It Came Up In Discussion The Other Day -- IRAs -- August 19, 2020

From SmartAsset:

For 2020, the maximum amount you can contribute to a Roth IRA is $6,000. You’re allowed to increase that to $7,000 if you’re age 50 or older. 

These same limits apply to traditional IRAs. And it’s also worth noting that this is a cumulative limit. If for some reason you have both a traditional and Roth IRA, your total contributions to both accounts can’t exceed the annual limit when combined. 

Unlike traditional IRAs, there’s no deadline for taking money from your Roth IRA. 

Traditional IRAs have required minimum distributions that must begin starting at age 72. 

With a Roth IRA, you can keep adding money to your account as long as you’re working and have earned income. And you can leave the money you’re investing in your Roth IRA for as long as you want so it can continue to grow. 

Withdrawals, from Investopedia:

You can withdraw Roth IRA contributions at any time, for any reason, without paying taxes or penalties. If you withdraw Roth IRA earnings before age 59½, a 10% penalty usually applies. Withdrawals before age 59½ from a traditional IRA trigger a 10% penalty tax, whether you withdraw contributions or earnings. In certain IRS-approved situations, you may take early withdrawals from an IRA with no penalty.

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Hearing Voices

True story. I have a niece one year older than Sophia, making my niece about seven years old.

One recent evening, her older brother, about 14 years old, I suppose, found an Alexa Echo in the trash. He asked his sister why Alexa was in the garbage. She replied, "It's haunted."

"What do you mean, it's haunted?" her brother asked.

"It talks to me."

LOL.

When I hear voices, I just take my meds.

EOG Update -- Michael Fitzsimmons -- August 19, 2020

 EOG update: Michael Fitzsimmons at SeekingAlpha. Archived here. Summary:

• like virtually every O&G producer, EOG Resources had a tough Q2 and for the first time I can remember posted a big negative EPS number
• nonetheless, the company's fundamental operations and financial performance were impressive
• the company actually generated ~$194 million in FCF despite shut-in production and a $20/bbl realized price for oil
• in view of expectations for a dramatic comeback in Q3 and Q4, EOG is undervalued and could easily rise to $60/share for a 30% return

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OXY-Warrants

Hit an all-time low today: $3.00 even.

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For The Archives
That Cross-Country Trip

My recent trip from Grapevine, TX (DFW area) to Portland, OR, and then to Flathead Lake, MT, and then back home to Grapevine, TX. 

Enterprise Rental car: a Ford Fiesta with 24,000 miles on it. Manufacturer / EPA:

• up to 27 mpg in city
• 37 mpg highway

Three legs:

• Departed Grapevine, TX, Tuesday evening, 8:15 p.m., July 28. Arrived Portland, OR, Thursday morning, July30, 10:00 a.m. 1,934 miles. Gained two hours, time zone changes.
  

• Departed Portland, OR, 4:00 a.m., Tuesday morning, August 4. Arrived Lakeside, MT (Flathead Lake), same day, 3:00 p.m. 566 miles. Lost one hour, time zone change.

• Departed Lakeside, MT, 1:00 p.m. Saturday, August 8. Arrived Grapevine, TX, Monday morning, 2:00 a.m., August 10. 1,867 miles. Lost one hour, time zone change,

Mileage (MPG):

• trip average: 41.11 miles per gallon (and drove the car hard, 80 mph or more, interstate-driving most of the way)
• best mileage from DFW to Portland, OR: 45.97 miles per gallon
• best mileage from Portland, OR, to Flathead Lake, MT: 40.43 pg
• best mileage from Flathead Lake, MT, to Grapevine, TX: 46.12 mpg

Stretch:

• best mileage on leg from DFW to Portland, OR: 45.97 miles per gallon -- Green River, UT, to Snowville, UT;
• best mileage on leg from Portland, OR, to Flathead Lake, MT: 40.43 pg -- Ritzville, OR, to St Regis, MT:
• best mileage on leg from Flathead Lake, MT, to Grapevine, TX: 46.12 mpg -- Tremonton, UT, to Moab, UT;

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Tires: For The Record

I don't buy Goodyear tires, never have, never will. 

Firestone emerged as an affordable tire brand with average performance options and average tread-mile warranties. ... By comparison, Goodyear averages $108 per tire for the same size, though it has a much great variety of performance options to choose from. -- reviews; July 9, 2018

Why I Love To Blog -- Reason #265 -- August 19, 2020

This has been a common theme on the blog: Saudi is in deep trouble.

The first domino?  

From Bloomberg:

Kuwait has 2 billion dinars ($6.6 billion) worth of liquidity in its Treasury and not enough cash to cover state salaries beyond October, Finance Minister Barak Al-Sheetan warned parliament, as political wrangling again delayed efforts to return to international bond markets. 

The government is withdrawing from its General Reserve Fund at a rate of 1.7 billion dinars a month, meaning liquidity will soon be depleted if oil prices don’t improve and if Kuwait can’t borrow from local and international markets. 

As energy-rich Gulf states see their finances hammered by the collapse in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic, the remarks point to a dramatic reversal of fortunes for some of the world’s wealthiest nations. Managing the crisis has proven especially challenging for Kuwait, where all laws must be approved by lawmakers who accuse the government of mismanaging public money and are blocking legislation that would allow it to borrow abroad.

I don't know enough about either of the countries, Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, to compare, but this certainly seems to be a red flag. The current price of oil -- in the mid-$40's is less than half what Saudi needs to balance their budget.

No New Permits; Five Permits Renewed -- August 19, 2020

 Active rigs:

$42.93	8/19/2020	08/19/2019	08/19/2018	08/19/2017	08/19/2016
Active Rigs	12	62	59	53	32

No new permits.

Five permits renewed:

• Whiting (3): three Satterthwaite permits in Mountrail County.
• XTO (2): two Ernest Federal permits in Dunn County.

No New News But More Info Regarding That Second Bakken Pipeline Ordered Shut -- August 19, 2020

Note: the pipeline was ordered shut down, but the company has appealed that decision, posted August 19, 2020. 

 From the GF Herald, from June 17, 2020, an op-ed, archived:

Tesoro High Plains Pipeline recently began sending a right-of-way and “past use” agreement to hundreds of individual landowners on the Fort Berthold Reservation. A proposed lease agreement opponents consider “wholly unacceptable.”

The pipeline’s offer attempts to remedy a seven-year-long trespass across Fort Berthold that crosses some 90 acres. The pipeline was owned by Andeavor, which was later bought by Marathon Petroleum Corp. The company first sought a lease renewal from landowners in October 2017. After repeated meetings and failed “good-faith” negotiations, landowners responded by filing lawsuits.

While landowners have been left to negotiate with Marathon, leaders of the Three Affiliated Tribes Tribal Business Council struck their own deal with the oil company in 2016. Tribal leaders did not attempt to get the same fair-market deal for tribal citizens. Mark Fox told the Bismarck Tribune in October 2018 that it was up to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, not the tribe, to take care of the individual landowner.

Fox’s line of thinking runs contrary to the practice of true tribal sovereignty which calls for tribal leaders to take care of the people. Ironically, it is the individual landowners at Fort Berthold who own title to 66 acres of land compared to the tribe’s 24 acres. Yet, tribal leaders negotiated a contract and allowed the trespass to continue without seeking individual landowner input. The tribe’s contract with the oil company is tens of millions of dollars more than what is being offered to its citizens.

“Andeavor has provided an offer to landowners that is less than 1/20th what it paid the tribe for the exact same pipeline over similar land,” said attorney Keith Harper, a former US ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council “We are in the process of communicating this offer to the landowners but we suspect most, if not all, will consider this offer wholly unacceptable. Importantly, we do not consider this good-faith negotiations.”

Meanwhile, after standing by idly for years, the BIA appears finally ready to issue a trespass decision. Reed Soderstrom, an attorney representing a group of Three Affiliated Tribes landowners, has requested the BIA issue a cease and desist order. As the years pass, Marathon-Tesoro pipeline operators continue to reap billions of dollars in profits while transporting oil across reservation land. The pipeline carries oil to the Marathon Petroleum Mandan Refinery in Mandan, N.D.

Mediation is being scheduled, said Reed Soderstrom, an attorney representing a group of Fort Berthold landowners. It will likely take place in August.

“This offer attempts to settle both the trespass and the future right of way,” said Soderstrom. “This offer is as follows: $9,000 bonus per acre, annual payments for the remaining 21 years of $2,000 per acre, and $19,600 per acre for trespass. Tesoro sees this offer as totaling $70,600 per acre. We think this offer is too low and advise everyone not to sign.”

More at the link.