I know this is just well stomped ground, but the 25th would have been invoked if Biden ever bragged of Iran sparing AI generated images from execution.
There was a stretch here of about ten days with highs in the single digits. Iāll say as an aside that my wife, who is from Colombia, and not the chilly part of Colombia, mind you, did great. I knew that Daniel wouldnāt give a shit, but I was really worried about her. Happily she adapted and powered through.
The point of my bringing this up is that I had absolutely no idea how much it was going to cost to heat this joint. I knew it was going to cost whatever it cost and that Iād pay it since no one around here is trying to live out their inner Davy Crockett. I knew that when it got cold (ācoldā) in Vegas my gas bill shot up to about $300 a month or so, so I was prepared for maximum pricing misery. I had a freestanding house in Vegas with vaulted ceilings all over the place, and here Iām in a townhouse, so I was hoping that the architectural difference would help. Well, my gas bill over the winter never exceeded $60 or so. I was stunned. Still am, really. Iām not sure what to attribute this to other than people build houses here knowing it gets cold whereas in Vegas that doesnāt seem to be a thing so much. But still, itās -5 out there and Iām paying $60. OK then.
There is an historically large backwardation in the oil market. The futures market is in the mid $90s and the physical spot market is in the mid $130s. Have we seen the last contango? Probably not. The two prices will have to converge eventually. I think the futures price may be based on irrational optimism. Refineries will start experiencing serious feedstock issues within a couple of weeks. Gasoline and especially diesel are going to get expensive.
Iāve seen a few reports about the incident last night at the White House Correspondentās Dinner. Thankfully, there were no injuries and the suspect is in custody; but, it seems security was quite lax overall. Apparently, the secure barrier was at the door of the ballroom. Iāve never seen a sitting president, but Iāve been in the same area as presidential events and you canāt get close to the President. How can someone get all the way to the ballroom entrance loaded for bear?