Cuba Has Run Out Of Diesel And Oil -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50815CUBA.

Maybe more tomorrow. Time for a US-Cuba deal.

Honda: a disaster. Who saw this coming? Honda reports its first annual loss since 1957.  

Meanwhile, WTI "jumps" a bit when Trump says China / Xi will buy crude oil from the US. Message to the Mideast: if you don't open the Strait of Hormuz, we've got options. Every day the strait remains closes, the more irrelevant it becomes. Currently trading at $102.60. Market futures drop accordingly. 

US refiners: expect to see significant supply issues ... soooooon. 

PEMEX CEO resigns: Mexican president makes the announcement.  

Shale: people are talking about increased production coming from the Permian; lessons learned will be applied elsewhere. "Permian and DJ oil recovery successes are moving to the Bakken." -- Dan Tsubouchi. 

China-US: a picture is worth a trillion words -- it's even worse than Geiger says it is -- 

Xi (or as Ilhan Omar likes to say, "Number 11") likely to visit the US before end of this year. US-Chinese relations a lot better than the legacy / mainstream media would like to admit.

Mideast: US pilots getting a lot of flight time. The golden age to be an aviator? 

***************************
Thursday Night -- Music

Headphones on. Loud.  

Link here.  

Oliver Baroni reminds me of Dick Dale. I would love to hear more of Baroni.

There are times I swear I hear Blondie (Debbie Henry) in Emanuela Hutter.

Link here. 

Link here. Boyzone.

Over on social media, in response to Joan Osborne singing this song,

Somehow Joan simultaneously channelled Jimmy Ruffin and Janis Joplin for an awesome interpretation of this classic tear jerker. When I first heard this as kid in the 1960’s I thought it was about losing your girlfriend. But now as 60-some year old married man of 35 years I realize it is about losing the love of your life; a loss tinged by anger. Thank God she is still with me. 

If Virginia Woolf were still alive, she would be going through comments on YouTube to get "phrases" for the books she would be writing.

I'm sure we've all been through this, breaking up with the love of your life during your coming of age years. That happened to me, 1974. I was devastated. I didn't contemplate suicide at that time -- I was so overwhelmed with grief, I had no energy to think about suicide, much less have the energy to do something to harm myself. I could never articulate the emotion(s) I felt at the time. I thought it was profound sadness -- I don't think there's an adequate synonym -- maybe Virginia Woolf would know -- God knows she experienced profound depression.

And then look at that quote above -- "... I thought it was about losing your girlfriend. But now as 60-some year old married man of 35 years I realize it was about losing the love of your life; a loss tinged by anger. Thank God she is still with me."

"A loss tinged by anger." 

I don't recall a bit of anger then and I don't recall any anger since or now. But there was something more than just profound depression / more profound than simply a loss. 

It seems "everyone" has covered this song, but Joan Osborne has set the standard. Linked above.

"Standing In The Shadows Of Motown: The Funk Brothers." Link here. 

Link here. "Walk, Don't Run." General George Babbitt. 

Link here.

AI generated.

"Misirlu." So, you think you know "Misirlu"? Link here. Link here.

 

Exurbs -- Five Fastest Growing Cities In The US Are In Texas -- Four In The DFW Area; The Other Near Houston -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50814TEXAS.

And this is why Texas has nice things. 

May 14, 2026 -- same story, different slant, from The WSJ -- link here -- 

The future of American cities is in the exurbs.

The latest Census Bureau data show that some of the fastest-growing cities are often sitting in the distant orbit of a larger city and centered on booming master-planned communities.

Take Fulshear, Texas, an affluent community about 35 miles west of downtown Houston. By mid-2025 it had an estimated 64,630 people, the Census Bureau said Thursday, rocketing up from around 17,000 in 2020. No other American city with more than 50,000 people has grown faster in that span.

Here are some other hot spots and trends from the latest census data, focusing on city populations for the 12 months running through June 2025.

The Dallas area is sprinkled with fast-growing exurbs, even as the city itself—as well as some closer suburbs—lost population in the last measured year.

The biggest standout is Celina, Texas, a boomtown on the metro area’s far northern fringes that features master-planned communities. It added nearly 13,000 people in the year through mid-2025, boosting its population to more than 64,400. Houston, population 2.4 million, added fewer people.

Other fast growers in the region include Fort Worth, the nation’s 10th-largest city.

Dallas, meanwhile, was among the top 10 largest cities that shrank slightly in the most recent census-measured year, joining New York City and Los Angeles. The overall U.S. population grew 0.5% in that span, about half the prior year’s growth, reflecting tighter immigration restrictions under both the Biden and Trump administrations. 

Phoenix, AZ? Similar.

 *********************************

Reposting from this morning: 

Locator: 50807TEXAS.

Cities: Link here.

Across the entire US, across all sizes, the top five cities ranked by growth are in Texas:

• four of them are in the DFW area;
• the fifth is in the Houston area, Fulshear.
• well west of Houston; an extension of Katy, Texas 
• Celina: is in the high growth area north of DFW
• Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Celina, Melissa, Anna (farthest north)
• essentially, Dallas already too congested; too expensive; too many homeless -- folks moving north
• Princeton: northeast of DFW; east of McKinney

Nine out of 10 of the largest population gainers in pure numbers were cities in the South because of a healthy job market and its comparative affordability. The biggest numeric gainers were Charlotte, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Celina.

Fort Worth leaped over Jacksonville last year as the 10th most populous U.S. city, putting four Texas cities in the nation's top 10 most populous, with the other cities being Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Silicon Valley South and Silicon Valley West: Austin skipped over San Jose for the 12th most populous spot, as Texas’ capital city surpassed 1 million residents for the first time. It is now one of a dozen U.S. cities with 1 million residents or more. 

End-Of-Day Report -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50813B.

WTI: $101.20.

Active rigs: 26.

Four new permits, #42938 - #42941, inclusive;

• Operator: Devon Energy;
• Field: Camp (McKenzie County)
• Comments: 
• Devon Energy has permits for four more Lindvig North wells, SENE 14-152-101; to be sited 
• 2628 FNL and 1264 FEL;
• 2630 FSL and 1239 FEL;
• 2614 FSL and 1213 FEL;
• 2599 FSL and 1187 FEL.

Sixteen permits canceled:

• SOGC (13): permits for one Nelson permit, six Lizzie Rae permits, and six Dry Creek Federal permits;
• Enerplus (3): three Magnum permits, lot 7, section 4-152-10.

Speaking Of Lawsuits, Did Elon Musk Ever Sue Anthropic? May 14, 2026

Locator: 50812MUSK.

Tag: Anthropic Memphis SpaceX xAI SpaceXAI Colossus  

Query: Wow, this gets confusing. Musk owns the LDC in Memphis; Anthropic will use computing resources from Musk's Memphis LDC. Who is supplying the blades (CPUs, GPUs, HBM)?

The energy / power source:

Market At The Close -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50811INVESTING.

Chart of the day:

S&P 500: closes above 7,500 for first time ever. Closes at 7,501.

DOW: first time it closed above 50,000 since February 11, 2026. 

NASDAQ closes at record. 

WTI: $102. 

Mid-Afternoon Trading -- Cerebras Begins Trading Today -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50810INVESTING.

Tag: BRK BRK-B BRKB 

Absolutely embarrassing.

  

Watch Cerebrus Pull The Entire Tech Market Forward -- This Will Be A Bigger Story Than "Mr Trump Goes To Beijing" -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50809INVESTING.

The Cerebras chip: link here. 

Comment before we get started: chip design, chip manufacturing is moving at warp speed. 

LDCs are being built at record speed. 

Now, with regard to chips (for LDCs) we have Cerebrus -- see below -- another chipmaker for LCDs. Of all the chip makers that seem to have household names, Intel seems to be the company that has a one-trick pony, and, oh by the way, the company is having trouble getting that chip made. 

At one time, the race to get these chips to market was very, very important. Now so much any more. What changed? 

Two things. First, the buildout of LDCs has slowed a bit due to NIMBY concerns. Second, the buildout of LDCs has slowed a bit due to cash flow issues. Third, the buildout of LDCs has slowed a bit due to energy issues. All of a sudden the race for LDCs is not so critical. 

What's important now is the best chip out there. And that's where Cerebrus comes in. If what the company and the analysts say is true about the Cerebrus chip, then folks are going to slow down and wait for the best chip. And right now that appears to Cerebrus. We address this later below. Which chipmaker is most at risk with regard to Cerebras?

**********************************
Cerebras 

Query: Cerebras chips: what companies are lined up to buy chips from Cerebus? Are these chips for personal computers or for LDCs, the cloud, similar?

Reply:

Cerebras is a chip company. 

Query: 

The Cerebras chip has CPU, GPU, and HBM on the same chip. Is that accurate?

Reply:

 Investors

Movers and shakers got in for $185.

Opened at $350.

Already trading at $385.

This is huge.

It will help solve the GPU / CPU / memory chokepoint. Puts memory on the chip. But it's a ten-year story.

Who gets hurt the most? INTC. 

A chatbot agrees.

The Biden administration would not allow Cerebras go public.

 

This is so huge. I cannot articulate how big this deal is.

 

Did BRK get any shares at $185 last night? 

This is going to hasten more IPOs. 

 

In Silicon Valley, 20-year-olds are going crazy. Watch for more IPOs out of Silicon Valley.

 

The next one: SpaceX.

Everyone wants a piece of Elon Musk.

 

The "lock-up" is unique.

 

The "lock-up" is unique. A "dribble-lock-up." Insiders can start welling their shares in the next month or so. All the supply does not show up at one time.

 

CNBC did an incredible job reporting this IPO. Absolutely amazing.

 

Me? I'm letting my profits run, and will be pivoting to banks and pharmaceuticals.  

 

Remember Vera Rubin (Nvidia) coming to market by the end of the year.

 

What's the US equity market doing? Continues to surge.

********************************** 
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. 
• 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.  
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the fourth (sixth) industrial revolution. 
• I've now added Broadcom into this discussion. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom. 
• Now, I've added Amazon.  I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Amazon.
• In early 2026, I pivoted to banks/financials; and, pharmaceuticals.
• Longer version here.

The "S" Curve And Where To Go Next -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50808INVESTING.

Personal investing: for the extended family; not for general readership. 

Some thoughts:

• prior to 2018: I was overweight in energy in individual stocks in my portfolio; balanced by pension, retirement accounts; dividends;
• 2018: AAPL became my largest holding among individual stocks in my portfolio, again, balanced by pension, retirement accounts; dividends;
• 2022: pivoted to tech; only thing I bought (with some minor exceptions) was tech, mostly "mag 7" and some infrastructure; and bought a lot of it; 
• 2026, first quarter: completely quit investing in tech; too expensive; did not sell anything; bought AAPL on dips; bought Schwab ETFs; watching closely for opportunities in tech;
• 2026, second quarter: drew the "S" curve -- see below; asked where to pivot, where to start adding small positions for the 2036 time frame; literally "all" new money each month will go into "something else, looking to the future, ten years out."
• Among tech, will buy AMZN and WMT on dips; will watch MCD;
• so the question is: what is that "something else, looking to the future, ten years out."
• banks / financial: generational wealth transfer; and how AI will change this industry; and,
• biotech: research into longevity
• again, no cash, no bonds. 

Specifics: 

• Banks and financial institutions: easy to come up with likely winners.
• Biotech: much more difficult. 
• start by query: what pharmaceutical companies are looking into life longevity with focus on ten years out? Then pick out biotech companies you might be interested in, and ask specifically if those biotech companies are involved in such research.

So, what does that mean? Because of my rules:

• banks and financial institutions: BK
• biotech: AMGN 

*********************************
AI Investing

Like all biological phenomena and revolutions, this current AI revolution will also follow the standard "S" curve.

Point A, about 2023: it had become obvious that one should have began investing heavily in AI by now. Interestingly, the term "Magnificent Seven" (Mag 7) was coined in 2023 by Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett. He created the nickname to describe a group of seven dominant, high-performing U.S. technology stocks—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. 

Point B, about 2028, will be the last opportunity to continue investing aggressively in AI. The Mag 7 will have greatly expanded by then. One might argue we'll see a resurgence of "a" Nifty Fifty. 

Between points A and B aggressive investors need to continue aggressively invest in AI, but transition from the Mag7 to the Towering 20. 

Many of these new twenty companies will be the results of IPOs between now (2026 and 2028).  

Unless there are indications that the growth/excitement of the current AI revolution continues beyond 2030, the investor needs to pivot. And pivot quickly. The market -- certainly the AI market -- could plummet 20 to 25 percent once the average investor sees what is going on. One may already need to consider pivoting from the current Mag 7 to something new.

Between now and then, keep reading everything you can on societal and geo-political changes. The trick will be to anticipate the next Mag 7. My own hunch: pharmaceutical companies that focus on "healthspan expansion" and even, perhaps, "biological age reversal." Beware charlatans.

It's not too late to invest in the current AI revolution, but by next year this time -- maybe sooner --  investing in the current Mag 7 will be challenging -- the real winners (investors) will be those who correctly anticipate the Towering 20 in 2030. Maybe we will see thirty such tickers by 2030 ... "thirty for 2030" --- "30 for 30."

**********************************
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. Now, I've added Amazon.

Longer version here. 

Growth In Texas -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50807TEXAS.

Cities: Link here.

Across the entire US, across all sizes, the top five cities ranked by growth are in Texas:

• four of them are in the DFW area;
• the fifth is in the Houston area, Fulshear.
• well west of Houston; an extension of Katy, Texas 
• Celina: is in the high growth area north of DFW
• Plano, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Celina, Melissa, Anna (farthest north)
• essentially, Dallas already too congested; too expensive; too many homeless -- folks moving north
• Princeton: northeast of DFW; east of McKinney

Nine out of 10 of the largest population gainers in pure numbers were cities in the South because of a healthy job market and its comparative affordability. The biggest numeric gainers were Charlotte, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Celina.

Fort Worth leaped over Jacksonville last year as the 10th most populous U.S. city, putting four Texas cities in the nation's top 10 most populous, with the other cities being Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Silicon Valley South and Silicon Valley West: Austin skipped over San Jose for the 12th most populous spot, as Texas’ capital city surpassed 1 million residents for the first time. It is now one of a dozen U.S. cities with 1 million residents or more. 

Airports: Link here.

• Around the world, of all the world's airports, DFW is ranked #3 in passenger numbers; 
• some sites suggest DFW is #4; other sites suggest #3.
• Of the top three, the US has #1 and #3 (in some lists, #4)
• Only one gateway to UK / EU 
• the US has four gateways among the top ten
• When you look at the list:
• Look at the major US city that did not make the top ten!
• US: 4
• Europe: 0
• England: 1
• Turkey: 1
• China: 2
• Japan: 1
• Mideast: 1 
• Look at the growth rate of DFW.
• in addition, DFW is adding a sixth terminal and renovating / growing its largest terminal 
• a DFW terminal generally has 36 gates
• the new sixth terminal will open with 15 gates, all American 

Again, note which US city / airport did not make the list; and that airport has very little regional competition in the big scheme of things.

Not one airport in the US northeast corridor made the list but that is not surprising: at least four in the NYC area, one in Massachsetts; and at least two in the Washington, DC, area, all compete with each other.

 

 

Automobile Storage -- North Texas -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50806BATCAVES.

Car storage: I'm curious -- how big a deal is this nationwide -- we're now seeing a number of personal car storage sites pop up in wealthy enclaves and near DFW airport. 

Also propelling this phenomenon -- folks are converting their residential garages to storage areas and/or man caves (also called "batcaves"). Look at the sales price of some of these sites in the "box" below. And, yes, batcaves are a "thing." Ask Gemini.

One wonders: could renters sublet their garages for others? Not that I would ever do that. Just asking.

Apple iPhone Sales Update -- May 14, 2026

Locator: 50805APPLE.

Tag: iPhone.

AAPL: iPhone sales gap up. Link here. First quarter results, an increase of 1.3% y/y. The rest of the industry (US): a 5.7% decline.

The global market:

This was before President Trump's trip to China.

 More: 

Android device sales declined 14.4 percent, while Apple's market share grew 4 percent year-over-year. 

iPhone 17 performance is part of the reason Apple outperformed the market, but Counterpoint says the company was also helped by a later launch of Samsung's Galaxy S26 series in March.

Apple's market share increased at all three major U.S. carriers, while Android saw a decline. The iPhone made up 75 percent of sales at Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, while Android devices made up 25 percent.

Counterpoint expects Apple to continue to draw users to iOS because it maintained pricing with the iPhone 17e and even increased storage, while smartphone makers with slimmer hardware margins have had to raise prices.

**************************
AI

It is amazing how Apple "solved" this problem. 

Link here. 

********************Partnership

Query: Apple has opened this operating system to chatbots. I've not seen the details. Are third-party AI providers paying Apple for this opportunity?

Reply:  

 

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Locator: 50804B.

Local: golf carts now allowed on "neighborhood streets" in local area. This is huge. Along with electric bikes for those under twelve years of age and now golf carts for those over 80 years of age .... well, what can I say? 

Car storage: I'm curious -- how big a deal is this nationwide -- we're now seeing a number of personal car storage sites pop up in wealthy enclaves and near DFW airport. 

AAPL: iPhone sales gap up. Link here. 

Venezuela crude oil exports: highest level since 2019. Link here. Surge: 588,000 bpd. Reminder: North Dakoa produces 1 million+ bopd. 

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

WTI: $101.00.

New wells reporting:

• Friday, May 15, 2026: 36 for the month, 136 for the quarter, 293 for the year, 
• 41958, conf, Kraken, McCabe 24-13 6H, 
• 41843, conf, Hunt Oil, Kandiyohi 159-90-5-17H-1, 
• Thursday, May 14, 2026: 34 for the month, 134 for the quarter, 291 for the year,
• 42047, conf, Phoenix Operating, Woods 35-26-23 4H, 
• 42046, conf, Phoenix Operating, Woods 36-25-23 3H,  
• 42045, conf, Phoenix Operating, Woods 35-26-23 1H, 
• 41940, conf, Phoenix Operating, Woods 35-26-23 2H, 
• 41330, conf, Oasis, Owan 5402 43-26 3BU, 
• 41329, conf, Oasis, Owan 5402 43-26 2B, 
• 42198, conf, Kraken, Apollo 18-7-6 8H,

RBN Energy: Venezuela's crude oil terminals need minor fixes, major overhauls to boost exports. Link here. Archived.

A lot of work must be done to revive Venezuela’s crude oil industry, which has suffered from years of poor management and underinvestment. One of the biggest priorities is to improve and expand its export capacity, which will require repairs and upgrades to export terminals while also fixing problems around unreliable power supply and tanker congestion. Exports have rebounded sharply in early 2026 after collapsing late last year, but much more could happen. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll outline the additional steps that could be completed to improve Venezuela’s facilities and boost export volumes.

Venezuela has been a frequent topic in the RBN blogosphere since the start of the year, when U.S. forces deposed and arrested President Nicolás Maduro. In Take Me Money and Run Venezuela, we recapped how the country went from a major global supplier to producing less than 1 MMb/d today — roughly one-quarter of its former output. We then dug into Venezuela’s crude slate in Orinoco Flow, noting that most reserves lie in the 21,000-square-mile Orinoco Belt and are extra-heavy, making the oil difficult and costly to move and refine. In When Love Comes to Town, we compared Venezuelan and Canadian heavy crudes and why they’re attractive to U.S. Gulf Coast refiners. In Round and Round (which previewed our first Drill Down Report of 2026, which is available here), we laid out the practical steps Venezuela would need to take to boost crude production. Most recently, The Show Goes On detailed the country’s refining sector, Upgrade U examined the important role the country’s crude upgraders figure to play in any plan to boost domestic production and increase exports, while Don’t You (Forget About Me) looked at the country’s expansive natural gas reserves. 

Most Venezuelan crude oil production is low-API, high-sulfur crude, coming from the previously noted Orinoco Belt. Because the crude is so dense and viscous, it needs to be blended with a diluent — typically condensate or natural gasoline — or upgraded to a lighter synthetic crude oil (SCO) before it can be transported easily, similar to crude produced in the Canadian oil sands. Exports of crude and refined products have rebounded sharply this year after collapsing late last year. Shipments bottomed out near 100 Mb/d in early January (see Figure 1 below) following a steep December decline, then recovered to roughly 500–550 Mb/d by late January. After holding relatively flat through February, exports climbed to around 1.1 MMb/d in March — the highest level in about six months — before briefly spiking to around 1.4 MMb/d in early April.

Figure 1. Venezuela Crude Oil Exports. Source: RBN