Locator: 48441WIND.
Friday, August 23, 2024
The Book Page -- CCR -- Kamala Harris Connection -- August 23, 2024
Locator: 48440CCR.
Updates
August 23, 2024: I posted the original note on September 16, 2022.
This book on CCR provides an excellent discussion of the "inequality" in the East Bay / Oakland. That was the first time I had heard of the flatlands / hillsides of Oakland. The higher up the hillside one lived, the wealthier one was. The poorest lived at the bottom of the hills, in the "Flatlands." The University of Richmond, Oakland, CA, provides an interactive map: "Mappping Inequality" (link here). This all became a "thing" again when Kamala Harris mentioned that she and her family grew up in the "Flatflands" when they lived in the East Bay / Oakland.
August 23, 2024: from "Mapping Inequality" --
In the city of Oakland, California, real estate interests by the 1920s had carved neighborhoods into long narrow strips marked by income and elevation. They thereby embedded a class and racial regime literally into the physical terrain.
Located directly east of San Francisco, across the waters of San Francisco Bay, Oakland rises from tidal flats into ridgelines of successively higher hills. In the era of HOLC and FHA redlining, native-born white, European immigrant, Black, Latino/a, and Asian American working-class communities characterized the "flatlands," where blue-collar neighborhoods abutted the port, railroads, and factories.
Middle-class and elite white neighborhoods developed further east, in higher and often hilly terrain that ascended dramatically into what locals called the "Oakland hills." One 1930s booster publication indelibly captured this geography.
"High above the turmoil of traffic and hustle of business," it rhapsodized, "are homes tucked away among the tree-covered slopes." This contrast between the multi-racial, industrial flatland neighborhoods and the verdant, garden-like, and largely white hillside districts defined Oakland in the twentieth century. On the 1937 HOLC map—which includes the adjacent, smaller East Bay cities of Berkeley, Albany, Alameda, Piedmont, Emeryville, and San Leandro—one can immediately identify this class and racial geography.
Every flatland neighborhood, running from Berkeley south into Oakland and from Oakland southeast toward San Leandro, was marked with the "hazardous" red.
Adjacent neighborhoods just to the east were identified as "declining."
In all, the 1937 HOLC survey concluded that nearly two-thirds of the residential neighborhoods of the East Bay were in some state of "decline." Notably, this included West Oakland and North Oakland, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s, as well as South Berkeley, the home of Byron Rumford, one of only two Black State legislators in the immediate postwar decades and sponsor of the "Rumford Act," California's 1963 fair housing law.
East Bay flatland neighborhoods had long served as a "port of entry" for migrating workers, the first place of settlement where rents were reasonable and jobs nearby.
Working-class refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake settled here. So did successive waves of railroad, dock, and factory workers, as Oakland by the 1920s had become a bustling port and warehouse city and an important regional railroad shipping hub. By the 1940s, Oakland was not exactly the "Detroit of the West," as a local booster bragged (although at least six automobile or tractor factories called the East Bay home), but it was nevertheless a thriving industrial city with a multi-racial working class. West Oakland, in particular, was a "marvelous mixture of people," one resident who went on to serve in the California Assembly recalled. "We had every nationality that we knew of in that neighborhood. We had Chinese. We had Mexican, Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Yugoslav. Our immediate neighbor was a Black family."
With a few exceptions, the 1937 HOLC appraisers characterized the East Bay flatlands in derogatory terms. Race was central to those calculations. West Oakland neighborhoods south of San Pablo Avenue were summed up this way: "Old type houses and cottages, tenement tendencies. Heterogeneous mixture of all races." In a flatland neighborhood southeast of Lake Merritt, appraisers insisted that "infiltration of Negroes necessitates hazardous rating." One flatland neighborhood with a significant Black residential population, South Berkeley, was characterized as a "high grade Negro area," where "good loans can be made [...] if care is exercised," but was still "redlined" with the hazardous rating. In all, the language of the HOLC appraisers was a racial grammar, an idiom, that communicated to mortgage lenders, banks, and government agencies which neighborhoods were deemed unfit for investment.
Much further east, in the Oakland and Berkeley hills, FHA financing by 1937 was already leading to new construction for middle- and upper-class white home buyers. These neighborhoods were perched high above the bay with gorgeous views of San Francisco. "Most of the new construction has been financed with FHA loans," the HOLC reported of the hillside district known as Wilshire Heights near Joaquin Miller Park. In a nearby neighborhood, known as Oakmore, new homes were also "largely financed by FHA loans." Even in the Great Depression years of the late 1930s, these "tree-covered slopes" were attractive for developers, who built speculative homes on the assumption that buyers would eventually materialize.
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Democratic National Convention, 2024
Week 34: August 19, 2024 -- August 25, 2024
Locator: 48439TOPSTORIES.
Top story:
- Mideast quiets down; Iran has not retaliated; Gaza hostage deal in the works?
- Ukraine has taken territory inside Russia
- Trump: choosing to lose?
- Kamala Harris: formally accepts her party's nomination
- outcome / electoral college now a toss-up
Top international non-energy story:
Top international energy story:
Top national non-energy story:
- JPow / the Fed: says it's time to cut
- everything points to a rate cut of 50 basis points in September
- F shuts down EV production
Top national energy story:
- WTI dropped to low at $72 on decline in Chinese demand
Focus on fracking: current link here. Generally updated late Sunday night.
Top North Dakota non-energy story:
Top North Dakota energy story:
Geoff Simon's quick connects: link here.
The market in a nutshell: At the close --
Three New Permits; Three Permits Renewed; Two DUCs Reported As Completed -- Friday, August 23, 2024
Locator: 48493B.
WTI: $74.83.
Active rigs: 38.
Three new permits, #41061 - #41063, inclusive:
- Operators: Slawson (2); Oasis
- Fields: Bully (McKenzie); Glass Bluff (McKenzie)
- Comments:
- Slawson has permits for two Barnstormer Federal wells, lot 2, section 3-148-100;
- spacing unit, sections 3 / 10 / 15-148-100; and,
- Oasis has a permit for an Erickson well, NENE 25-152-103;
- spacing unit, sections 25 / 36-152-103;
Three permits renewed:
- MRO: an Emma USA permit; a Murray USA permit; and, a Stout USA permit.
Two producing wells (DUCs) reported as completed:
- 34221, 1,435, BR, Abercrombie 3-18-12MBH,
- 39869, 1,079, CLR, Micahlucas 4-5HSL1,
Presidential Politics -- The Chisholm Trail --> Kamala Harris -- August 23, 2024
Locator: 48492INV.
Convention: link here.
Talk of the town:
From the August 5, 2024, issue of The New Yorker, a nice opening essay -- "not going back." It provides a nice background to the speech Kamala Harris gave last night, accepting her part's nomination. Again, this was published August 5, so it was probably written a few days earlier, and last night was August 22nd:
As editor of Augustana College newspaper, I was at the last McGovern rally before election day, in downtown Sioux Falls.
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Thomas Sowell
At one time, I respected Thomas Sowell, but this is beyond the pale. He appears to have jumped the shark:
Let's Talk Investing -- August 23, 2024
Locator: 48492INV.
At the close:
DJIA: ten points away from an all-time high.
Three adages:
- sell in May, go away;
- historically, August and September are the two worst months of the year for investors
- don't fight the Fed
And there are more:
- 60/40
AAPL: possible bearish signals. July 21, 2024. The web is full of these stories. Up 25% in one year.
Sweetgreen: standalone post, August 16, 2024. But first mentioned November 19, 2021 -- and I really missed it, then. Ticker: SG.
BRK-B: a huge day for the market; JPow dovish; and, BRK-B was not even up a full one percent, but Buffett-bobble-heads will have no complaints -- BRK-B trading at another 52-week high (but pays no dividend, so if you want to participate in that high, one needs to sell some shares...). BRK less than $30 billion from the trillion-dollar club.
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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.
- Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market,
- I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.
Cramer's First Hour -- August 23, 2024
Locator: 48491CRAMER.
Market at 9:09 a.m. CDT: market surges. Investors: recession? What me, worry?
Transitory: wow! Inflation was transitory, but JPow used the media hype to his advantage.
Experts: all of a sudden, everyone’s an expert.
Cramer has the morning off. Sara Eisen filling in for Jim Cramer.
Protests in Chicago? Nope. Refreshing. Well done, Chicago.
Ticker, DJT:
Cramer's first hour: a mix of fact, factoids, opinions from various sources -- often not cited -- while listening to Cramer's first hour on CNBC.
A reminder: with the current volatility, one must remember that historically, the months of August and September tend to be the "worst" months of the year for the market.
Sara's and Carl's first hour: all about JPow.
Presidential politics: not mentioned -- North Carolina -- recently / historically solid red -- now, literally overnight, North Carolina is now a toss-up. After her speech last night, Harris might be able to take North Carolina. Under Biden administration, North Carolinians have done better than the “average" American.
Fed rate: I had forgotten that the Fed rate is still 5.25 to 5.50%. Wow. And the market is doing this well. Say what? If the Fed cuts rates in September:
- it will do so only because of pressure from "everybody"; and,
- the cut will be only 25 basis points, to 5.00 to 5.25% -- inconsequential.
Personal investing: Sophia made her purchases yesterday. Will relax today.
***********************************
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.
- Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market,
- I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.
US Field Production Crude Oil -- EIA -- August 23, 2024
Locator: 48490WTI.
Blows me away.
Since late 2023, US field production crude oil has exceeded 13 million bopd every month except for one: January, 2024. But every month since then, and starting a few months earlier, US crude oil production has exceed 13 million bopd, surpassing both Russia and Saudi Arabia.
TGIF -- Friday, August 23, 2024
Locator: 48489B.
What to watch for today? A burning bush. JPow scheduled to talk. Steve Liesman will carve the statements into a stone tablet and bring it down from the Wyoming mountains.
"Laid-Back" in North Dakota! Wow, I love that state. If I have time, I'll expand on this, but I think folks in North Dakota know what I'm talking about. LOL.
Seasonal flu: seasonal flu numbers continue to drop; link here. Flu season is still not here. Whoo-hoo. Speaking of which, hurricane season?
Hurricane season: link here. From earlier this year:
Top story, locally: Chicken N Pickle opened in our neighborhood about two years ago; probably the biggest "rec center" that ever opened in north Texas (other than theme parks, of course). Often, on weekends, despite the huge parking lot and huge footprint, it's very difficult to find parking.
Today, we learned that the "rec center" will expand significantly, adding eight more indoor pickleball courts. Truly amazing.
Texans take their sports seriously.
I do know to what extent this is accurate / true, but through the grapevine (pun intended), it's been said that this particular Chicken N Pickle is one of more successful CNP franchises. Corroborating that "rumor," CNP will be sending several members of it team -- servers and hostesses -- out to Las Vegas for a week or so to train servers and hostesses out there, in the new CNP that is soon to open (or maybe it's already opened).
CNP has a reputation for team-building, working to keep their staff, minimizing turnover and expenses associated with training.
Pre-market: looking good. Whoo-hoo!
Corporate giving:
- 2024 election spending -- corporate contributions
- crypto accounts for 48% of all corporate contributions
- crypto easily exceeds that of Big Oil and banking sector
- Koch Industries? A distant -- distant -- second
Investing: with the current volatility, one must remember that historically, the months of August and September tend to be the "worst" months of the year for the market.
WTI: historical price --
ERCOT: this is absolutely amazing.
A state where renewable energy has worked! If one doesn't mind paying the increased cost, though even that's not as bad as some folks make it out to be be. Whether it's good, bad, or indifferent is in the eye of the beholder. I no longer have any opinion on that. I'm just amazed things are working as wells as they are considering.
Texas electricity demand has hit new records due to typical August heat. Per capita, folks aren't using more electricity, demand is rising simply because the state is growing incredibly fast -- but despite that surge in demand, there have been no reports of ERCOT failing to meet demand.
Look at all the conventional fuel that was phased out and replaced by wind and solar, link here:
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Back to the Bakken Daily Morning Report
WTI: $73.82.
Sunday, August 25, 2024: 60 for the month; 116 for the quarter, 442 for the year
40349, conf, Stephens Williston, Greenbrier 15591-0211-4H,
39853, conf, Enerplus, Jade 148-95-4A-9H-LL,
39255, conf, Hess, SC-4WX-153-98-3130H-7
Saturday, August 24, 2024: 57 for the month; 113 for the quarter, 439 for the year
40394, conf, WPX, Missouri River 25-26HUL,
RBN Energy: Texas turns to performance credit mechanism to boost ERCOT reliability. Archived.
In Texas, rising power demand, increasing dependence on variable-output renewables, and declining availability of dispatchable fossil-fired plants to back up wind and solar have left the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid in a pickle. As part of its response, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) adopted a tool called the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) to help ensure the grid will be able to meet a yet-to-be-defined reliability standard. But while key metrics for the PCM have been identified, the details will determine which dispatchable resources will be supported with additional revenue, how much the whole approach will cost, and how effective it might be. In today’s RBN blog, we explore the debate ahead of the PUCT’s August 29 meeting — where it is expected to finalize rules around the PCM — and explore the difficulty of compensating generators annually so that they are also there for those once-in-10-year events.