US gas storage at 8-year high despite injection drop
Lower 48 natural gas inventories...
Lower 48 natural gas inventories hit 3.92 Bcf at the end of the 2024 injection season, the highest pre-winter levels since 2016, even as net injections fell 21% below the five-year average, according to the Energy Information Administration. Elevated starting inventories allowed operators to meet storage targets despite reduced gas availability due to production cuts.
A Wall Street juggernaut just caught its white whale. Investment giant...
A Wall Street juggernaut just caught its white whale. Investment giant BlackRock inked a $12 billion all-stock deal to buy private credit investor HPS Investment Partners, cementing private credit as the hottest thing on Wall Street since the invention of the stock ticker.
Huge get: BlackRock acquiring HPS is like if the Buffalo Bills got Derrick Henry. Already one of the biggest investment firms in the business, BlackRock will now take on HPS’s nearly $150 billion of assets under management, boosting its pile of alternative assets by 25%.
The deal cements BlackRock, which was slow to invest in alternative assets, as a major player in the market, setting itself up for success as private credit grows at supersonic speed. Moody’s expects the market to double to $3 trillion in the next three years, up from $250 billion in 2010.
South Korea’s president (briefly) declared martial law
In a shocking address yesterday, Yoon Suk Yeol ...
In a shocking address yesterday, Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the country for the first time since 1979, accusing the opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and plotting an “insurgency.” The ruling banned all political activity and allowed Yoon to assume media control, though it’s unclear if that happened. Hours after the emergency declaration, the National Assembly voted unanimously to lift the ruling. Under the South Korean Constitution, the president must comply with that vote, and shortly after, Yoon went on TV to say he would lift martial law. South Korean stocks temporarily fell in the US while the political chaos unfolded.
Beijing announced it would halt shipments of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials—which are used in satellites, weapons, and semiconductors—to the US, in response to the Biden administration curbing the sales of US chips to Chinese companies earlier this week. Per Bloomberg, some US buyers said the ban wouldn’t cause near-term disruptions, since they have ample inventory and other ways to obtain the materials. The US already gets its gallium, for instance, from countries other than China. The tit-for-tat supply chain maneuver is the latest in an ongoing trade war that’s likely to intensify during the second Trump administration.
Nearly 100,000 Volkswagen workers walked off the job. Employees...
Nearly 100,000 Volkswagen workers walked off the job. Employees at nine plants across Germany went on warning strikes this week in protest of the automaker’s plans to cut costs by closing factories and docking pay. The walkouts only lasted a few hours but could escalate if the workers union does not reach an agreement with Volkswagen on a cost-cutting proposal. The German company says the cuts are vital as it struggles amid competition from China, a declining EV market in Europe, and increased energy costs. The two sides are scheduled to meet again next week.
Frontier, the ultra-low-cost airline, is adding first-class seats. “While we have the lowest costs in the industry, we don’t have the best revenue model,” CEO Barry Biffle said.
Walmart closed its $2.3 billion acquisition of TV-maker Vizio as part of its push to expand its advertising business.
Cargill, the agricultural commodities trader and the biggest private company in the US, is laying off 5% of its global staff.
SpaceX is reportedly in talks to sell insider shares at a new valuation of $350 billion—much higher than the most recent $255 billion valuation.
Pizza Hut unveiled a new futuristic design concept that it plans to test in Texas before rolling out to more states, which is fine as long as they don’t get rid of the Book It! program.
