Thursday Morning -- The First Day Of The Last Quarter This Year -- October 1, 2026

Locator: 51844B.

Story of the day: Corning. 

• the cover story on Forbes today -- link here; and,
• covered several times on CNBC yesterday. 

Saturn: optimum time of the year to view Saturn -- link here. 

Overnight headlines:

• Hegseth's major policy speech: link here. 
• Thiel buys $130 million storied property in Los Angeles: link here. 
• Note: Thiel and family have not formally "left" the US. Their relocation to Argentina is a temporary relocation due to current events in California.
• the strait is back! Saudi crude through the strait climbed from around 850,000 bopd in late August to 6.7 million bopd last week
• China increasing oil purchases
• LNG Canada Phase 2: FID; 
• would double capacity to 28 mtpa as Shell sees global demand nearing 700 mtpa by 2050 -- almost double current demand
• current demand: 400 mtpa 
• Trump unveils $200 billion South Korean investment in US; Texas, big winner; and, Alaska; 
• previously announced; not new; a political speech leading up to midterms
• perhaps most interesting: California joins growing plug-in solar boom as power costs surge. 
• the state is the 10th state to allow so-called balcony solar as officials grapple with soaring electricity bills -- Bloomberg
• balcony solar: compact plug-and-play, 1 to 3 lightweight solar panels that attach to balcony railing, with a standard 120-volt wall outlet
• all this tells me: Californians panicking 
•  DOD to select state for new, massive military base -- Hegseth
• plan for 25,000 troops
• currently: 
• Ft Hood: 36,000 to 40,000 active-due soldiers
• renamed Fort Cavazos in 2023, then reverted back to Fort Hood 
• Ft Bragg: largest US Army post -- 250,000 total population with 50,000+ active-duty
• geographically largest
• White Sands Missile Range: largest Army-owned installation
• Fort Bliss (Texas/New Mexico): largest active-duty sprawling maneuver post 
• DeepSeek: failing as investment vehicle (Chinese LLM) --  link here.
• no matter how bad your portfolio is, it can't possible be this bad. 

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Back to the Bakken

Bakken East Pipeline: link here.

• it seems like this took forever; I had forgotten about it
• MDU's WBI Energy reaches positive final investment decision (FID)
• Bakken area to Fargo area (all intrastate, North Dakota) 

WTI: $90.41.

New wells reporting: 

• Friday, October 2, 2026: 4 for the month, 4 for the quarter, 503 for the year, 
• 42193, conf, Whiting, Link 5001 11-18 2BHP,
• 42150, conf, Whiting, Toonie 5001 11-18 3B,
• 42149, conf, Whiting, Toonie 5001 11-18 2BX, 
• 41924, conf, Hess, GO-Lemire-157-97-3613H-4,
• Thursday, October 1, 2026: 0 for the month, 0 for the quarter, 499 for the year,  
• None. 

RBN Energy: FIDs on LNG Canada Phase 2, Coastal GasLink Expansion to Boost Montney Production. Link here. Archived.

The big news this week may have been the final investment decision (FID) on LNG Canada’s Phase 2, but that announcement — spurred in part by recent changes in Canadian tax policy — will have even larger upstream impacts. For one thing, TC Energy will now move ahead with its plan to nearly double the capacity of the massive Coastal GasLink pipeline, which serves LNG Canada. Also, producers in northeastern British Columbia’s Montney Formation can now make firmer plans to significantly ramp up drilling-and-completion activity, an expansion that will have positive effects on condensate production for use in the Alberta oil sands. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll explain why the newly sanctioned LNG Canada expansion signals a “beautiful day” for a wide range of Western Canadian market players.

As you all know by now, the consortium that co-owns the existing LNG Canada Phase 1 — Shell (the operator, with a 40% stake), Petronas (25%, with one-fifth of that implicitly held by MidOcean Energy), PetroChina Co. Ltd. (15%), Mitsubishi Corp. (15%) and Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS, 5%) — has now reached FID on Phase 2. In the team’s September 28 announcement, they said that, like Phase 1 (orange diamond in Figure 1 below), the Phase 2 expansion at Kitimat, BC, will consist of two liquefaction trains and boast a capacity of 14 MMtpa, or about 1.8 Bcf/d. Phase 2 (checkered orange-and-white diamond), which is expected to come online in 2031-32, also will include an additional LNG storage tank, condensate tank and loading berth, as well as expanded utility and process systems.

Micron: 4Q26 -- Quarter Ending August, 2026 -- Posted September 30, 2026

Locator: 51843MICRON.

Market action certainly suggests "things just below the surface" don't look anywhere as good as they seem in tech. Check out Mattel today, the outgoing CEO, and where he's headed. Seriously, did Ynon Kreiz do anything at Mattel. I seriously don't know but the eight-year chart looks awful. Trading near $50 in 2013, Mattel's share price has fallen steadily, and is now barely above $11. The overall economy, for investors, has a lot of red flags - at the end of the day, Micron had an incredible report but it was not a bit reassuring. "Everything," it appears, had already been baked into the earnings call and the market's reaction to the earnings call.  

Has memory become the new oil? IYKYK. I don't know. Micron, 4Q26, ending August, 2026: 

What does Micron make and who uses what chips? Link here. Link here: https://share.google/aimode/PM5VeiIkCjuF4p1NH.

Cash on hand and operating cash flow: absolutely insane (rounded) --

• cash on hand: $75 billion; 
• operating cash flow: $45 billion;
• means nothing to me unless I compare it to BRK for example
• Ford Company's market cap: $50 billion.
• cash on hand: $30 billion;
• operating cash flow on a quarterly basis: <$5 billion 

Daily Activity Report -- September 10, 2026

Locator: 51842B.

Has memory become the new oil? IYKYK. I don't know. Micron:

 

Say what? Link here. If it's Charles Kennedy, it has to be important. 

The latest survey shows both oil and gas production increased again in the third quarter across Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana, meaning producers have now reported rising output for two consecutive quarters. The region includes the Permian Basin, the country’s largest oil-producing basin, as well as the Eagle Ford and Haynesville.

The spending outlook was much weaker beyond the current increase. The index measuring expected capital expenditures for the following year was zero in the second quarter, even as current spending climbed.

U.S. inventories are adding another complication, with commercial crude stocks increasing by 900,000 barrels last week to 427.3 million barrels, according to EIA data released Wednesday. Distillate inventories moved in the opposite direction, falling 2.3 million barrels and leaving stocks 14% below their five-year average for this time of year.

Strait of Hormuz: according to Rigzone, "Middle East oil flows are nearing pre-war levels as shipments through Hormuz and alternative routes rebound." 

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More From The Bakken 

WTI: $90.41.

Active rigs: 33.

Five new permits, #43354 - #43358, inclusive --

• Operator: Phoenix Operating
• Field: Alkabo oil field, Divide County;
• Comments:
• Phoenix Operating has permits for four Top Gun wells and one Rooster well, NWNE 31-162-102, 
• to be sited 564 FNL and 1897 / 2017 FEL.

Approved for re-entry:

• 41258, Marlo Operating, Tosco Branch 2, NENE 19-129-103, Bowman County.

Re-entry permit canceled:

• 41700, Marlo Operating, Tosco Branch 4, NENE 19-129-103, Bowman County. 

Five permits renewed:

• KODA Resources: three Bock and two Kolsh permis, all in Divide County.

American Airlines -- New Loyalty Perk -- September 30, 2026

Locator: 51841TRAVEL.

Generally speaking, one's gate / terminal will change at least twice while waiting for your departure flight at DFW, Texas. 

Currently there are five passenger terminals at DFW, but starting in 2027, that will increase to six passenger terminals, increasing the tour by 20% over the current tour. Each terminal has something different to offer: one has a hotel; one has the USO center for traveling military members; one has a motocross track for off-roading vehicles, etc.

I've been informed that the motocross track for off-roading vehicles does not exist at DFW. Sorry. My bad.

Ken Griffin Donation To Carnegie Mellon -- Part 2 -- September 30, 2026

Locator: 51840PHILANTHROPY.

PART 2: Now, more story lines.

There are so many story lines here. 

• University / college / education changes.
• less than two weeks ago, I had a very long discussion with Gemini about changing demands being placed on educational institutions: link. Or go to these links: if I decide to come back to this issue, it will be at this link. Link here: https://share.google/aimode/uWoDs6msUKW5HiMRw.
•  there is a new term for this, and it was introduced during the CNBC interview with Sarah Eisen.
• Now, we have this from Gemini, link. Link: https://share.google/aimode/GSmyXgePvAAvcS91s.
• Instead of traditional departments and academic majors, CMU Miami will completely structure its research and studies around four core societal/grand challenge areas;
• human health and biological discover;
• national security and strategic capabilities (and economic competitiveness;
• energy and climate resilience; and,
• advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation. 
• Miami.
• Griffin's personal desire to make Miami, where he lives, a world-class city;
• he is genuinely really excited about this -- giving some with his name on it, unlike Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who give their money away and appear to lose control/interest, unlike how they invested. 
• Anti-semitism. 
• in the interview, Ken Griffin did not go there
• however, Sarah Eisen brought it up
• Griffin is a Harvard alumnus; he had give $500 million to Harvard until he paused contributions to Harvard after rampant anti-semantic sentiment surfaced
• hit a trifecta by this $3-billion donation to CMU 
• he could have given this to Harvard or split it among Miami, CMU (PA), Harvard but chose to completely "stiff" Harvard (maybe a bigger donation to Harvard is yet to come) 
• The "Situational Awareness" fund meltdown. 
• Griffin may or may not have felt some pushback from others stepping in like a vulture
• using much of that windfall as a record donation would have blunted much of that pushback 
• In an earlier interview, Sarah Eisen said this was the biggest such donation; then she said the second was Bloomberg's donation of just under $1 billion to another institutional institutional 
• that is incorrect; the second was Phil Knight's donation to University of Oregon ($2 billion) to his alma mater. Previously noted on the blog.

PART 1: This was post earlier. 

Remember the story of the largest known donation ever to an American university: Nike founder to University of Oregon? Just a few days ago. It's on the blog somewhere.

Now we have a tie: Ken Griffin's $3 billion donation to Carnegie Mellow (but he divides that total donation among two different campuses).

Ken Griffin Carnegie Mellon: $2 billion -- a CNBC report this morning:

• $1 billion for the main campus (computer science and university priorities)
• $2 billion for the new Miami campus (new)

Carnegie Mellon University -- 

Carnegie Mellon University's main campus is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a new Miami campus is planned for the Wynwood neighborhood backed by a historic $3 billion gift from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin.

Folks may remember this recent Citadel story:

Not hearing a peep out of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett.