Axalta Coating Systems Ltd

Insider Buying Week 9-08-23 ET Go Home

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Energy Transfer certainly looks like it is coming home for investors. Oil producers and suppliers have been on a steady ramp for the last month after lagging most of the year.  Ironically, lithium carbonate, the basic ingredient in EV batteries, is flirting with multi-year lows as the Inflation Reduction Act hands out $billions to build a domestic supply chain of lithium batteries.  Recent headlines trumpet the Administration’s ban on drilling for oil in the Arctic, yet new supply is the panacea for high prices. Conoco looks like the sole U.S. driller to plunge the Arctic unknown, but the market doesn’t … Read more

Insider Buying Week 8-11-23 and the Summer Doldrums

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We are not surprised by the momentum of the oil and gas sector, as it was only a matter of time before its strong fundamentals collided with short sellers and skeptical money managers. We wrote last week about the strong signals from Exxon’s latest quarterly earnings. Activist Exxon board member Jerry Ubben’s purchase of Exxon may have been the biggest act of his illustrious career.  CEO Darren Woods is transforming  Exxon into a juggernaut of earnings  AND the undisputed heavyweight of both hydrocarbons, renewables, and carbon capture. Its stands to dominate all.  According to Woods, there is no reason for … Read more

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is a Dangerous man

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I wrote to clients in the February update that  Federal Reserve Chairman Powell is a dangerous fellow.  Last week he proved that causing a run on the banking system.  Ironically if the creation of a new Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP)had been in place the week before, Silicon Valley Bank might have avoided failure and bankruptcy. Powell’s rapid hike in interest rates as a cure for the supply-side inflation shock is likely to be as successful as the ancient but now discredited medical practice of bleeding the patient. If Powell was the CEO of a public company, activist shareholders would … Read more