l
Look at the top ten or eleven or twenty sites.
Media
Chatbots:
Retail
Miscellaneous
l
North Texas.
Beef.
Week after week we are getting specials on beef, running about $6 / pound.
This is the first time I've seen salmon, usually at $9.99 / pound and recently rising to $11.99 / pound is now on special for $6.97 / pound.
In our local area competition is getting fierce due to four major grocers in the immediate area: HEB, Tom Thumb/Albertson's, Walmart, and Target.
Target has significant logistics issues and we never shop there with occasional exceptions. Our favorite store remains Walmart for groceries. Tom Thumb is generally most expensive though it bills itself as the cost leader -- it does have great sales / specials and that makes it very, very interesting.
Example, Tom Thumb this week:
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Disneyworld
Shock headline of the day.
ChatGPT: at the end of the day, it's accurate based on some cherry-picking. But the fact that deep, deep analysis was required speaks volumes about the Florida economy vs the Japanese economy. And a few other things.
Locator: 49666TECH.
Link here, but the story is everywhere. The story is amazing. I've posted highlights of the story below the fold.
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The Fold
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and Qatar Investment Authority are teaming up on a $20 billion venture to invest in artificial-intelligence infrastructure, underscoring the escalating regional race for dominance in the sector.
New York-based Brookfield and Qai, a newly-formed subsidiary of Doha’s $524 billion wealth fund .....
Brookfield will invest through its newly launched AI fund, which aims to mobilize as much as $100 billion of investments globally ..
The firm manages about $1 trillion in assets and has been among the most active foreign investors in the Gulf in recent years.
Brookfield has estimated the global AI infrastructure build-out will require $7 trillion over the next decade.
Locator: 49665B.
First Take: this is the first time I've seen Shae Cornett moderating "First Take." My first take: Shae is not Molly. Shae is two years younger than Molly but looks significantly older. Shae is much less a moderator and much more an equal member of the panel. It's going to take awhile for viewers to forget Molly, accept Shae. It will be interesting to see ratings / daily viewers last year (2024) versus next year (2026).
Coal is dead; long live coal: the other day, there was a headline story that India had no plans to add any more coal to their energy portfolio after 2035. Today: it is being reported that India added 7.2GW of coal power to bolster energy security. Link here.
Nvidia: anyone asking the question whether China "wants" the Nvidia blades is ... in one word ... nuts.
Investing: I have really, really strict rules about investing, but having said that, it's really, really difficult not initiating a position in Boeing. That may be the only hole in my portfolio. Along with JPM. See disclaimer for this blog.
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $58.31.
New wells reporting:
RBN Energy: more Permian barrels headed to Corpus Christi, Nederland, as pipelines thrive. Link here. Archived.
Houston and Corpus Christi have been locked in a battle for the top spot as the primary outlet for Permian crude. Lately, the pendulum has been swinging toward Corpus — and not by accident — as most major new or expanded Permian pipelines in recent years have pointed straight there. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the significant shifts that have reshaped the market along the South Texas coast, sending crude to Corpus and Nederland, and preview our latest Drill Down Report.
First, let’s offer up some background. There’s been fierce competition between Houston and Corpus Christi for Permian barrels for some time; Corpus took a tiny lead earlier this year and the two destinations — which together handle about 75% of Permian output — are in a dead heat. Through June, roughly 2.45 MMb/d of Permian crude had flowed to Corpus in 2025, just ahead of the 2.44 MMb/d headed to Houston, according to RBN’s Crude Oil Permian report, with about 860 Mb/d destined for Nederland. And the pipelines feeding Corpus — Cactus I, Cactus II, Gray Oak and EPIC Crude — have in total been cranking above 90% utilization almost every month since late 2022.
All of this is helping to lock in Corpus Christi as one of the Gulf Coast’s leading export hubs. It supports 857 Mb/d of refining capacity — Valero (370 Mb/d), Flint Hills (320 Mb/d) and CITGO (167 Mb/d) — but Corpus’s key strength is its export capabilities. According to our Crude Voyager report, 2.25 MMb/d has been exported from Corpus Christi so far this year, with the majority of that coming from the Permian Basin. Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC) and South Texas Gateway (STG) are the region’s top two crude export terminals by volume, and each can partially load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). EIEC has exported 1.09 MMb/d as of the end of November and STG has exported about 661 Mb/d in the same time period.
Four pipelines constructed over the last 10 years have been a major catalyst for getting rising Permian oil to Corpus Christi. Cactus I (light-green line in Figure 1 below) was an early mover. The original Cactus Pipeline, a 310-mile, 20-inch-diameter line from McCamey to Gardendale, began operations in 2015 to move Permian and Eagle Ford crude. Capacity grew from 250 Mb/d in 2015 to 390 Mb/d today via additional pumps and other upgrades. It is owned and operated by Plains All American.
Locator: 49664APPLE.
This is really a huge story. There appears to be a shift in "thinking" among the huge legacy companies, perhaps in response to:
If some argue this is nothing new, that's fine. It's new to me and, if nothing else, there appears to be a shift in "emphasis" among publicly traded companies like JPM.
The new buzzwords: steward, stewards, and stewardship.
Right now, I see only three companies who have jumped to a new level of stewardship:
JPM: Strategic Investment Group of Security and Resiliency Initiative
also announces an external advisory council to inform SRI's strategic and investment priorities.
When I see "security and resiliency" I see "stewardship."
JPM's new advisory council, at the link above.
JPM's new external advisory council certainly seems to be more than just an "advisory council." Some have argued this external council is a parallel "board" to the current and conventional board structure.
The council will initially be chaired by Jamie Dimon and will include, as spelled out by JPM at the link above. The list is sorted alphabetical by last name with the exception of the last name on the list:
That's how JPM sorts the list. Let's take it back one step and reorganize the list a different way and remove one member:
The council will initially be chaired by Jamie Dimon and will include:
Is this the Pentagon on steroids?
When you look at that list, as Jamie Dimon would have looked at that list, who or what is missing? [And why is the list "almost alphabetical"?]
An aside: as I looked at that list a fifth time, it dawned on me that there was another glaring omission.
This is so incredibly cool. Jamie Dimon cleverly solved that problem, getting a two-for-one with Todd Combs. Wow.
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Stewardship
Being a steward means acting as a responsible manager or caretaker of resources, abilities, or property that isn't yours, ensuring they are used wisely and for the benefit of others, often with a deeper sense of accountability to a higher purpose or owner, like God in a biblical context, or simply managing household affairs, guest services, or union affairs in secular roles. It's about faithfulness, wise use of gifts (talents, time, money), and serving others rather than self-gain.
How is being a steward different that being a fiduciary?
A fiduciary has a strict legal duty to act in someone else's best interest (like a trustee managing a trust), while a steward embodies a broader ethical commitment, a voluntary standard of care that goes beyond legal requirements, focusing on long-term well-being with wisdom and integrity, often acting as a "caretaker" with shared purpose, though a fiduciary is also a type of steward.
Fiduciary duty is legally mandated and carries severe penalties for breach, requiring undivided loyalty, whereas stewardship is a higher, often self-imposed, moral standard.
Stewardship: