Vision Pro: Early Numbers -- January 22, 2024

Locator: 46621APPLE.

See this post also.

Link here.  175,000 units ... so far.

Link here. 250 apps ... so far.

The ticker:

The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg -- January 22, 2024

Locator: 46620FACEBOOK.

Mother Jones has seen a 99% drop in Facebook referrals now that Meta has changed direction.

I can't claim to know with certainty what's going on and why Jeff Zuckerberg made this change but anyone that follows this story probably knows , at least in general.

Here's the story from the linked article:

Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein has had a front-row seat in recent years to watch Facebook upend the media industry.

Bauerlein, who took over as CEO of the publication nine years ago, remembers when about 5 million users a month visited the Mother Jones website after coming across articles distributed on Facebook. That was in 2017.

But Facebook, now known as Meta, is out of the news business, a move that’s disrupted the traffic flow for many publications — Mother Jones has seen a 99% drop in Facebook referrals since its peak — and had disastrous consequences for some.

In September, Meta said it would “deprecate” its Facebook news tab in European countries including the U.K., France and Germany as “part of an ongoing effort to better align our investments to our products and services people value the most.”

The push away from news followed years of public relations disasters for Facebook regarding the company’s handling of misinformation and its decisions on when to cancel accounts and remove posts. Conservative politicians have long accused the company of operating with a liberal bias, while groups on the other side portrayed Facebook as instrumental in the 2016 election of Donald Trump because of how Russian operatives exploited the site to boost his candidacy.

“At this point, it seems pretty clear from the comments that executives at Facebook and Meta made that they have just decided that news is more trouble than it’s worth and that they will show people a fairly minimal amount of it,” Bauerlein said in an interview.

At Mother Jones, a 48-year-old nonprofit magazine specializing in politics and investigations, the implications were dramatic. Though Facebook had generated millions of referrals a month for Mother Jones during its heyday, in November and December it generated just over 58,000 and 67,000 visitors, respectively, for Mother Jones, down from about 172,000 and 228,000 in the same months a year earlier.

Let's see -- what was that fable all about -- the goose that laid golden eggs?

Only One New Permit Today -- January 22, 2024

Locator: 46619B.

Most interesting headlines today -- especially the acknowledgement of the incredible power consumption required by AI. "Everyone" knows that, but it hasn't really "sunk in" yet.

 ****************************
Back to the Bakken

Active rigs: 39.

WTI: $75.19. Up 2.5% today; up $1.80 today.

new permit, #40463:

• Operator: Oasis
• Field: Camp (McKenzie)
• Comments:
• Oasis has a permit for a Lee N well in lot 12, section 5-152-101; 
• to be sited 2976 FNL and 624 FWL.

Six permits renewed:

• Grayson Mill (3): three Clear Creek Federal permits, Westberg, McKenzie County;
• Petro-Hunt (2): two Arsenal Federal permits in Charbonneau oil field, McKenzie County;
• BR: one Mary Swanson permit in Bear Den, McKenzie County.

One producing well (a DUC) reported as completed:

• 39715, 358, Petro-Hunt, Joel Goodsen 149-102-32C-29-2H, Moline, no production;

Well of interest:

• 28699,1,041, Petro-Hunt, Joel Goodsen 5-32-29H, Moline, t7/15; cum 206K 11/23; off line briefly.

TSM News -- Market In General: Second Consecutive Day -- All-Time Record Close -- January 22, 2024

Locator: 46618TSM.

Breaking: United Airlines -- beats on top and bottom line; stock jumps almost 7% before dropping back bit but wow, the guidance is NOT GOOD AT ALL.

I've never understood TSM as an investment.

IIRC, Warren Buffett bought TSM in the last year or so, and then "famously" sold it within six months or so when some analysts warned that China was ready to invade Taiwan.  Instead, he bought more OXY.

News today:

Tickers:

 OXY:

Meanwhile, AMD dropped 3% today on downgrade simply because it was getting ahead of its headlights:

UNP had a good day.

Recession -- The Market -- Charts -- Bull Market? January 22, 2024

Locator: 46617ECON.

A contrarian (?) on CNBC during the noon hour was still arguing that there will be a recession in 2024. His thesis: the Fed is doing a great job controlling inflation. They will not cut rates until they see labor market down to their goal but by that time it will be too late to start cutting rates, which will mean a recession. The analyst feels the labor market numbers are a lagging indicator. 

Near the close today, a Schwab spokesperson was as wishy-washy as he could possibly be. It's clear he missed the rally in 2023, and is still skittish, leaning toward a recession. CNBC moderator called him out many, many times. Poor, poor interviewee / analyst. The longer the interview lasted, the worst it got. What a disappointment. Direct question: what will the Fed do this year? What will the market do this year? What is your thesis going forward? Answer: it all depends. We will know next year. LOL. I hope he’s not your broker. LOL.

From tipranks: