l
HEB: San Antonio-based H-E-B was ranked the No. 1 grocery retailer in the U.S. for the fifth time in nine years,
Pet peeve: I'm getting tired of bankers like Jamie Dimon telling us a cap on credit card rates for one year would be economic disaster. It makes me wonder why Dimon, et al, haven't tried to raise credit card interest rates to 100% if such credit card interest rates are so good for borrowers. The number for tree huggers is net zero and 2°C; the number for bankers, apparently, is 24%. The Federal Reserve led by Jay Powell appears to still be looking for "their" number.
Intel: earnings announcement scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET tomorrow, after market closes.
Siri: to become an AI chatbot.
SEC: a lot of folks want the US government to get rid of the SEC. Trump, apparently is already doing that -- enforcement cases by "Trump's SEC" has dropped to record lows. Maybe if the anti-ICE folks weren't distracting the administration so much, other branches could do more, like the SEC and the IRS. LOL. I can guarantee you the American business community doesn't mind, nor the billionaires.
ChatGPT: is now using "age prediction" to restrict what minors see / read.
Venezuela: US refiners are taking advantage of Venezuelan heavy oil. I never would have understood this had I not been blogging since 2007.
Transformative: regardless of the price of Venezuela oil, more heavy oil means more runs. There has not been a more transformative president since FDR; before him Lincoln; before him Washington. But clearly Trump is doing it his way, and instead of reacting to events (like the other three) he is initiating events! Absolutely audacious. It is beyond amazing that he happened to be president during America's semiquincentennial!
Greenland: apparently Trump will buy some parts of Greenland this year. If not this year, soon. Trump is taking advantage of the Mercator map. IYKYK. Source: NYT via x. The Times must be going nuts. But seriously, this is the big deal. This provides Taiwan and mainland China a civilized way of resolving differences.
Trump's market: $700 billion was added to US stock market today -- market value. Link here. I think that is well beyond what the GOAT (Warren Buffett) ever did. We are truly going to miss President Trump when he's out of office. The political theater alone is priceless.
Jamie Dimon: major anxiety -- says a 10% cap on credit cards would be an economic disaster. For him.
Intel: is just incredible. I am really, really happy for small, mom-and-pop retail investors. It's been an incredible run. This is absolutely the most fascinating company right now. Earnings to be reported tomorrow. This stock is popping at 10% on some days, including today. Disclosure: I own no shares in Intel. I am adequately "weighted" in tech stocks and am simply adding to existing positions. If I add a new tech position, it won't be a "chip" stock.
AI: tech CEOs at Davos sound more bullish than ever. Here's what Barron's had to say, link here.
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Back to the Bakken
WTI: $60.50.
Active rigs: 27.
Two new permits, #42657 and #31658:
- Operator: KODA Resources
- Fields: Grenora and Hanks, Divide County;
- Comments:
- KODA Resources has permits for two Amber permits, SESE 36-160-103,
- to be sited 475 FSL and 457 / 492 FEL.
Seven permits renewed:
- Enerplus (6): Sleeper, Pin, Chef, MHA Split, MHA Duckpin, and MHA Trophy; Heart Butte oil field, Dunn County;
- Oasis: Lars, Cottonwood oil field, Mountrail.
