The Year The Music Died -- September 12, 2025

Locator: 49091EVS.

1. This was from December 9, 2024. Link here. This has/had been previously reported -- just a reminder of the "partnership" established between Rivian and Volkswagen, for $5.8 billion. It's important to note that this is just for Rivian's software and related work, not for the chassis.

2. Now this, from Bloomberg today. Link here.

Again, this only affects the VW EV Golf, not the relationship between VW and Rivian, as far as I know, and the launch date delay is only "temporary." But, wow, it certainly has to concern Rivian, one would think.

Rivian ticker today:

Lucid ticker today:

Germany, EVs, And Jobs -- June 8, 2025

Locator: 48716GERMANY.

China played Germany perfectly. China was doing the same thing to the US. China would have also succeeded in the US had Biden been re-elected.

Interactive graph: Germany saved the planet, an interactive graphic. Link here.

Merkel, link here:

Job-shock! Germany! Link here.

For The Archives -- I'm Lovin' It -- oilprice.com -- April 25, 2025

Locator: 48520WIND.

This is for the archives. Everyone of my readers has seen this story. If not, they're not paying attention. LOL.

Lede: 

Germany's RWE just pulled the plug on its U.S. offshore wind business.

Quietly. No fireworks, no headlines about thousands of turbines scrapped—just a dry admission that it's "halting activities" in American waters.

For one of Europe’s biggest green energy giants to walk away from a market as large as the U.S., in the middle of an energy transition no less, is not just a business decision.

It’s a red flag.

The exit—confirmed by a speech manuscript published ahead of a yet-to-be-delivered speech by the company’s CEO—comes as RWE rethinks where and how it deploys capital. In March, the company slashed $11 billion off its low-carbon investment plan, citing rising costs, hostile regulatory environments, and a spike in its required return on investment from 8% to 8.5%. In other words: too risky, too expensive, too slow. [Sounds like the US oil sector, under Biden, Kerry, Pocahontas, and many others.]

RWE's CEO, Markus Krebber, had already warned last fall that Trump’s return to power could delay or derail projects on the U.S. East Coast. Now, the company is making that pivot official. All U.S. offshore wind operations are paused—indefinitely—and RWE will instead chase safer, more lucrative projects in places like Germany, where it just broke ground on a new 22.8-MW onshore wind farm.

Blaming the failure of an inefficient business plan on Trump. So, what else is new?

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Meanwhile

Link here.

Again, for the archives, my readers have already seen this story.

Schadenfreude -- March 29, 2025

Locator: 48392GERMANY.

This graph is meaningless -- okay, it's not meaningless but it's of limited value when provided out of context. But it sure is interesting. We knew Germany was in trouble but we did not know to what extent. Schadenfreude.

Link here.

Re-Posting: European Energy In Tatters -- February 8, 2025

Locator: 48514GREEN.

Global climate change economy teeters: Bloomberg link here.  

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For The Archives

Link here.

Global Climate Change Economy Teeters -- January 30, 2025

Locator: 48443GREEN.

Global climate change economy teeters: Bloomberg link here.  

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For The Archives

Link here.

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For The Archives

Link here.

I flew with the 525 TFS, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, from 1984 - 1986, and again, from 1989 - 1993, also Bitburg AB, Germany. My primary a/c was the F-15. 

 In the photo below, the F-15 is the second a/c from the POV of the aircrew member pictured.

The 525 TFS mascot: an English bulldog, or "the bulldog."

Link here.

US Economy And The Road To Germany -- January 10, 2025

Locator: 44657GERMANY.

Link here.

Angela Merkel wrote a 736-page memoir to secure her crumbling legacy. The effort is backfiring.

Her new book, “Freedom”—published in late November in nearly 30 languages—is riling up even some of her most ardent supporters, in part because Merkel declines to consider that any of the policies of her four-term chancellorship, from 2005 to 2021, might have been misguided.

“Much pride, little self-reflection” was the headline that the powerful German state broadcaster ARD, the key media platform of Merkel’s time in power, put on its capital bureau’s report on the book’s launch. Merkel’s own political heirs in the Christian Democratic party say that publicity around the memoir is damaging their current election campaign. They blame their unpopularity on the challenges they inherited from Merkel and lament that voters are now reminded by the book that she—and by extension, her party—helped create the country’s problems.

TGIF -- December 6, 2024

Locator: 44505B. 

S&P 500, Nasdaq hit all-time highs after better-than-expected jobs report. Unemployment at 4.2%.

• U-3: 4.2%; up from 4.1% previous month.
• U-1 (my preferred measurement): 1.7%; unchanged from previous month

My favorite chart, link here.

Germany:

• former German chancellor Angela Merkel: her bar? Africa. Wow. Link here. Simply fascinating. what a doofus.
  

• chart of the day:

• contraction, link to The WSJ:

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $67.81.

Sunday, December 8, 2024: 15 for the month; 119 for the quarter, 648 for the year

• 37877, conf, BR, Concord 1C,

Saturday, December 7, 2024: 14 for the month; 118 for the quarter, 647 for the year

• 40036, conf, Hess, BL-Svor-156-95-0403H-8,
• 39856, conf, Hess, EN-Lokken-LE-157-94-0805H-1,
• 35513, conf, Enerplus, FB Clinton 148-94-29B-32-11T,

Friday, December 6, 2024: 11 for the month; 115 for the quarter, 646 for the year

• 40688, conf,  Slawson, Fish Finder 4-21-9H,
• 40108, conf, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-9H-ELL,

RBN Energy: Texas preps to meet surging power demand from data centers, crypto miners.

Texas is the fastest-growing state for electricity consumption in the nation and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which is responsible for about 90% of the state’s electricity service, said earlier this year that peak power demand could nearly double in just six years — from about 85 gigawatts (GW) currently to as much as 150 GW by 2030.

The sudden increase is driven primarily by data centers and artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency mining, the state's growing population and increasing temperatures. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss how Texas intends to address its growing appetite for power.

Germany And The EU: Theme For The Past Week -- November 24, 2024

Locator: 44405GERMANY.

Updates

November 26, 2024:

For example, Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, said on Monday it would slash 11,000 jobs in its steel division by 2030, in a major corporate reshuffle. “Urgent measures are needed to improve Thyssenkrupp Steel's own productivity and operating efficiency, and to achieve a competitive cost level,” the German industrial giant said. As Europe is bracing for the winter, wholesale electricity prices have jumped in November to the highest level in 20 months, additionally burdening the key industries in major economies that had just started to recover from the 2022 energy crisis.

***********************
Archived As Of November 26, 2024

Germany, Angelica: link here.

Air traffic, air traffic, Dan: link here.

Energy:

• Europe braces for expensive gas next summer, link here.
• with winter still approaching, storage is being emptied faster than usual; gas prices have surges; raising echoes of the 2022 shock: link here.

Saturday Morning Potpourri -- Part 1 -- November 23, 2024

Locator: 44396ARCHIVES.

Tag: North Dakota hockey Austin Texas 

ND beer: link here.

• I now follow Susan Stroud!

Secretary of Agriculture? Kelly Loeffler? Wiki. Would have missed this had I only had Bluesky. That being said, it's amazing, the liberals that posted this news on Bluesky. Yes, it's accurate --

• Bluesky: an echo chamber; liberals, progressives, unhinged
• twitter: all views expressed; well-balanced, free for all

SAVE THE DATE: October 31, 2026 -- Halloween, 2026 -- link here.

Scaring the bejesus out of The New York Times readers:

COP29: 2024 climate summit has "run over." Delegates can't come to agreement.

• talks could very well collapse
• and then next year? Trump
• get caught up with Bjorn Lomborg.

Bluesky vs Twitter: I'm on both.

• haven't seen any difference regarding how the each site works;
• superficially they seem identical
• it appears contributors cannot block readers or replies; we'll see;
• no proof of identity required ... yet
• but it appears they have quickly turned into
• Bluesky: liberals, progressives, unhinged
• Twitters: free-for-all but where conservatives will be found
• Bjorn Lomborg has not yet migrated to Bluesky; DeSmong News has (migrated to Bluesky)
• but, like me, DeSmog is still on X
• it appears Carl Q (CNBC) has quit X completely
• others who have not migrated to Bluesky: AOC?
  
• check out Bjorn Lomborg on Bluesky.
• it will be fascinating to see if Carl Q goes back to tweeting; otherwise he fades away. 
• Bluesky: Barron's  here.
  

If accurate, this is amazing -- I thought Bluesky marketed itself as "for everybody," but already banning some social commentary? I have no idea but it certainly appears that Bluesky is all "progressive, woke DEI" when it comes to social and political commentary. And it appears "Bluesky" is more appropriately "bluesky."

Industrial users' average electricity prices, link here.

Electricity, rates by state, link here, industrial / residential (cents / kwh):

• California: 25 / 32
• Connecticut: 20 / 33
• Pennsylvania: 8 / 18
• Texas: 6 / 15
• Florida: 8 / 14
• North Dakota: 7 / 13
• Ohio: 7 / 16

EVs:

• Rivian, backtracking? Link here. And link here.
• See if you even understand what he is saying, and that's the theme for this weekend.
• EVs explained: and after reading that article, I still have no understanding of this issue.
• ND is ramping up its EV charging installations, link here.
• Waymo: link to The Times.
  

Germany economy: theme for this week.

• google Germany recession
• link here;

and, here:

Merkel: Germany's biggest debacle since 1947.

Berkshire Hathaway: homepage.

Apple -- AAPL -- buyback:

• google aapl buyback:

• interesting factoid: MSNBC never, never, ever talks about AAPL as an investment except on very rare occasions and then usually when the ticker is downgraded.

Musk might buy MSNBC!

Market cap (in trillions), magnificent seven:

• NVDA: $3.48 -- this will have a market cap of $5 trillion by the end of 2026.
  
• AAPL: $3.47
• MSFT: $3.10
• AMZN: $2.07
• GOOG: $2.03
• META: $1.41
• TSLA: $1.10
• BRK: $1.03

Lego:

• Endurance
• Emirates Team

Trump 2.0: to nominate three physicians to steer health policy; link to WSJ.

This is serious: SiriusXM loses NY suit. Link here. Subscription cancellation.

**********************************
Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

• 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 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.
• Longer version here.

Road To Germany -- November 21, 2024

Locator: 44372GERMANY.

Germany's leadership: one long uninterrupted line of debacles. Angela Merkle was not the worst, but sine WWII, clearly the worst. Link here.

Germany EVs: link here. For Germany, incredibly painful.

Germany, back to 2006, link here.

Germany, energy, deindustrialization: link here.

And here, link here. By the way, if you can't find Carl on twitter, it's because he has moved over to Bluesky.

Manic Monday -- November 18, 2024

Locator: 44350B.

Reconciliation: link here.

Germany, energy, deindustrialization: link here.

And here, link here:

China's population problem: link here.

Iran's rolling blackouts: link here. And, here.

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $67.22.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024: 25 for the month; 85 for the quarter, 600 for the year

• 40674, conf, CLR, Carpenter 6-13H,
• 40103, conf, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-4H,

Monday, November 18, 2024: 23 for the month; 83 for the quarter, 598 for the year

• None.

Sunday, November 17, 2024: 23 for the month; 83 for the quarter, 598 for the year

• 40663, conf, CLR, Sandhill 5-24H,
• 40102, conf, Enerplus, Devils Canyon 147-97-17-20-3H,

Saturday, November 16, 2024: 21 for the month; 81 for the quarter, 595 for the year

• 40312, conf, Hess, EN-Rice A-LE-155-94-0310H-1,

RBN Energy: Southern Spirit aims to bolster ERCOT power grid while preserving its independence.

If all goes to plan, Texas’s isolated power grid will one day be connected to a pair of neighboring states via a massive transmission line called Southern Spirit. The project is designed to increase grid reliability, reduce blackouts and drive down energy bills, but it could be years before it becomes a reality. And while the transmission line will connect Texas with Louisiana and Mississippi, it is more akin to a drawbridge that can be raised or lowered as needed without subjecting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid to federal oversight. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll discuss what the Southern Spirit transmission line would mean for Texas. 

Germans Take Another Step To Increase Energy Prices To Keep The Maldives From "Sinking" -- November 14, 2024

Locator: 48757GERMANY.

Link here.

The German cabinet has approved reforms that will restrict oil companies from carrying excess emissions reduction credits forward, a move that will boost the country’s biofuel industry which has been impacted by a rapid drop in carbon prices in recent years.

In recent years, oil companies operating in Germany have met emissions goals by selling extra biodiesel; with sales clocking in at 3.4 million metric tons in 2022, 34% above their target. However, the reforms mean that oil companies will no longer be able to use past greenhouse gas reduction quotas to meet targets in the coming two years, with this option only reopening again in 2027. 

Back in September, Germany's Environment Agency rejected carbon credits for 215,000 tons of CO2 emissions from oil companies due to suspected fraud involving climate projects in China.

Companies usually meet these targets by using plant-based biofuels or through "upstream emission reduction" (UER) projects. However, concerns arose over a year ago when doubts arose about whether some of these projects met the required standards or even existed.

The Cost Of Electricity -- November 13, 2024

Locator: 48751ELECTRICITY. 

This is quite coincidental. Earlier this morning, we talked about the price of electricity -- from a tweet about the cost of electricity "today." And then, just an hour or so later, SStap provided a great tweet on the same subject. See below.

Updates

6:21 a.m. CT, link here:

5:45 a.m. CT, link here:

Original Post 

Just the links right now.

• nuclear energy / electricity costs in Europe (Germany, France, the low countries); link here;

• the price of power, link here;

• the road to Germany, May 30, 2017 (flashback):

• AI:

• from some time ago, clearing off the desktop: