Activity In Rattlesnake Point -- March 17, 2024

Locator: 46793B.

We're going to start seeing some great numbers from CLR and Rattlesnake Point.

The maps:

Investing -- Sunday Night -- March 17, 2024

Locator: 46792INV.

WTI: up slightly, still above $81. Last check: $81.31.

Markets: all green, but barely; actually flat and could easily go red.

Headline stories:

• hugely bullish: China kicks off the year on strong note as retail, industrial data tops expectations 
• Goldman Sachs expects BofJ to hike rates Tuesday;
  
• talk of recession is dying down in corporate America;
• inflation isn't going away anytime soon -- but it's not impacting everyone equally;
• Cramer: crude oil showing signs of a breakout as it tops $80;
• Saudi Aramco CEO: energy transition is failing; world should abandon fantasy of phasing out oil; 
• move over gold; copper is now breaking out, according to the charts -- Cramer;
  
• tickers
  
• SCCO: I might have missed this Friday, I forget -- SCCO was up 6% in one day; up $5.82; trading at $103;
• UNP: up 15% in past six months; pays 2%;
• CHRD: incredibly volatile; up 5% in past six months, but just as easily could have been down 5%;
• ORCL: among the seven tech stocks in my "tech" bucket, this is the most fascinating -- not necessarily the best -- simply the most fascinating
• AAPL: speaking of tech, holding above its floor of support ($170); now trading at $172 - $173:

The Bakken, most exciting / interesting:

• CHRD + Enerplus
• NOG

Campaign funding:

• what will be an interesting "wedge issue" to raise campaign funds for DNC? Funds coming in for / against Kamala Harris.

Inflation Watch -- March 17, 2024

Locator: 46791INFLATION.

See my rambling notes of today, here.

Now, an update.

A member of the extended family bought a new pickup truck this weekend.

They've been looking for a new pickup truck for two years. The truck they signed for today was less expensive than two years ago, and even less expensive than last year. The sticker price was in their ballpark but they bargained ... got it for less, as long as they signed today. And they did. 

The monthly payment is "pennies" higher than what they had hoped for. 

Prices are coming down and deals are willing to bargain.

It's hard to believe but it sounds like the monthly payment is 75% of what they had hoped their best deal would have been.

Wendy's: with the app, $1 hamburgers. I bike everywhere and often need to stop to fuel. My go-to is McDonald's. With this promotion, $1-hamburgers, will try Wendy's sometime this week (maybe) -- I haven't been at a Wendy's in years, maybe even in decades.

Sports -- Holy Mackerel --- March 17, 2024

Locator: 46790SPORTS.

Updates

Later, 9:36 p.m. CDT: now that I've has chance to think about what Scottie Scheffler did today and listening to the NBC analysts, one can truly ask whether Scheffler "out-Tigered" Tiger. He set a number of tangible, official records and even more intangible, unofficial records. By tomorrow, there will be any number of sports writers comparing Scheffler to Tiger. If Scheffler stays healthy, he is likely to do better than Tiger -- and Scheffler has an advantage: many of his best competitors -- or would-be competitors -- have gone to the LIV and he won't competing with them one-on-one on the greens. There may be some exceptions, perhaps the Masters.

Original Post 

PGA: Perhaps it doesn't / didn't matter, but the best thing that ever happened for Scottie Scheffler: the LIV. LOL. 

Today, what a day.

• NCAA March Madness selection:
• Men's: on - going
  
• Women's: this evening, 7:00 p.m. CDT
  
• PGA, The Players championship -- Scottie Scheffler wins; perhaps one of the best final days ever
  
• NASCAR: occasionally checking in; not really interested; with 347 of 500 laps to go, I've got plenty of time to get caught up. Apparently the big issue today is not having enough tires; have no idea what this is all about. Aren't tires kind of standard in NASCAR racing? I must have missed something. Update: reason for additional tires, link here. Tires wearing out faster than expected i stage 1 with a number of blowouts. Explanation for increasing wear and tear not given.

North Texas -- Fasting Growing Metropolitan Areas In The US In 2023

Locator: 46789EDUCATION.

In the past three years, my blogging has made me: 

• a much better investor;
• much more pragmatic;
• much less interested in politics, except as an occasional spectator;
• much more exuberant about the potential of Texas; and, 
  
• much more interested in the PGA than NASCAR (a huge flip-flop in just the past few weeks).
  

Link here. 

To put this in perspective, at one time, while living in southern California, sprawling Los Angeles metropolitan area had a population of ten million. 

And, what's most amazing, much of Los Angeles' population growth was due to immigrants that brought little commerce to the area. DFW? The population numbers are actually secondary to what's going on with regard to commerce -- particularly logistics, finance, and tech.