Drill baby, drill pledge sends oil prices down today
Oil slid as U..S President Donald Trump promised to boost U.S. crude production. Brent crude retreated almost 1% to near $80 a barrel.
PXD
Jobs surprise–economy delivers stronger than expected performance in December
In December U.S. economy in December added the most jobs since March and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. Nonfarm payrolls increased 256,000, exceeding all but one forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from November, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday. For 2024 as a whole, the economy added 2.2 million jobs—-below the 3 million increase in 2023 but above the 2 million created in 2019. The data almost certainly assured that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates at its January 29 meeting. As of 11 a.m. New York time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed another 5 basis points to 4.74%.
China’s deflation problem got worse in December
China’s consumer price index rose 0.1% in December from a year earlier, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Factory deflation extended into a 27th month, though the producer price index recorded a slower drop of 2.3%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. For the full year, consumer prices only inched up 0.2% from 2023, well short of the 1.1% gain economists had predicted at the beginning of 2024.
Fed’s December minutes another nail in the coffin for early interest rate cuts
In minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December 17-18 meeting released on Wednesday, January 8, Federal Reserve officials clearly decided to move more slowly on cutting interest rates in the quarters ahead. “Participants indicated that the committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,” minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee showed. “Many participants suggested that a variety of factors underlined the need for a careful approach to monetary policy decisions over coming quarters.” Please note the reference to “quarters” and not “months.”
More bad news for stocks from the bond market today
The 20-year Treasury bond, a laggard on the government debt curve since its re-introduction in 2020, topped 5% Wednesday for the first time since 2023. The move looks to be fueled by concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs and tax cuts will lead to wider deficits and rekindle inflation.
Stocks fall as they begin to price in no rate cut until July
The Institute for Supply Management’s index of services advanced 2 points to 54.1 last month. That show of strength in the economy–readings above 50 indicate expansion–was enough to push stocks lower as the markets began to price in a delay in the next interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve until July The measure of prices paid for materials and services rose more than 6 points to 64.4, suggesting that the drop in the inflation rate in the service sector–about 70% of the U.S. economy–might be over.
Exxon Mobil guides to huge drop in earnings; just one example of revenue and earnings problems across the sector
On Wednesday, July 5, Exxon Mobil (XOM) told investors that second quarter earnings could drop by 50% from earnings in the second quarter of 2022. On Thursday, July 6, shares of Exxon Mobil closed down 3.73%. Remember, we’re talking about Exxon Mobil here, one gigantic oil company. So while earnings could fall by half in the quarter, the company is still looking at quarterly earnings of $6.2 billion. Exxon’s news has implications across the energy sector.
Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Which is it? OK Growth in the U.S. or Not Great Growth Globally?
Today’s Trend of the Week is Which is it? OK Growth in the U.S. or Not Great Growth Globally? The U.S. market is rallying and the rally even expand from the narrow nine stocks that have been driving up the indexes. The consensus is the U.S. economy will avoid a recession, the Fed will continue to pause rate hikes, and the U.S. economy as a whole is in decent shape. The problem is that the global economy presents a completely different story with asset values pricing in slowing growth. This shows up most clearly in oil prices, which have been in a downward trend. On June 13, West Texas Intermediate was selling below $70 a barrel, and Brent was down to 74.57. Goldman Sachs has cut its end-of-the-year oil price forecast by about 10%. This cut assumes continued lower demand from China and a supply glut, especially from Russia, as that country produces above agreed-upon caps in an effort to fund its war in Ukraine. If you own oil stocks right now, confirm that the ones in your portfolio can continue to make money at $70 a barrel (at least enough to cover dividends). I’d note the lowest cost source in the United States is in the Permian Basin. Companies like Pioneer National Resources and Devon Energy are focused on production from that region.
Please Watch My New YouTube Video: Trend of the Week Where Is All That Oil Cash Going to Go?
This week’s Trend of the Week is Where is All That Oil Cash Going to Go? The likely answer: the Permian Basin and acquisitions. Oil companies like Exxon Mobil (XOM) are putting so much cash into the bank, they don’t know what to do with it. Exxon Mobil had $32.7 billion in cash in the bank. With little debt, and plenty left over after capital spending, dividends, and buybacks, the company is left with a tremendous amount of cash. Historically, extra cash could be used in oil exploration, which could take 5-15 years. In a global warming economy, that doesn’t make sense since we don’t know where oil prices and demand will be in the years ahead. The better option is acquisitions. One of the companies Exxon is rumored to be targeting is Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) for their assets in the Permian Basin. Chevron (CVX) is in a similar position as Exxon and you can expect them to be in the market for Permian companies as well. Other Permian Basin companies that are ripe for being acquired are Devon Energy (DVN) and Diamondback Energy (FANG). I already have PXD and DVN in a portfolio in my JubakPicks Portfolio, and I’ll now be adding FANG as well.
Rumors swirl around Pioneer Natural Resources again–this time that ExxonMobil is talking about an acquisition
The Wall Street Journal reported today, Friday, April 7, that Exxon Mobil (XOM) has held preliminary, informal talks with Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) about a possible acquisition.
Move #4 in my Special Report: 5 Moves for the Next 5 Months
I will add this post to the end of my post of the entire Special Report today. I’m also posting it here, however, as a stand-alone so you will get notice in your email box that Move #4 has gone up. Here’s what I posted for Move #4.
Sunday’s surprise OPEC+ sends oil and oil stocks higher Monday (with slight retreat today)
Today the prices of oil and oil stocks have soared. At 11:20 a.m. New York time U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 5.37% to $79.73 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude was higher by 5.24% to $84.08 a barrel. Among oil stocks, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) was up 3.53%; ExxonMobil (XOM ) was up 5.48%; Chevron (CVX) was up 3.73%; Equinor (EQNR) was up 5.91%; and ConocoPhillips (COP) was up 7.79% The U.S. Oil Fund (USO) was higher by 5.40%.
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