This Is Insane -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49815NVDA. 

Link here. 

Graphic Of The Day -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49814INFLATION. 

Link here. 

The bars from 2021 to 2025 explain

• the huge rate of "inflation" with regard to used cars;
• the huge rate of "inflation" with regard to rent for one- to two-bedroom apartments;
• the unprecedented difficulty and waiting times  for Americans with health insurance to get seen in emergency rooms and acute care clinics;
• unprecedented stress and exploding budgets for many public school districts.

Folks may have noticed how things improved exponentially after July, 2025.  

Musical Interlude -- The Concerts In China -- Jean-Michel Jarre -- Posted January 23, 2026

Locator: 49813MUSIC. 

The "cold front" has arrived.  

Friday night. Midnight fugue. With this one, I put on the OTE headphones and turn the volume up as loudly as I can handle.  

Link here. Jean Michel Jarre -- The Concerts In China.

Alison's Quick Connects -- January 23, 2025

Locator: 49812B. 

The quick connects:

• Lawsuit between tribes, North Dakota over mineral rights headed for trial -- KFYR-TV

• Harold Hamm to shut down Continental Resources oil drilling in Bakken -- Dickinson Press

• Xcel-led coalition proposes Minnesota-North Dakota transmission expansion -- Utility Dive

• North Dakota officials: Continental's oil drilling halt is not a Bakken exit -- Bismarck Tribune

• Department of Mineral Resources Director talks Venezuela's impact on North Dakota oil industry -- KFYR-TV

• North Dakota data center growth drives up local fiber demand as buildout goes forward -- Bismarck Tribune

• Oil prices have dipped big since '24. Why has North Dakota drilling just started to slow? -- Bismarck Tribune

• Democrat Trygve Hammer announces his 2nd campaign for North Dakota's Congressional seat -- WZFG

• North Dakota investment board approves $1.3 million in bonuses despite opposition -- Bismarck Tribune

• Minot businessman Ferris Broxton announces campaign for GOP bid in US House race -- Minot Daily News

• Former North Dakota Governor Allen I. Olson will be laid to rest in Minnesota this week -- KFYR-TV

• Jonathan Holth says he 'hit the ground running' during first year in Cabinet position -- Dickinson Press

• Blowing snow hampers travel in ND, with extreme cold poised to surge into state -- Bismarck Tribune

• North Dakota must spend rural health funds wisely in face of long-term cuts -- North Dakota Monitor

• North Dakota lawmakers warned Capitol security is thin amid rising national threats -- Dickinson Press

• North Dakota Commerce announces energy grants for schools, communities, local gov't -- Minot Daily News

• City of Williston has paid off its $2.9 million Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Facility bond -- KX News

• Rural Elgin hospital on the verge of shutting down could be saved by lawmaker's bill -- North Dakota Monitor

• Devon Energy donates 'Stop the Bleed' kit to save lives in McKenzie County -- McKenzie County Farmer

• Ray city commission, school board combine meetings to discuss potential land agreement -- The Journal

• North Dakota tribal leaders head to Minneapolis to issue tribal IDs as ICE operations continue -- KFYR-TV

• Stark County Commission approves public safety budget and county contributions -- Dickinson Press

• Mercer County zoning board unanimously approves Coteau Properties mining application -- The Beacon

• Energy, property taxes and a pathway forward discussed by Mercer County Commission -- The Beacon

• Canadian cold blasts through Bowman County, brings high winds and bitter cold -- Bowman County Pioneer

• Killdeer moves forward with wayfinding signage, architectural internship program -- Dickinson Press

• Eighteen North Dakota communities competing for title of 'America's Favorite Small Town' -- KFYR-TV

• State school superintendent invites public to participate in K-12 school online survey -- Dickinson Press

• Minot Public Schools invites staff and families to participate in districtwide survey -- Minot Daily News

• Divide County School District takes closer look at how engaged students are with classwork -- The Journal

• NDDPI partners with education nonprofit to create new middle school math model -- Dickinson Press

• Mandan School Board officially names Carly Ritterath as its next superintendent -- Bismarck Tribune

• North Dakota Dollars for Scholars once again accepting scholarship applications -- The Center Republican

• 'Massive' untapped oil and gas reserves discovered beneath the Permian. What will it take to tap it? -- MSN

• Power generation from coal and gas-fired plants in China last year fell for first time in a decade -- Oil Price

• Coal production in China hit an all-time high last year despite a decline in coal-fired generation -- Oil Price

• Wright: 'I believe we will see that growing Venezuelan production drives prices down' -- E&E News

• Trump says he will '100%' follow through on threat to impose further tariffs over Greenland demand -- BBC

• Trump's energy dominance rewrites the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after Biden drawdowns -- Fox News

• Trump announces plans to hold critical minerals summit in wake of ramped up Greenland pursuit -- The Hill

• Red states have reliable power because they embrace an all-of-the-above strategy -- RealClearEnergy

• Congress green-lighted billions for EV chargers. Four years later, only 2% is spent. -- E&E News

• US establishes fund to hold all revenues from sales of Venezuela's oil; supervised by Trump -- Oil Price

• US power grid faces stress test amid arctic chill, data center demand, reduced gas supplies -- Reuters

Four New Permits And Two Permits Renewed; Two Permits Canceled -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49811B. 

WTI: $61.07. Up 2.88%; up $1.71.

Active rigs: 29.

Four new permits, #42666 - #42669, inclusive:

• Operator: Oasis
• Fields: Bonetrail (Williams) and Alger (Mountrail)
• Comments: 
• Oasis has permits for three Troon wells, NENW 23-156-102; 
• to be sited 310 FL and 2512 / 2578 FWL; and, 
• one permit for a Teal well, NENE 22-156-92, 
• to be sited 231 FNL and 1297 FWL.

Two permits were renewed:

• Formentera Operations, a Marauder permit, Blooming Prairie oil field, Divide County; and,
• Lime Rock Resources, a Garfield permit, Stanley oil field, Mountrail County.

Two permits canceled:

• MRO, State Willard, Dunn County;
• WGO Resources, Moe, Golden Valley;

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 40943, n/d, Murex LA-Lily Anne 25-36 MB;

One dry hole:

• 42130, EOG, Mandaree 34-0706H, McKenzie County.

About twenty wells / files were transferred from Stephens Williston dba SEG Williston to Swanson Oil & Gas, LLC. 

ISO-NE -- The Storm Has Yet To Arrive -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49810ISONE. 

Link here. Mid-to-late afternoon, Friday afternoon.

Amazon Vs Berkshire Hathaway -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49809AMZN. 

My feelings for BRK-B and AMZN have not changed. 

Past six months:

Max: 

Flu Data For The Past Week -- Unremarkable -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49808FLU. 

Link here. 

Only one slide this week; nothing remarkable about the data this week. This "flu" season (2025 - 2026) is tracking identically with last year's "flu" season.

 If last year's vaccine "worked" and this year's "vaccine" did not work, it begs the question.

Tagged As A Political Story, This Most Wanted Criminal Caught By The FBI -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49807CRIME. 

Why is this CBS story tagged as "political"?

This guy had been known since at least by 2010 as really, really, really, bad, operating out of Mexico, and yet he was not placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List until under the Trump administration, just last year, early in 2025, in March. 

He's now 44 years old. 

Less than a year after he was put on the "most wanted list," he was apparently captured in Mexico and extradited to the US.  

From wiki: 

 Many, many story lines here. But I'm really curious why this story was tagged as a "political" story.

Intel-Apple -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49806INTEL. 

Cramer: says that Intel has Apple as a customer; CEO just not allowed to say that -- 8:08 a.m., today on CNBC. 

What do others say? Wow, this was coincidental. This popped up on MacRumors today.

Link here.  

Some observations:

• Nvidia and Apple are in direct competition for TSMC chips;
• Nvidia has reportedly surpassed Apple as TSMC's largest customer which comes at a very pivotal time; 
• Apple taking strategic steps to ensure no supply chain interruption
• but if that's accurate, the earliest Intel - Apple could partner would be no earlier than mid-2027 -- a year-and-a-half away;
• and that would be for Apple's lowest-end M-series chips; by which time (2027) Apple would be much farther along in their M-series, making this part of the story almost a non-story;
• it's only an "expectation" that Intel might begin supplying some Apple chips using its future 14A process, which will reportedly be ready for mass production in 2028;
• in addition, the same analyst suggests that Apple and Intel will come to some agreement for Intel to supply at least some non-Pro iPhone models starting in 2028; these would be at least a portion of A21 or A22 chips, but TSMC is expected to remain Apple's primary chipmaking partner
• in other words:
• a lot of rumor and conjecture;
• would involve only a small portion of chips;
• would involve Apple's low end chips that might be considered obsolete by US consumers;
• Intel is currently working on its 18A chips, and there are rumors that Intel is having difficulty reaching profitable yields
• Intel is well known to have had such difficulties in the past
• Intel was struggling with 10-nm and 7-nm some years ago when Apple / TSMC were already producing 3-nm chips;
• Intel did not discuss chip yield (18A) in its 4Q25 conference call yesterday;
• analysts at that conference call were noted to be quite frustrated on non-answers 
• a jump from 10-nm / 7-nm to 18A chips is quite a jump
• even 18A chips might not be readily available (and profitable) until mid-2027;
• 14A chips are even further down the road, mid-2028.This is how I see it; others will see it much differently.
• Any announcement that Apple and Intel have signed an agreement will likely boost Intel's stock significantly. 

I'm still struggling with imagining a company having trouble making 10-nm and 7-nm chips in the past, all of a sudden jumping 5-nm, 3-nm, and 2-nm to go directly from 10-nm / 7-nm to 18A as a bridge to 14A chips. 

Again, this is nothing more than idle rambling.  

**********************************
Disclaimer
Briefly

Briefly: 

I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.

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 something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.

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 Bakken, US economy, and the US market.

I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 

And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution.

I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.

Longer version here.   

US LNG Export Terminal Update -- Friday, January 23, 2026

Locator: 49805LNG. 

Link here. 

Link here.

Would it be better to keep this natural gas at "home" for US citizens? Source:

• there is so much natural gas being produced in the US, that America can do both;
• data centers are using some of this natural gas, but they consider this natural gas "dirty" and prefer not to use it;
• some regions of the country, especially the northeast are not able to access this natural gas because these regions have not put in the necessary infrastructure (pipelines).

There is no shortage of natural gas for the US or Europe. The price is related more to logistics and infrastructure, supply and demand. 

He's Back -- The "Mamdani" Of California -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49804CALIFORNIA. 

Tag: Tom Steyer. 

This should be Californians' worst nightmare. And he's probably a centrist now. How old is he? 68 years old.  

Trump: Geo-Politics -- An Update -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49803GEOPOLITICS. 

Cramer: watch Gaza. A lot of money could pour into Gaza. Dubai has a lot of money. So many story lines. Could this be a Trump legacy?  Board of Peace. This could be so big it could rival the UN. Reuters headline.  

Trump has several other geo-political wins in his first year, but the top geo-political "wins" that could be Trump's lasting legacy:

• ending the Russian-Ukraine war;
• liberating Venezuela; regime change;
• destroying the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas axis in the Middle East;
• regime change in Iran;
• regime change in Cuba;
• returned the Panama Canal to the US; 
• ensuring security for Greenland. 

**************************
Flashback

From July 24, 2025.

TGIF -- January 23, 2026

Locator: 49802B. 

Quote of the day: "It's AMD's day today (after Intel's conference call yesterday)" -- Jim Cramer. 

CSX: up 3% in pre-market trading; Cramer says BNSF will tie up with CSX. Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO needs a win. Desperately.

BRK-B: pre-market, down again. Down half-a-percent in pre-market; could open well below $485. Its 52-week high is 542. BRK-B is down 12% from its 52-week high. Ouch. The GOAT.  

Cramer: watch Gaza. A lot of money could pour into Gaza. Dubai has a lot of money. So many story lines. Could this be a Trump legacy?  Board of Peace. This could be so big it could rival the UN. Reuters headline. Talk about a loaded / prejudicial headline: why would Reuters be concerned about a Trump initiative rivaling the UN? Oh, that's right. 

Exhibit A: What country currently runs the UN Security Council? 

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

WTI: $60.81. Up 2.44% overnight; up $1.45. Geo-political or weather?

New wells reporting:

• Sunday, January 25, 2026: 41 for the month, 41 for the quarter, 41 for the year,
• 41384, conf, Hess, GN-Stundal-158-97-1819H-3, 
• 41351, conf, Hess, GO-Dustin Brose-156-98-2932H-4, 
• Saturday, January 24, 2026: 39 for the month, 39 for the quarter, 39 for the year,
• 41308, conf, BR, Sandie 3A MBH, 
• 40079, conf, Devon, Cuda 14-26F 5H,
• Friday, January 23, 2026: 37 for the month, 37 for the quarter, 37 for the year,
• 40078, conf, Devon, Cuda 15-27F 4H, 
• 39802, conf, BR, Carlsbad 4B, 
• 36616, conf, BR, Sandie 2C-MBH,

RBN Energy: will the storm set to slam the south lead to a winter storm Uri reprise? Link here. Archived.

The natural gas market was roiled this week by the prospect of severe winter weather set to sweep across the country. The placid first half of January, with temperatures far above seasonal averages, now looks set to turn downright frigid from Friday through Sunday. The storm, now known as Winter Storm Fern, is forecast to leave a swath of snow and ice across the middle of the U.S. from New Mexico to Delaware. This has sent futures soaring this week and triggered market memories of another storm with an even shorter name, Uri, that wreaked havoc on the gas market five years ago. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss the market’s jump in advance of Fern’s arrival and whether its effects might rival the tremendous dislocations caused by Uri.

The natural gas futures market was still in the doldrums on Friday, January 16, when the front-month February contract settled at $3.103/MMBtu, 88 cents lower than where the contract was trading when it became the prompt month at the end of December. Bearishness was the norm in the first half of January due to the unseasonably warm weather. According to data from RBN’s U.S. NATGAS Billboard, the average national temperature was 47.2 degrees for the January 1-15 period, 4.3 degrees higher than the average for the prior 10 years. As we would expect, unseasonably high temperatures for a peak winter month led to lower-than-typical natural gas usage. Total U.S. demand for natural gas in the first half of January averaged a paltry 101.7 Bcf/d. (The same period in 2025 averaged 124.2 Bcf/d.) Only record-high LNG feedgas kept supply from exceeding demand during those weeks, signaling a very loose market for a period that normally sees high withdrawals from storage.

As of January 16, the general view was that the second half of January would be colder than the first half. At RBN, we had anticipated that the average national temperature would be 2.9 degrees below normal for the back half of the month — cold, but not enough to significantly alter the gas balance — and our forecasts showed the gas surplus to the 5-year average declining by only 11 Bcf through February 6 (left side of Figure 1 below). The gas market entered the long Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend in a tranquil state but forecast changes over those three days sent futures into a frenzy when trading resumed.