May 1, 2018: see first comment -- US oil production is now up 804,000 barrels per day year to date (from
12/29), so at that rate we'd see an increase of over 2.5 million barrels
per day this year alone...putting that into perspective, the OPEC oil
production cuts of 1.2 million barrels per day have been less than half
of that...
I have never paid attention to Angola. When I saw this story, I did not think it would amount to much, but then I checked the EIA import data.
From Bloomberg: OPEC cuts may go deeper as another member sees output slump. In addition to Venezuela, now it's Angola.
Angola, once Africa’s biggest crude producer, is suffering sharp
declines at under-invested offshore fields, with output dropping almost
three times as much as the nation pledged in an accord with fellow OPEC
members. With the losses set to accelerate -- a shipping program seen by
Bloomberg News shows crude exports will fall in June to the lowest
since at least 2008 -- the cartel risks tightening supply too much.
“Angola has a serious problem, with its decline rates becoming
increasingly visible,” said Richard Mallinson, an analyst at consultants
Energy Aspects Ltd. in London. “The low figure in June doesn’t look
like a pattern of maintenance but points to steeper, structural
declines.”
Look at the EIA data. Since 1993 there have only been two times in which monthly imports dropped below the one-million-mark and even at that, one million bbls/month is incredibly low.
We were in Chicago this weekend. Chicago is the "friendly" side of NYC. Wow, the folks were incredibly nice. They appear to enjoy life and enjoy Chicago.
It was slightly on the cool side but no rain; the sun was out but inside the Loop it was sometimes hard to find.
We were in Chicago to attend our older daughter's graduation from Rush University with an advanced degree.
We arrived at O'Hare about 8:00 p.m. and all seven of us piled into an Uber Infinity and headed into Chicago. [Speaking of which: each of us had no more than an overnight bag except for our daughter with one checked bag. That made all the difference. Any additional luggage and a second Uber would have been needed. Recommendation: any trip less than 72 hours -- nothing more than an overnight bag -- makes traveling so much easier.]
Wow, it was a long ride. I assume it took about an hour from the airport to downtown Chicago.
Our son-in-law had planned that we would head directly to bed.
But after checking in at the Gwen Luxury someone suggested a late snack. The concierge suggested the Quartino, about three blocks away -- the best Italian restaurant in the US? Maybe. It was incredible. Known for its "small plates," we took advantage. Wow, we had so many small plates among the seven of us I quickly lost count.
Sophia loved the loud, energized, family-friendly environment; 10:00 o'clock at night and she was just getting started -- wow, was it loud and fun! Sophia grabbed a slice of bread even before the waitress had a chance to place it on the table. After our first round of ordering, I took Sophia back to see the kitchen.
The pizza-chef was incredibly friendly. Sophia was "demanding" something she saw in the kitchen -- I didn't know what she was "talking" about but the pizza-chef figured it out. She was looking at small meatball-like hors d'oeurves with a toothpick in them. She has had them before and loved them. So the pizza-chef brought a plate of the appetizers over to our table -- complimentary, of course, but we made sure that the waitress put them on the tab -- only to find out that they were not meatballs. They were dates wrapped in pancetta, stuffed with gorgonzola dolce and drizzled with honey. I loved them; Sophia did not. She had more bread.
[I can't say enough about the waitress. She seemed to be enjoying the evening as much as we were, and she had no problem with all the ordering, and then "stuff" coming directly from the kitchen per Sophia's requests. I really appreciate waitstaff that can immediately size up the party. I think she immediately knew that "specifics" were not important. Bring anything. No one was keeping "score." Somehow it will all work out. I don't think she could hear us over all the commotion; she could "read lips." LOL.
[It's funny how things work(ed) out. It was 10:00 p.m.; the place was packed, and yet, we were brought over to a huge round table that sat seven. Had one not known better, one would have guessed we had reservations. ]
The granddaughters and my wife had pizzas of various types. Our granddaughter had grilled octopus; our son-in-law had eggplant parmigiana. All the "small pates" would easily serve two -- I didn't have any eggplant but I had plenty of octopus. I'm looking forward to grilling octopus this summer. I think the octopus was on a plate of sauteed spinach, but I could be wrong. [I obviously knew what it was at the time, but I've since forgotten; all the small plates came with so many vegetables.]
There were so many choices of salumi I simply told the waitress to
bring what she thought best. Wow, incredible. And green olives.
Everyone had water but I had a cocktail. If I recall correctly, a tailfeather.
My entree: Angus beef carpaccio. "Angus beef" on the menu simply jumped out at me. I've had steak tartare in Paris but never carpaccio. I loved it, but it's a woman's entree, to be honest. But as a "small plate," awesome.
May 2, 2018: I obviously should have done the math ... the Daily Caller appears to have been so far off as to have been an idiot. The writer has gone back and corrected his mistakes, but he is still misleading the American reader. First, he doesn't make it clear that he is using "Canadian" dollars in the headline; and second, he doesn't make clear that he talking about the Canadian gallon which is very different than the American gallon.
1. From wiki: The US gallon is used in the United States and is equal to exactly 231 cubic inches or 3.785411784 liters.
4. Conversion, C$ to US$: US$4.56 -- not much more than what it is in Los Angeles, CA
May 1, 2018: why $6/gallon gasoline of $8/gallon gasoline or even $12/gallon gasoline does not bother those living in British Columbia -- "an absolute gong show." Move over Vancouver. Whistler, two hours north of Vancouver, BC, is now Canada's craziest housing market. A detached house in Whistler is now $1.67 million, 4% more than in Vancouver, and businesses are buying properties to house employees as living costs drive out workers. Whistler is now the most expensive Canadian city to live in.
Benchmark property prices in Whistler, the ski town two hours north, have now surpassed those in the Pacific Coast city. Businesses are buying million-dollar properties to house employees as living costs drive out workers. The cost of visiting has also spiralled, with overnight rates during the winter peak topping anywhere else in the nation.
Later, 10:47 p.m. CDT: see first comment. Apparently someone over at The Daily Caller did the math incorrect. I don't know. I didn't do the math. Didn't want to get into Canadian vs US dollar. Five hundred-thirty-four comments (and counting) comments at the Daily Caller article.
But that high price is offset by free medical care in Canada, so it all works out.
Oh, by the way, British Columbia, is fighting the Trans Mountain pipeline project.
What's the plural of doofus?
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Tesla This Should Be Fascinating
Only two days from now, Tesla presents quarterly earnings. From twitter today, from something called "the credit strategist":
Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any
investment, financial, job, travel, or relationship decisions based on
what you read here or what you think you may have read here. If this is
important to you, go to the source.
Disclaimer: I make a lot of simple arithmetic errors. I often see
things that do not exist; I read quickly and miss important points.
Sometimes it takes me days (maybe even weeks) to see where I was wrong.
Chart of the day. Good luck to all. But to leave you with this. From Bloomberg, companies are beating earnings estimates at historic clip.
Whether it’s the U.S. tax cut or just poor forecasting by analysts,
members of the S&P 500 Index have been delivering profits above
estimates at the best pace on record -- with 80 percent of members
topping forecasts so far.
Books: Might really be a good time to re-read:
Best tweet of the day:
Real leadership:
... and that's why Kanye West likes Trump -- the latter tweets what is on his mind -- while he is alive and robust -- not when he is on his deathbed.
