The returns are in for commodity mutual funds, and, well … they’re actually not in: They’re out.
If you bought and held shares in a commodity mutual fund during their 20 year history, it probably hasn’t returned you a dime. In fact, you probably lost money.
[RELATED: Commodities in Your Portfolio? It’s All Hogwash, Says Wall Street Dissenter]
Morningstar tracks more than 30 of these funds, divided up into 124 different share classes. Only nine of those shares have made money from their inception through the first quarter of this year. Looking back from the end of the quarter over one month, three months, three years or five years, the vast majority have all lost money.
I am a historian, and that usually means I’m a killjoy. When people say we’re at a unique moment in history, the historian’s job is to put things in perspective by pointing out that there is more continuity than discontinuity, that we are not special, that we think our moment is unique because we are narcissists and we’re at this moment. But what we are going through now—the past 20 or 30 years, and the next 20 or 30 years—really is historically unique. It is arguably the largest economic disruption in recorded human history. And our politics are not yet up to the challenge.
A series of subsequent power outages in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City left commuters stranded and traffic backed up on Friday morning. Although the outages occurred around the same time, there is as of yet no evidence that they were connected by anything more than coincidence.
The first outage occurred at around 7:20 a.m. in New York, when the power went down at the 7th Avenue and 53rd Street subway station, which sent a shockwave of significant delays out from the hub and into the rest of the subway system. By 11:30 a.m. the city’s MTA confirmed that generators were running again in the station, although the New York subways were set to run delayed into the afternoon.
Later in the morning, power outages were reported in Los Angeles International Airport, as well as in several other areas around the city.
Via : Inverse
The San Francisco Fire Department was responding to more than 100 calls for service in the Financial District and beyond, including 20 elevators with people stuck inside, but reported no immediate injuries. Everywhere, sirens blared as engines maneuvered along streets jammed with traffic.
Traffic lights were out at scores of intersections, and cars were backing up on downtown streets as drivers grew frustrated and honked at each other.
Via: SF Gate
Members of the internal Aramco IPO team took their figures to the company’s chairman, Khalid al-Falih, who is also Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, say people familiar with the matter.
One of those people said some of the Aramco team members are concerned because their calculations have consistently yielded lower numbers than the one the prince disclosed.
Saudi government officials say Aramco’s high reserves and low costs should make the company attractive to investors. “Our profitability is higher than others and the interest we have received so far is huge,” said one official who defended the $2 trillion number.
Some of the banks pitching for a role in the advising and underwriting of the deal have been given minimal information on the company’s financials, one person familiar with the pitching process said.
Members of the IPO team took their figures to Aramco’s chairman, Khalid al-Falih.PHOTO: HEINZ-PETER BADER/REUTERSBankers have offered company executives advice on how they might position the offering to investors to garner the highest valuation and how Aramco would compare with other oil and gas companies, this person said.
Yet even absent the specific financial information, this person said that it appeared highly unlikely that Aramco could achieve a valuation anywhere near $2 trillion unless it paid no taxes or royalties.
Since deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the stock-offering plan and his $2 trillion estimate early last year, insiders and outsiders have questioned how he arrived at that number.
The changes made by Exxon
What has changed on the bureaucracy side of Exxon concerning XTO is its purchasing order system, which, according to Bloomberg, "governs project spending at the rest of Exxon," citing people familiar with the matter.
The particular system was put in place for primarily offshore projects that could take as long as a decade to develop, and which had price tags of up to $50 billion. That model is obsolete when it comes to the development of shale wells, which can cost around $6 million or so to build. Not only that, but they can be built in few weeks.
This is also why the process of submitting a 12-month operating blueprint, which is expected to be totally adhered to by other units of the company, has also been removed from the XTO shale unit.
It's not that these protective filters weren't viable for prior projects, or existing projects requiring a long time and a lot of money to develop, it's that they don't work with shale development and drilling.
This isn't to suggest the unit is just winging it. After Exxon acquired XTO, it put 30-year veteran, Jack Williams, in place to head it up. He's in the inner circle of leadership at the company.
Looking forward, we expect coal volumes will continue to benefit from favorable 2016 comps in the second quarter. For the second half of the year, we expect sustained volume assuming natural gas prices remain in the $3 range. As always, weather conditions will be a key factor of demand.
Industrial Products revenue was up 9% on a 1% increase in volume and a 7% increase in average revenue per car during the quarter. Minerals volume increased 32% in the quarter, driven by a 59% increase in frac sand shipments through increased shale-related drilling activity and proppant intensity per drilling well.
Specialized markets were impacted by reduced project-based waste shipments, partially offset by strength in our wind and government markets. For the remainder of the year, we anticipate continued strength in frac sand shipments as rig counts in our served territory continue to increase. The strength of the U.S. dollar negatively impacts a number of Industrial Products markets, especially metals and creates some uncertainty in our outlook.