This is truly amazing.
Tickers: the oil tickers on the CNBC crawler are absolutely stunning.
- CVX: up $4.00; up 2.8%;
- PSX: up $3.50 up. 3%;
- XOM: up $2.60; up 2.4%;
- COP: up $3.40; up 4%;
- OXY: up $1.26; up 3%;
- HES: up $3.60; up 2.65;
- FANG: up $4.57; up 3.2%
- XLE (energy select sector SPDR Fund: up $1.60; up 2% today.
- and that's why I think there are better ways than investing in ETFs, but ....
The reason is obvious. Let's see if that becomes obvious over the next six weeks or so. Actually two reasons:
- China
- Iran
Is money moving from tech to oil? Not really, but perhaps to some extent. The story remains geo-political, specifically Ukraine-Russia, but even more so, US-Iran nuclear talks.
- NVDA: flat; flat;
- TSM: up $4.70; up 2.3%;
- AMD: up $1.60; up 1.3%;
- INTC: up 1.10; up 5.5%;
- AMZN: down 70 cents; down 0.3%;
- AAPL: up 41 cents; up 0.2%;:
- PLTR: down 55 cents; dow 0.4%;
- AVGO: up 48 cents; up 0.2%;
- QCOM: up $3.50; up 2.3%;
China EVs: a race to the bottom. CNBC.
- cutting prices to the bone means no margins; no profits
"Zero mileage used cars": jargon; google zero mileage used cars;
- registered but never drive -- CarNewsChina;
- A growing controversy has emerged in China’s automotive sector over so-called “zero-kilometre used cars”—vehicles that have been registered but never driven, now flooding the second-hand market. Industry voices like Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun are speaking out, and this practice is drawing criticism for distorting sales data, misleading consumers and undermining long-term market stability.
- inflate sales numbers
- price war leads nowhere
- Chinese state media calls for crackdown on "zero-mileage used cars"; link to Reuters;
- time to get out the popcorn
Mark Fields remains bullish on EVs.
AAPL: something different this time following the WWDC?
- the iPad: link here;
- Apple's (AAPL) iPad is getting some major enhancements that should make it a far more useful laptop replacement.
- the improvements are part of the company's iPadOS 26, which Apple announced during its WWDC 2025 conference on Monday. They include upgraded multitasking capabilities that will allow people to use the iPad more like a Mac and less like an iPhone.
- very, very interesting: many (most?) of the websites I visit seem optimized to mobile devices;
- fail on my laptops/desktops; websites have optimized for mobile devices
- we're now seeing that in Apple's "response" to the iPad
Reminder:
- CNBC producer puts together general agenda two weeks prior to airing; needs time to schedule talking heads for interviews, background, etc
- one week before: starts to review agenda, scheduling one week out
- two days before: reviews footage; schedule of talking heads; puts out last minute fires (problems, disputes)
- day of airing: already two weeks behind; we're seeing that again today
Oil price jump today: CNBC -- if discussed at all, won't be discussed until tomorrow or two weeks from now. Interestingly, ChatGPT not particularly helpful ... at the moment.
What's going on over at x?
- first driverless Teslas are now appearing on the roads in Austin; see video at this link;
- this explains why Tesla is up over 10% today;
- a bigger story: unlike Waymos in Los Angeles, these Teslas are not being set on fire;
- recession odds fade;
- Duke Energy proposed 1.4-GW gas-fired plant in South Carolina --
- remember, AI is an energy story; AI runs on natural gas; nuclear will take time;
- "gold miners" are up 35% YTD
- Nvidia: after China? What's next? Britain.
- Shay: did small-cap summer just kick off? NVTS, ASTS, ACHR, EOSE, RDW.
- Bloomberg: White House says this story is false -- "Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as a contender to be the next Chair of the Federal Reserve." Probably true.
- JPow's term is up May, 2026
- nothing on my feed -- nothing -- regarding ICE riots in LA
- META to pay $15 billion for 49% stake in ScaleAI; links everywhere; here's The Verge
- the start-up's CEO is 28 years old; revenge of the nerds
Apple and AI: what's going on? Tag: AAPL, OpenAI, ChatGPT, choices, options:
- tea leaves suggest huge difference of opinion at the top, in the C-suite; three options
- pay the dollars to OpenAI and partner with OpenAI, OR,
- buy an AI startup and have Apple-owned AI, OR,
- start from scratch -- or build on Siri -- and develop AppleAI in-house at great expense, and still come up a dollar short and a day late:
"A dollar short and a day late" is an American idiom meaning that someone has not only missed an opportunity due to tardiness but also because they lack sufficient resources or effort. It implies that their attempt to achieve something is inadequate and too little, too late
- Apple really has only one choice --
- ChatGPT now and on-device AI as goal --> develop, for security purposes for those folks who are concerned about being tracked.
- Siri could remain the on-device AI option for Apple; best of both worlds.
- ChatGPT suggests four options:
- OpenAI, most likely, ChatGPT
- Google, Gemini -- as an alternative or complementary provider
- Apple, internal models, for privacy and on-device AI
- Anthropic: unconfirmed; less likely currently
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Not On My Radar Scope Either, At Least For Today
But We're Still Waiting For The Judge To Respond
