Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Earth Has Tilted -- Too Many US Military In The Mideast? Let's Start This Meme -- Something Scott Pelley Should Look Into Now That He More Personal Time -- June 4, 2026

Locator: 50914EARTH. 

Popular Mechanics, link here


Flashback, who is laughing now?

Four New Permits; Four Permits For Summit Carbon Storage Canceled; One Permit Renewed; One DUC Reported As Completed — June 4, 2026

Locator: 50913B. 

Great day on "Wall Street."

  • the Dow closes at a record high; up almost 1,000 points;
  • S&P 500 bounces back; closes in the green; just below 5,600 which is the new floor;
  • NASDAQ down 23 points (0.09%); inconsequential; speaks volumes about the NASDAQ.

AAPL: held its gain after hours, albeit not much. 

At the close:

Tech selloff: may not be over. But perhaps slowing (the tech selloff). Big concern: energy. 

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $92.78.

Active rigs: 28. 

Four new permits, #43001 - #43004, inclusive:

  • Operators: BR (2); Devon Energy (2);
  • Fields: Jim Creek (Dunn County); Foreman Butte (McKenzie County);
  • Comments:
    • BR has permits for a Kellyzal well; and, a State Dolezal well, both wells NWNE 12-145-69, 
      • to be sited 817 / 849 FNL and 2205 FNL;
    • Devon Energy has permits for two Albert South wells, NENE 34-151-102, 
      • to be sited 747 / 757 FNL and 879 / 953 FEL.

One permit renewed:

  • 41969, WGO Resources, Finneman, a wildcat in Golden Valley.

Four permits canceled:

  • Summit Carbon Storage; Mercer and Oliver counties; all I can say is "interesting.

One producing well (a DUC) is reported as completed:

  • 41582, no IP reported, XTO, HBU Marmon Federal 24X-13A, Williams County.  

Folks Rotating Out Of Tech Into Banks, Retail -- Could All Indices Turn Green By The End Of The Day? June 4, 2026

Locator: 50912INVESTING. 

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

Folks may have noticed this today:

Wow:

  • DIJA: up almost 1,000 points; haven't seen that in a long time -- 
  • S&P 500: up about 30 points; not bad --
  • NASDAQ: down all of 0.12%! Wow. 

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Banks

Re-posting from May 14, 2026, link here

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 

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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."

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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 
  • Just Released -- National Geographic -- 17 Most Charming Small Towns -- Deadwood, SD, Makes The List -- June 4, 2026

    Locator: 50911TRAVEL. 

    Link here

    High on my list would be Highlands, NC -- about two hours of scenic mountain driving southwest of Asheville. 

    Link here to Asheville

    What's Going On With California's Monterey Shale? June 4, 2026

    Locator: 50910MONTEREY. 

    Query: what's going on with  California's Monterey Shale? 

    Reply: dead, dormant, dismissed --

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    Cottage Pudding Recipe

    This looks suspiciously what my mother used to called cottage pudding, though she topped with a wonderful treacly syrup. 

    See recipe at this post.  

    Shale -- Natural Gas Production -- Global, US, China -- June 4, 2026

    Locator: 50909SHALEGAS. 

    There are so many numbers here it can get confusing. See data points from Rigzone, back in 2016, see below the asterisks below. These are are a subset:

    So, let's see the numbers. Some data points:

    • world's natural gas production is set to grow 62% by 2040
    • world's natural gas production will grow from about 350 bcf/d to about 550 bcf/d by 2040
    • shale gas resources will be the largest component of this increase
    • global shale gas production is projected to increase from about 40 bcf/d in 2015 to about 170 bcf/d by 2040
    • shale gas production will account for about 30% of global production by 2040
    • the US will remain the top shale gas producer
    • 2015: shale gas accounted for about 50% of US natural gas production
    • 2040: US shale gas will more than double from about 40 bcf/d to about 80 bcf/d 

    Okay, so by 2040 -- that more than ten years from now, back in 2016, analysts expected US shale gas to more than double to 80 bcf/d. What is the current US shale gas production, 2025?

    Update: global shale natural gas production -- from AI query -- US, 2025, has already reached 80 bcf/d if I have the numbers correct. China is #2 at 2.2 bcf/d.

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    Shale Natural Gas

    Global shale natural gas: reposting from August 18, 2016. Link here.

    Data points for shale natural gas from Rigzone: China will be world's 2nd largest shale gas producer by 2040.

    So, let's see the numbers. Some data points:

    • world's natural gas production is set to grow 62% by 2040
    • world's natural gas production will grow from about 350 bcf/d to about 550 bcf/d by 2040
    • shale gas resources will be the largest component of this increase
    • global shale gas production is projected to increase from about 40 bcf/d in 2015 to about 170 bcf/d by 2040
    • shale gas production will account for about 30% of global production by 2040
    • the US will remain the top shale gas producer
    • 2015: shale gas accounted for about 50% of US natural gas production
    • 2040: US shale gas will more than double from about 40 bcf/d to about 80 bcf/d 
    • 2040: US shale gas will account for 70% of total US natural gas production (currently about 50%)
    • 2040: China -- shale gas would account for about 40% of its total natural gas production
    • 2015: China has drilled 600 natural gas wells in the last five (5) years
    • 2015: China, producing 0.5 bcf/d of shale gas 
    • 2040, shale gas:
    • 2015, shale gas:
      • US: 40 bcf/d
      • Canada: 4 bcf/d
      • China: 0.5 bcf/d
      • Argentina: 0.07 bcf/d

    Already Thursday -- Wow, These Weeks Go By Quickly -- June 4, 2026

    Locator: 50908B. 

    Amazon Prime Days: June 23 - June 26, 2026. Four days.  

    NEO: several posts on Apple. See disclaimer.

    • Amazon; undercuts Apple with quicker MacBook Neo delivery and discounted price (not by much); link here;
    • MacBook Neo: so popular, Apple reported doubled production, link here.
    • MacBook Neo: disrupts PC market, link here.
    • MacBook Neo: outsold very other Mac in its debut quarter, link here. Previously posted. 

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    Back to the Bakken

    WTI: $95.31.

    New wells reporting:

    • Friday, June 5, 2026: 3 for the month, 159 for the quarter, 316 for the year, 
      • 42004, conf, Slawson, Cannonball Federal 5-27-34H, 
    • Thursday, June 4, 2026: 2 for the month, 158 for the quarter, 315 for the year,  
      • 42003, conf, Slawson, Cannonball Federal 6-27-34H,

    RBN Energy: US E&Ps eschew CAPEX increases despite oil price surge. Link here. Archived.

    Anyone stepping out of a time machine might conclude that the world has become a giant game of chance, with sports betting ads flooding the airwaves and prediction markets offering wagers on everything from the duration of world leader handshakes to pop culture trivia. Given that the Iran war-driven surge in oil prices doubled E&P profits in Q1 2026, it would seem that the closest thing to a “sure thing” in this marketplace would be a surge in capex to capture fatter cash flows as the political standoff sustains higher realizations. But that would have been a losing bet, as industry 2026 capex remained virtually unchanged. In today’s RBN blog, we review oil and gas producers’ current investment and production guidance while analyzing potential future strategy as the economic impacts of the Iran war evolve.

    As shown in Figure 1 below, E&P capital spending (blue bars and left axis) has been trending lower since the post-pandemic peak in 2023. After slashing investment in 2020 and 2021 as the onset of the pandemic threatened the financial stability of a chronically overspending E&P industry, producers rode a wave of sustained high commodity prices in 2022 and 2023 to increase drilling to offset steep shale decline rates. Inflation as well as increased acquisition-related activity helped spur a 58% increase in 2022 and a 24% rise to $64.5 billion in 2023, which resulted in a 14% production gain.

    Figure 1. E&P Capex and Production, 2014-Q1 2026E. 
    Source: Oil & Gas Financial Analytics LLC