original post" below, I realized that the Biden administration actually seems to enjoy placing as many sanctions on American E&P companies working in North America as it does placing sanctions on Venezuela. Speaks volumes about how much the folks in DC hate Big Oil. That's fine. Reminds me of the race between the hare and the tortoise.

Comment, #2: wow, I love Texas. Friendliest people in the world. Just experienced a wonderful interaction going through TSA. Story too long to relate here but it made my day.

Comment, #3: To paraphrase a line from a movie, "Wow, I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning." Look at that beautiful sunrise (maybe hard to see behind all those red-white, and blue tail flashes). 


Comment, #4
: I have no idea if ENB will ever be a "great" investment but it certainly seems there are fewer and fewer companies in the pipeline business. Probably true in many other sectors also. But every time I turn around, it seems ENB or EPD is in the news. See RBN Energy below.  I keep accumulating, albeit more slowly than years ago. Pays almost 8% for new money. I know my cost basis is well below $10 / share (I've been accumulating for decades) so the dividend is worth a lot more. For me, the buy point, currently, is $34. No recommendation. See disclaimers.

Comment, #5: until a minute ago, I was literally the only one wearing a mask in Terminal C, DFW. Then I noted another masked traveler, but now I don't see him any more. 

Comment, #6: I no longer know how "stand-by" works. I thought it disappeared years ago, but there's at least a dozen folks waiting "stand-by" on this flight. Airlines are going to have a great summer. Boeing's problems will translate into huge dollars for the airlines who can manage this newest challenge.

Comment, #7: two rules in investing.

  • don't fight the Fed;
  • don't bet against Pelosi -- great story today (Motley Fool) how Pelosi and family keep accumulating NVDA shares; writer reminds us of the CHIPS Act. 

Comment, #7a: amazing how fast NVDA can change direction and magnitude.

Comment, #8: that's why I never want to "ban" our political leaders from investing. Their actions are a huge "tell." I started my position in NVDA before Pelosi's position reported, but once it was reported, I knew it was a good investment. To paraphrase another movie, "it was the start of a great relationship."

Comment, #9: best series in its genre -- "White Collar." On Hulu; now being featured over at Netflix. 

Comment, #10: IEA says global EV sales are going great. Others not so sure. 

Comment, #11: SCOTUS agrees -- Kari Lake's electronic vote-counting lawsuit frivolous. It gets tedious. Sort of goes along with Carl Q this morning.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: could break below $81 today. Currently at $81.02. Take your pick --

  • peace breaks out in the Mideast; Israel and Iran call a truce (yup -- at least for the near term)
  • JPow signaled no rate cuts this year; oil traders sense a recession (likely)
  • traders finally noted how strong the dollar is (true)
  • despite sanctions Biden placed on Venezuela, American companies operating there can continue to operate with no penalties or restrictions (true)
  • the Permian is producing so much oil even apologists for Jane Nielson are considering replacing their EVs with ICE SUVs (completely bogus)

Wednesday, April 24, 2024: 53 for the month; 53 for the quarter, 252 for the year
39869, conf, CLR, Micahlucas 4-5HSL1
39868, conf, CLR, Micahlucas 3-5HSL,

Tuesday, April 23, 2024: 51 for the month; 51 for the quarter, 250 for the year
39581, conf, Hess, CA-Anderson Smith-155-96-2635H-9,
38562, conf, Hess, GO-HAUG-156-98-1918H-6,
38561, conf, Hess, GO-HAUG-156-98-3031H-6, 

RBN Energy: Enbridge expands Corpus Christi assets to bolster crude exports.

Enbridge’s recent $200 million deal to buy two marine docks and land in Ingleside, TX, from Flint Hills Resources (FHR) may not be much of a surprise, as expanding its role in U.S. crude exports has been part of Enbridge’s strategy since it bought Moda Midstream’s big marine terminal next door nearly three years ago. The former Moda terminal, now known as the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC), can receive and partially load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) — a key reason why the facility is #1 in crude exports in the nation. In today’s RBN blog, we will take a closer look at Enbridge’s deal with FHR and how it might help grow its crude export volumes. 

******************************
Disclaimer -- Briefly

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.

See disclaimer. This is not an investment site.

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.

Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.