Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Wednesday -- February 11, 2026

Locator: 49955B.  

Climate change / global warmingThe Washington Post supports Trump's / EPA's decision. My hunch: Obama's fanaticism was going to significantly impact the fourth industrial revolution -- satellites and terrestrial large data centers. 

North Dakota: doesn't often get mentioned by Liz Ann Sonders , link here --  

Clickbait: but lots of information regarding US LNG. Link here. It's the usual suspects; the big story here is the dominance of US energy -- 

  • ChatGPT: says it is Cheniere (LNG); and,
  • Gemini: says this -- 

Without question, The Merchant was referring to Cheniere (LNG).

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Back to the Bakken

WTI: $65.34. Iran:

  • once the Olympics are over;
  • once the second a/c is in the region

New wells reporting:

  • Friday, February 13, 2026: 20 for the month, 73 for the quarter, 73 for the year,
    • 41353, conf, Hess, GO-Beck Living TR-156-98-2017H-2, 
  • Thursday, February 12, 2026: 19 for the month, 72 for the quarter, 72 for the year, 
    • None.
  • Wednesday, February 11, 2026: 19 for the month, 72 for the quarter, 72 for the year,
    • 41240, conf, Hunt, Clearwater 157-90-13-12H-2, 
    • 41239, conf, Hunt, Clearwater 157-90-13-12H-1, 
    • 41005, conf, Hunt, Palermo 156-90-2-31H-2, 

RBN Energy:  mom-and-pop shops remain the heart of the retail propane industry. Link here. Archived.

The retail propane market delivers about 9 billion gallons to U.S. consumers each year, with its heart anchored in the “mom-and-pop” retailers serving rural and small-town communities. These small, owner-operated businesses — the backbone of the market — know their customers, regions and their challenges, which is a key reason the propane industry is thriving and has avoided the sweeping consolidation seen in so many other sectors of the small-business economy. In today’s RBN blog, we’ll examine why the small-business model has been so durable and effective in retail propane, and why the industry has seen relatively little large-scale consolidation.

In the past few weeks, the retail propane market has navigated a challenging stretch and emerged remarkably well. Winter Storm Fern hit parts of the country with some of the toughest conditions in recent memory, as bitter cold drove high demand and snow and ice made transportation very difficult. Plus, there were freeze-offs and refinery issues cutting into supply. We can’t publish a propane blog so soon after the storm without acknowledging the industry’s strong performance under pressure. The industry deserves kudos for a job well done, but it’s not quite spring yet. There is still some winter left.

We’ve written a lot about the propane industry and its structure in recent months. In Part 1 of our propane series, we outlined the journey of propane from wellhead to burner tip and discussed the various segments of the domestic market, including industrial, petrochemical, commercial, residential and agricultural demand. The wholesale-to-retail value chain starts at processing plants and refineries (left column of Figure 1 below), where propane is extracted and often placed into underground storage. In Part 2, we detailed the role of wholesalers (middle column), the companies that sell propane to retailers by aggregating supplies, operating logistics networks, trading physical volumes, and other supply functions. Wholesalers help move propane through pipelines and railcars to retailers (right column), which range in size from small, owner-run operations serving a local market to companies with fleets of railcars and dozens of supply points. In Part 3, we outlined retailers’ roles and functions in the market. 

Today, we take a deeper look at propane retailers and why even smaller and midsized operations have been able to thrive without the large-scale consolidation seen in many other markets. (All these topics and more are discussed in detail in our Propane Master Class Encore, which is now available online. Much more on what’s included in the class below.)

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Three New Permits -- February 10, 2026

Locator: 49952B.  

Dividends: companies that pay dividends in February -- link here. Some:

  • AAPL
  • ASML
  • ABBV
  • CAT
  • SCCO
  • BK
  • EPD
  • BKR
  • OKE

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Back to the Bakken 

WTI: $64.28.

Active rigs: 26. 

Three new permits, #42704 - #42706, inclusive:

  • Operator: Formentera Operations
  • Field: Frazier (Divide County)
  • Comments: 
    • Formentera Operations has permits for three Palomino Ridge permits, SESW 16-161-97, 
      • to be sited 546 FSL and 1670 / 1740 FWL.

One permit renewed

  • 41563, Silver Hill Energy, Rice E....East Tioga (Mountrail County)

Four permits canceled

  • Kraken (3): three Leslie 42X.... permits; McKenzie County;
  • Five States: one RH 1-15H permit, Stark County.

Trillion-Dollar Club Investing -- Number 3 In A Series -- February 10, 2026

Locator: 49953INVESTING. 

AI prompt: although the fourth industrial revolution (AI) became "a thing" in 2016, it seems the tipping point for mom-and-pop retail investors was 2021 (maybe 2022) after the end of Covid. Thoughts?

Google Gemini

"Trillion-Dollar Club" Investing -- Number 2 -- February 10, 2026

Locator: 49952INVESTING.   

Investing, not trading.

Buy and hold, literally forever. Taken to extremes, poor outcomes.

Concentrate on sectors.

1980s - 1990s, beginning to invest, age 30 - 45 -- 

  • mutual funds (three)
  • individual stock picking -- two sectors:
    • energy (Big Oil); and,
    • communications (ATT)

1990s - 2010s, great anxiety about my investing strengths; raising a family, age 46 - 60 --

  • mutual funds
  • IRAs
  • Roth IRAs
  • TSP
  • I was maxing out my investing; I literally thought about the market 24/7 (along with work, and family)

2010s - 2020s, glide slope, but up and to the right, rolling horizon, each day: 30-year + one day --

  • at crossroads: individual stock-picking vs ETFs 
  • foundation in place:
    • insurance
    • pension
    • retirement accounts
    • established portfolio
      • heavily weighted in AAPL and energy (CVX, COP, ENB, EPD, etc)
  • still thinking 24/7 about investing. 

2022: then things changed -- 

  • although the fourth industrial revolution was a "thing" as of 2016, for the mom-and-pop retail investor, the tipping point came in 202- 2022 -- 
  • go to this link, to be continued. 


Trillion-Dollar-Club Investing -- Number 1 In A Series -- February 8, 2026

Locator: 49937INVESTING.

Investing: this is meant for the extended family; this is not for the general audience. It's the fastest way I can reach my entire extended family. This is not an investment site. See the blog's disclaimer. 

A publicly-traded company with a market cap of $1 trillion looks intriguing:

  • obviously the company is doing something right;
  • dollars buy talent; access; leverage; 
  • winners attract big money investors;
  • the money moat

February 6, 2026:

  • Walmart: newest member, as of February 6, 2026; link here.
  • the Magnificent Seven: AAPL, MSFT, GOOG, AMZN, META, TSLA, NVDA
  • others: BRK, Broadcom (AVGO), TSM, Eli Lilly 

Racking and stacking:

  • WMT
  • GOOG
  • AAPL
  • AVGO
  • .
  • .
  • AMZ 
  • .
  • .
  • BRK

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First Among Equals

WMT

  • the pivotal moment: decision to move from NYSE to NASDAQ, December 9, 2025;
  • no small achievement for a traditional retail company to join the club;
  • silently took the lead in drone delivery in the US

Broadcom (AVGO)

  • critical for Google's Gemini success: Broadcom makes the chips

AAPL:

  • slowly but surely; consistent; 
  • not chasing cash; chasing fabs but has best supply chain among the group 
  • seldom makes a misstep; if they do make a misstep, able to recover
  • "an n of 1": Apple ecosystem; from wristwatch to desktops to studio monitors
  • supercycle begins and this is before the foldable phone, AI, and iPhone battery dominance

GOOG:

  • hitting on all cyliners, 
  • even among the other trillion-dollar club members, GOOG is now the standout; 

AMZN:

  • looks like it's ready to widen the moat 

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Other End Of The Spectrum

Bottom of the barrel: 

  • MSFT: all of a sudden, cracks showing?
  • BRK: a mediocre mutual fund; no dividends; what's the appeal?

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The Rest

The other half dozen or so:

  • your call;
  • not interested.

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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 am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.
  • Longer version here.   
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