Thursday, June 4, 2020
On Saturday, September 14, Saudi Arabia’s largest crude oil processing facility at Abqaiq, was attacked by at least 30 drones and cruise missiles. The attack shut down about one-half of the country’s oil production capacity, which is 5% of the world’s daily production and consumption. When trading markets opened on Monday, crude oil prices jumped […]
I wrote this article, and it was published two weeks ago. Little did I expect the attack on the Saudi oil infrastructure and the effect on oil prices. Here it is again with additional comments. For the last three months, crude oil has been stuck in a $50 to $60 per barrel trading range. The […]
For the last three months, crude oil has been stuck in a $50 to $60 per barrel trading range. The WTI benchmark price has lulled traders into thinking that this trend will continue. I have contact with many investors, and I find that many have the viewpoints and beliefs that trends will continue indefinitely. It’s […]
It is starting to look like the long suffering energy midstream sector has found a bottom. This is good news for income investors, since this group of stocks pays growing dividends with very attractive yields. A market bottom for the sector will give positive, double digit annual total returns going forward. The current level of […]
I feel like we have moved into a Dr. Strangelove type of financial world. The economic data shows that the U.S. economy is doing fine. We have growth in the economy, low unemployment, and rising wages. Home prices continue to increase. In contrast, on the financial markets side of the universe, traders are pushing bond […]
The energy sector of the economy and stock markets is divided into three groups. The upstream energy companies are the producers of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The financial results in the upstream swing dramatically with changing prices for the energy commodities. Downstream are the refining companies, utilities, and retail businesses. The […]
There is no stock that is more divisive to investors than Tesla (TSLA). The electric car producer (and solar power company) seems to have an equal split of investors who love it and hate it. Some of the love/hate relationship is due to the company’s eclectic CEO Elon Musk, while some is due to the […]
Recently there have been two big, interrelated news stories coming out of the U.S. energy sector. The first is that the U.S. crude oil production continues to grow, and the U.S. has become the world’s largest producer of energy liquids. This growth has been led by the Permian Basin play in West Texas. The parallel […]
The escalation of the trade war between the United States and China is having far reaching effects on the financial markets. Tensions between the world’s two biggest economies is causing an increase of market volatility and a shift of assets into safe-haven investments like bonds and gold. The actual trade of goods between China and […]
With each quarterly earnings season, it becomes clearer that the recovery in energy infrastructure stocks is underway. This is a sector that has been out of favor with investors since the early months of 2015. The continuing North American growth of crude oil and natural gas production is starting to be realized in the values […]
