Insane? -- May 20, 2016

Updates

May 23, 2016: The Financial Times -- US companies' cash pile hits $1.7 trillion. Story was posted May 20, 2016, and has the same data points as the one below. Some additional notes:

It is the first time the top five cash hoarders have been made up exclusively of tech groups, an industry that generates more of its sales abroad than any other sector and one that has been embroiled in tax disputes in both the US and Europe.

The ever increasing amount of cash also highlights how US boardrooms are reticent to invest in their businesses, choosing instead to increase dividends, in a sign of the continued anxiety that economic activity could still slow at home or in China.

The report showed the first annual dip in capital spending since the US emerged from recession. Expenditures on things like new equipment slipped 3 per cent to $885bn as energy and mining groups retrenched in the face of sharply lower commodity prices.

“Companies are hoarding cash,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank.  

Maybe if tax codes were a bit more corporate-friendly, some of that cash would be winding its way through the economy.

Original Post

 

My definition of insane at this link: surprise me. In case the link breaks, but much more at the link:

Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Cisco Systems, and Oracl are sitting on $504 billion, or 30%, of the $1.7 trillion in cash and cash equivalents held by U.S. non-financial companies in 2015.

That's even more cash concentration than in previous years, as these five companies held 27% of cash in 2014 and 25% in 2013. Apple alone is holding more cash and investments than eight of the 10 entire industry sectors.

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This Makes My Day

One of my dearest friends (husband and wife) who I met because of the blog were kind enough to send this photo.

There is a huge back story to this picture, but it's a personal story, and I will let it stand without comment, but it means the world to me, for many reasons.

To D-- and K----, thank you. Oh, and the Kat, to whom I owe several dozen burgers on bets I've lost over the years.

Kaiser-Francis Renews Three More Permits -- May 20, 2016

I might touch on this again some time: the fable about the hare and the tortoise, and then take a look at Kaiser-Francis; what a great back story. This might have been the first time I blogged about Kaiser-Francis, almost five years ago. Wow. From another post: Kaiser-Francis is a small private oil and gas company with long history in North Dakota, albeit small, until January 22, 2016, when it was noted that Kaiser-Francis acquired 115 wells from Fidelity (MDU)

Active rigs:

	5/20/2016	05/20/2015	05/20/2014	05/20/2013	05/20/2012
Active Rigs	25	80	188	189	209

Six (6) new permits --

• Operators: BR (3), EOG (3)
• Fields: Bailey(Dunn), Parshall (Mountrail)
  Comments:

Seven (7) permits renewed:

• SHD (3), permits for a Charging Wildcat, a War Eagle, and a Luke Neset, all in McLean County
• Kaiser-Francis (3), permits for a Parshall well, a Pratt well, and a Banner well, all in Mountrail County
• Enduro, a permit for an MMU well in Bottineau

Slawson canceled one permit, a Blade Federal permit in Mountrail County

Nothing About The Bakken -- Beach Books This Summer, Including John Hands CosmoSapiens -- May 20, 2016

Don't look for any new posts for several hours.

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My Book To Take To The Beach This Summer

Cosmosapiens. Or Cosmos Sapiens. It is written both ways on the jacket -- front and spine. Author: John Hands. Copyright 2015 by John Hands, but first published in hardcover in 2016.

A must-read for any high school graduate on her way to a major in chemistry, biology, anthropology, pre-med, or philosophy this next year. 

Wow. Six hundred pages.

Great, great summary of where we stand with regard to:

• the origin of the universe 
• the formation of 95 naturally occurring elements
• the emergency of life on earth
• understanding the fossil record
• the taxonomy of all living organisms on earth
• the evolution of humans
• behavioral evolution
• evolution of human consciousness

The author states at the outset, at the end of chapter 1, which could have been prologue, or introduction:

Any investigation is heavily influenced by prior beliefs. I was born and educated a Catholic, became an atheist, and am now an agnostic. I have no prior beliefs in theism, deism, or materialism. I genuinely do not know. And that is part of the excitement of embarking on this question to discover from scientific evidence just what we are and may become. I invite readers with an open mind to join me on this quest.

That was on page four.

On page 582, the first of 39 conclusions:

It is almost certain that the empirical discipline of science will never be able to explain the origin of the matter and energy of which we consist.

If there is any "hole" in the book, it appears to be with regard to "energy," ATP, redox -- and any reference to Nick Lane.  

It appears the author gets as close to metaphysics as possible without crossing over. Is "metaphysics" in the index? Yes, "metaphysical questions," 91 - 3, 579; and, "metaphysics," 498, 503, 544.
 
Then follows "Notes," from page 588 to 616.

Then follows "Bibliography," from pages 617 to 627.

Then follows a glossary, pages 628 to 645.

Illustrative credits are provided in the next two pages.

The index extends from page 648 to 674.

Authors in the bibliography that give me particular "joy" (again, with 20 entries on each of 11 pages, there are about 200 authors cited):

• Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation: The World in the Time of Buddha, Socrates, Confucius and Jeremiah, 2006
• Michael J Behe, Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, 1996
• A G Cairns-Smith, Seven Clues to the Origin of Life: A Scientific Detective Story, 1985
• Stephen Jay Gould, multiple publications
• John R Gribbin, Deep Simplicity: Chaos, Complexity and the Emergence of Life, c. 2004
• Desmond Morris, The Illustrated Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal, c. 1986
• Simon Singh, Big Bang: The Most Important Scientific Discovery of All Time and Why You Need To Know About It, c. 2004
• James D Watson and Gunter S Stent, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, c. 1980

Reason #398 Why I Love To Blog -- May 20, 2016; Iowa May Keystone The Dakota Access, But Canada Presses On With It's Own Trans Mountain Expansion Project

Yesterday I posted this:

Oil & Gas Journal is reporting:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears ready to fulfill a campaign promise to ban crude oil tankers off northern British Columbia in a move that would throw the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline into question.

The $6.5 billion, 1,177-km twin pipeline proposed by Enbridge Corp. would carry blended bitumen from Alberta to a terminal at Kitimat, BC, and return diluent to Alberta.

TransCanada also has proposed a project called Energy East, which would link the oil sands with eastern Canadian provinces and the Atlantic.

This pretty much indicates the direction Barack Trudeau will take with regard to Canada's oil and gas industry. 

Today this story from Penn Energy:

Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) has concluded that the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is in the public interest and recommended the Federal Governor in Council approve the proposed expansion. The NEB’s recommendation will allow the Project to proceed with 157 conditions if the Governor in Council approves the project. The Federal Government will make the final decision on the Project in December 2016.

“Trans Mountain is pleased with the NEB’s recommendation,” said Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada. “The decision is the culmination of a lengthy and thorough regulatory review process and considers the many thousands of hours of environmental and technical studies, scientific evidence and community engagement that has been part of this comprehensive assessment. After an initial review of the report, Trans Mountain believes the 157 Project-specific conditions, many in response to input from Intervenors, are rigorous and appear to be achievable.” Trans Mountain continues to analyze the NEB’s conditions for implications to community commitments, costs and Project timeline, but is still expecting the in-service date to be December 2019.

“This report is a reflection of our evidence along with the valuable input from Intervenors and our conversations with communities, Aboriginals and individuals,” added Anderson. “Now, more than ever our Project makes sense for Canada. We have demonstrated the demand for much-needed access to global markets and how building this pipeline will bring both dollars and many thousands of jobs for communities in British Columbia and Alberta at a time when our economy needs it most.”

BBC's Analysis Of The Iran-Saudi Arabia Conflict -- May 20, 2016

One of the best posts I had on the Mideast was the post on "end times for the caliphate." John Kemp has now alerted me to another nice analysis of what is going on in the Mideast regarding the Iran-Saudi Arabia conflict. It is not as good as the caliphate story, but it's a keeper for those trying to figure out what's going on "over there."

Some data points regarding the proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia across the Mideast, in Lebanon, and from Syria to Yemen. This analysis focuses on Lebanon.

Hezbollah:

• the Shia militant group, backed by Iran, allied with Syrian al-Assad's forces
• anti-Saud
• origin, 1980's to fight Israel's occupation of south Lebanon 
• remains dedicated to "liberating Palestine" -- though now deeply embroiled in the war in Syria
• "Death to Israel" being replaced by "Death to Saud"?

Takfiri: a specific term to describe Muslims who believe society has reverted to a state of non-belief, but in today's Middle East it has also become short hand for Sunni jihadist groups.

Saudi Arabia, to counter Iran's influence in Syria: long backed a variety of politicians and institutions in Lebanon, including the Hariris --

• former Prime Minister Saad Hariri
• his father Rafik, a former prime minister who built his fortune in Saudi Arabia; killed in massive truck bomb, in 2005
• the killing of Rafik blamed on Syria at the time
• later, a Hezbollah commander was charged with the killing
• hindsight: the killing now looks like the moment when Iran's allies began their push against Saudi influence in Lebanon -- but the kingdom was slow to recognize this, as Hezbollah chipped away at Lebanon's state institutions

Saudi Arabia convened a League meeting to protest a massive mob attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran

• Lebanon's foreign minister, an ally of Hezbollah, abstained
• the snub infuriated Saudi Arabia; Saudi halted a $3 billion package of aid to the Lebanese army
• Saudi funds which had been pouring into Lebanon, including the media, dwindled
• Analysis:
• by leaving/abandoning Lebanon, will the void be filled by Hezbollah (Syria?)

Saudi's checkbook diplomacy: no strategic thinking; and now pummeled by deteriorating oil prices

• Saudi now realizes Hezbollah is no longer just a Lebanese faction; it is a "regional power"

Lebanese themselves may see stability now that Saudi Arabia is leaving

• in the words of one Lebanese businessman:

"We helped build Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf, now Iran is the new El Dorado," said the businessman.

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For Iran and Valerie? This seems to be working out just fine.