☕️What Else is Brewing The Day After Christmas🎄[not much]
Good morning. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and...
Good morning. Hope everyone had a nice Christmas and first night of Hanukkah. Very little to report today, so here is a quick summary of the Business Story of the Year: Elon Musk
This month, Musk became the first human in history to amass a net worth surpassing $400 billion. Tesla’s stock, a major source of his wealth, has nearly doubled in value since the presidential election because investors view Musk’s proximity to Trump as a boon. Previously, the Tesla stock price was propelled by strong earnings and the prospect of cheaper cars hitting showrooms soon.
While Musk was busy getting established in Donald Trump’s orbit this year, his companies continued their ascendancy into Earth’s orbit and firmly lodged themselves in the hemispheres of people’s brains:
➕SpaceX continued to dominate the space cargo delivery market, winning at least $2.6 billion in new government contracts this year. It also celebrated the first successful test launch of its jumbo rocket, Starship, which might one day ferry astronauts to the moon and Mars.
➕Traffic on Starlink’s satellite internet network tripled this year, per Cloudflare.
➕Meanwhile, Neuralink implanted custom chips into the brains of its first two trial patients.
European natural gas traders are preparing for potential market turbulence...
European natural gas traders are preparing for potential market turbulence in the New Year, as the transit deal between Russia and Ukraine is set to expire on 1 January. The European Commission and major banks are bracing for a halt in pipeline flows through Ukraine, which could drive up prices and force Europe to seek alternative sources.
US Gulf Coast facilities prepare for winter freezes
AccuWeather and the NOAA are separately forecasting a warmer than usual...
AccuWeather and the NOAA are separately forecasting a warmer than usual winter for the US Gulf Coast, but with brief spells of freezing temperatures. The trend creates a risk for chemical facilities and refineries in the region even though many have made winterization upgrades since Winter Storm Uri in 2021.
Unclear business models, lengthy permit timelines and financing hurdles...
Unclear business models, lengthy permit timelines and financing hurdles are slowing plans to develop more than 220 million short tons of annual CO2 capture capacity across US Gulf Coast industries like ammonia, hydrogen and methanol. Still, cost advantages, existing infrastructure and government support position the region as a potential industrial decarbonization leader.
Oil prices ease on surplus concerns, dollar strength
(Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower on Monday in...
(Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower on Monday in thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday on concerns about a supply surplus next year and a strengthened dollar.
Brent crude futures settled down 31 cents, or 0.43%, at $72.63 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 22 cents, or 0.32%, to $69.24 a barrel.
Macquarie analysts projected a growing supply surplus for next year, which will hold Brent prices to an average of $70.50 a barrel, down from this year's average of $79.64, they said in a December report.
Concerns about European supply eased on reports the Druzhba pipeline, which sends Russian and Kazakh oil to Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany, has restarted after halting on Thursday due to technical problems at a Russian pumping station.
The U.S. dollar was hovering around two-year highs on Monday morning, after hitting that milestone on Friday.
