Even President Trump Will Have To Admit This Is Pretty Special -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49673MUSK. 

For me, this is as much about the uniqueness of the United States as the personal achievement of Elon Musk and his team! 

Link here. 

Right now, there are two big contributors to x:

• Beth; and,
• Evan.

Hunt Oil With Five New Permits; One DUC Reported As Completed -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49672B. 

WTI: $58.40.

Active rigs: 30.

Five new permits, #42545 - #42549, inclusive:

• Operator: Hunt Oil
• Fields: Dimond oil field; and, Thompson Lake oil field; both Burke County;
• Comments:
• Hunt Oil has permits for three Dimond wells and two Vanville wells, lot 3, section 1-159-91, 
• to be sited 393 FNL and 1647 / 1767 FWL.

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 41429, 888, EOG, Bear Den 61-2008H, Spotted Horn, McKenzie County;
• wells of interest
• 19157, IA/1,476, Bear Den 04-20H, Spotted Horn, t1,476; cum 369K 12/24;
• 23061, IA/1,206, Bear Den 23-2019H, t8/13; cum 473K 8/24;
• 23062, IA/455, Bear Den 101-2019H, t8/13; cum 516K 12/24;
• 23063, IA/1,418, Bear Den 100-2017H, t8/13; cum 685K 12/24;
• 41428, drl, Bear Den 62-2016H, t--; cum 4K after four days;
• 41429, drl, Bear Den 61-2008H, t--; cum 4K after four days;
• 41430, drl, Bear Den 60-2019H, t--; cum 3K after four days;

Production profile for #23063: an incredible "steady Eddy, no production surge; back 7/1/13 -- 50 stimulation stages; 111,886 bbls fluid; 10,126,958 lbs proppant; max treatment pressure, 8880 psi. Initial production back in 2013:

BAKKEN	8-2014	31	17169	17280	8995	37999	35694	2156
BAKKEN	7-2014	31	22391	22129	9180	45920	44750	1021
BAKKEN	6-2014	18	20743	20432	8012	33198	27501	5613
BAKKEN	5-2014	2	0	334	74	8	6	2
BAKKEN	4-2014	30	16808	17051	7475	23522	13637	9740
BAKKEN	3-2014	31	22328	22360	9510	32937	27434	5354
BAKKEN	2-2014	19	14377	13946	6506	17663	11111	6474
BAKKEN	1-2014	25	19343	19634	9422	28537	19443	8970
BAKKEN	12-2013	31	28788	28657	14925	43081	36359	6567
BAKKEN	11-2013	25	25127	25026	13175	39147	16626	22402
BAKKEN	10-2013	27	25762	26200	16875	38654	24911	13614
BAKKEN	9-2013	26	30177	30356	20893	70067	30595	39347
BAKKEN	8-2013	17	27404	26392	25485	2973	1117	1782
BAKKEN	4-2013	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

A Musical Interlude -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49671MUSIC. 

Normally, my music interludes come during the middle of the night, not during the middle of the day, but I completely missed this -- a reader alerted me to this. I don't think the reader knew exactly how much I love the Mavericks ...

... so, we'll do this quickly .... I'm in the middle of too many projects .... and come back to this later ...

Link here. 

Reported today, that at age 60, cancer claims another victim, Raul Malo. 

Link here.

Asking For A Friend -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49670B. 
Locator: 49670NDENERGY. 

Asking for a friend: 

Interestingly, Enbridge is heavily invested in solar and wind despite being a huge natural gas company; is there any possibility that Enbridge might sell its wind and solar assets to NextEra Energy?

Google Gemini:

For My Own Edification; We'll Come Back To This Later -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49669B. 
Locator: 49669NDENERGY. 

A reader sent me this just moments ago (thank you very much): New collaboration seeks to create generation facility in North Dakota. 

My immediate, not-ready-for-prime-time: 

Most interesting: for western North Dakota (to be sited in central North Dakota) when the need for electricity would be in eastern North Dakota -- AI centers will be in eastern North Dakota.

This suggests to me that they want to build close to the Bakken minimizing need for long pipelines; and/or, they see a huge need for electricity in the Bakken which I've talked about before on the blog. It's amazing that despite the Bakken being so mature, the electricity demands continue to soar. 

When I see NextEra Energy I see a renewable energy company -- largest electrical utility in the US, based in Florida -- this sounds like a win-win for both companies, but I wonder if NextEra Energy didn't initiate the discussion?

 

My first question: was Buffett involved?

 

What is NextEra Energy (I already knew having just looked at it last week, but needed a quick refresher): 

It should be noted that to the best of my knowledge, NextEra is not associated in any way with Taylor Swift's next Eras Tour. However, a Taylor Swift NextEra Tour sponsored by NextEra Energy .... 

 

Most Visited Websites -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49668INVESTING. 

Chart of the day (COTD):

Counterintuitive:

AI: wow, wow, wow. The markets today were pretty mixed and pretty boring, but if you get past the headlines, it was a huge day today. If you have doubts, read about GE Vernova and look at the ticker today (GEV). 

Silver: a huge, huge day. Broke out today. Check out the chart. It seems just the other day I was buying silver bullion for $24 and now it's over $60, jumping another $.280 / ounce. [Yes, I know, "the other day,' was decades ago.] 

WMT: Mentioned a few weeks ago that it was going to happen, today was the day. Walmart (WMT) moved from the NYSE to the NASDAQ. That speaks volumes. This is like a franchise quarterback moving from the Dallas Cowboys to the Denver Broncos. IYKYK. I know this is not the "be-all to end-all" but to move to the NASDAQ, a tech-heavy exchange, tells me that WMT sees itself as a tech company competing with Amazon, and not a grocer competing with Target. This is huge. 

************************
Websites

Look at the top ten or eleven or twenty sites.

Surfing and ads:

• Google
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Microsoft Bing
• Yahoo!
• Instagram
• X
• Wikipedia
• LinkedIn
• The Weather Channel
• TikTok
• Fandom

Media

• The New York Times

Chatbots:

• ChatGPT

Retail

• Amazon
• eBay
• Office
• Walmart

Miscellaneous

• US Postal Service

Inflation Watch -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49667INFLATION. 

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:  

******************************
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.  

Top Story Of The Day -- The Mideast -- An AI Powerhouse -- Exhibit A: Qatar -- December 9, 2025

Locator: 49666TECH. 

Link here, but the story is everywhere. The story is amazing. I've posted highlights of the story below the fold.

 Mideast:

**************************
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. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

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.  

***************************
Back to the Bakken 

WTI: $58.31.

New wells reporting:

• Wednesday, December 10, 2025: 20 for the month, 143 for the quarter, 727 for the year, 
• 41325, conf, Hess, EN-Rice-155-94-1102H-7, 
• Tuesday, December 9, 2025: 19 for the month, 142 for the quarter, 726 for the year,
• 28514, conf, CLR, Berlain 5-30H,  

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. 

BRK -- JPM -- Apple -- December 2025

Locator: 49664APPLE. 

Updates

JPM was in the news today -- huge ramp-up in expense next year, mostly due to personnel costs. CNBC talking heads do not mention any specifics regarding " the huge ramp-up in personnel expenses" next year. 

So, look at this. How much is JPM committing to their new external advisory council? 

 "Journalists emphasize JPM's new "Security & Resiliency Initiative (SRI) framing -- $1.5 trillion of financing and a a $10 billion initial direct-investment pot -- and present Combs' hire as operationalizing that mandate."

*********************************
 Original Post

This is really a huge story. There appears to be a shift in "thinking" among the huge legacy companies, perhaps in response to: 

• tech behemoths;
• trillion-dollar-market-cap companies;
• unpredictability of federal and state governments;
• international interference (think EU regulators);
• China;
• global energy. 

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
• Apple
• BRK (see this link also)

Link here. 

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:

• Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman of Amazon and Founder of Blue Origin
• Chris Cavoli, General (retired); Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command
• Todd Combs, head (effective January 2026) of the SRI Strategic Investment Group
• Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies
• Ann Dunwoody, retired Commanding General of U.S. Army Material Command
• Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company
• Robert Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
• Alex Gorsky, former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson
• Paul Nakasone, General (retired), former NSA Director and Commander of Cybersecurity Command
• Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State
• Paul Ryan, Partner at Solamere Capital, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics

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:

• Robert Gates, former U.S. Secretary of Defense
• Chris Cavoli, General (retired); Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of U.S. European Command
• Paul Nakasone, General (retired), former NSA Director and Commander of Cybersecurity Command
• Ann Dunwoody, retired Commanding General of U.S. Army Material Command
• Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and CEO of General Dynamics
• Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State 
  
• Paul Ryan, Partner at Solamere Capital, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman of Amazon and Founder of Blue Origin
• Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies
• Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company
• Alex Gorsky, former Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson

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"?]

Including Jamie Dimon, the list is composed of 12 members. These kinds of committees need an odd number of members for obvious reasons. 

 

So, Jamie Dimon is looking at this list, and he sees three things:

• the list needs an odd number of members (either add or cut one member), unless the "leader" is a non-voting member;
• if this is truly going to be an external advisory council, Jamie Dimon needs to step aside, and someone on that list or a new member needs to lead the group;
• there is an important sector glaringly absent. Quick! Name the US sector most knowledgeable with regard to "risk." And then name the leader in that sector.

An aside: as I looked at that list a fifth time, it dawned on me that there was another glaring omission. That, I will call, the first glaring omission. 

The second glaring omission was a non-Android, stronger tech individual -- that would be someone close to or part of Apple. And, that, my friends, connected the last dot (or dots).

This is so incredibly cool. Jamie Dimon cleverly solved that problem, getting a two-for-one with Todd Combs. Wow.  

*******************************
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:

• security
• safety
• individual privacy