Relative valuations are provoking comparisons with past episodes that ended poorly, such as the late 1990s tech bubble. Tesla (TSLA) has risen 75% since announcing its 5:1 split on August 11th. Apple (AAPL), and their 4:1 split caused Exxon Mobil (XOM) to be dumped out for the Dow (see The Dow’s Odd Construction). There are […]
Last week’s ejection of Exxon Mobil (XOM) from the Dow Jones Industrial Average looks like another indication of the declining relevance of energy stocks. XOM had been in the Dow since 1928, and until 2013 was the most valuable publicly listed company. Its market cap peaked with oil prices in 2014 at $446BN, and is […]
Labor Day weekend heralds the traditional end of summer in America. School starts shortly thereafter. For the past several months, school districts across the country have been wrestling with modified in-person versus fully online classes. It’s the most consequential set of decisions of the pandemic. 50 million students attend school from kindergarten through 12th grade. […]
Californians have recently been enduring rotating blackouts – short term loss of power due to excessive demand. When the lights go out and the a/c units no longer hum, it’s always political. Oddly, both sides can agree that climate change is to blame. Liberals attribute the extended high temperatures in southern California to the gradual […]
As the world embraces more solar power, it turns out there are two competing visions – the traditional utility model of building solar farms for transmission to customers, and the distributed model where businesses and homes generate their own power using rooftop solar panels. One solution is likely to win, and today two highflying companies […]
Earnings season for pipeline stocks begins on Wednesday 22nd, with Kinder Morgan (KMI) reporting after the market close. We expect the quarterly updates from the sector’s biggest companies will confirm the progress towards improved profitability (see Pipeline Cash Flows Will Still Double This Year). We’ll also hear from management teams how they regard the prospects for […]
Several major pipeline developments last week might well represent a key turning point in how the industry operates. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) acquired Dominion Energy’s natural gas pipeline and storage assets for an enterprise value of $9.7BN, which included BRK using $4BN of its cash pile. Although some estimated the price on the low side, Buffett […]
Client meetings for many businesses have had to conform to local Covid-19 restrictions. Most of us have found that working remotely is fine, although I suspect it’ll become increasingly problematic in the months ahead. As Zoom calls suddenly became part of daily life, we were all chatting with people with whom we had recently shared […]
History is about people, and personal connections always add interest. On hearing we’d be visiting Charleston, SC a good friend, Austin Sayre, suggested we stop by his family’s ancestral home. The Colonel John Stuart House is in Charleston’s historic district, where many of the homes have a plaque describing their former owner’s significance. Colonel Stuart […]
Markets finished the strongest quarter sine 1987 yesterday, led by the energy sector. The American Energy Independence Index, which comprises North America’s biggest pipeline stocks, is still down 29% for the year. Some investors are weary of years of underperformance against the broader market, combined with high volatility. The volatility is largely a function of […]
