What we’re reading (11/4)
“When Will America’s Oil Industry Open The Taps?” (OilPrice.com). “So now that oil companies are rolling in the dough will they increase production to help out the world’s energy supply squeeze? Don’t count on it. ‘Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Chevron Corp. confirmed this week that, for the most part, they’ll spend their windfall profits on share buybacks and dividends,’ Bloomberg recently reported. While capital expenditures will increase in 2022, the report continues, ‘the increases come off 2021’s exceptionally low base and within frameworks established before the recent surge in fossil-fuel prices.’”
“Billionaire Investor [Charlie Munger]: Democrats’ Plan To Tax Stock Buybacks Is ‘Literally Insane’” (CNN Business). “‘I don't think the dividend policies of American corporations ought to be determined from Washington,’ Munger told CNN. The Biden administration fired back after Munger's criticism.”
“Where Are All The Truck Drivers? Shortage Adds To Delivery Delays” (Wall Street Journal). “Truck driver Chris Wagner pulled his big rig into a grain processing plant in Sidney, Ohio, on a recent afternoon to pick up a load bound for the Chicago suburbs. He’d lost his scheduled place in line because of delays at an earlier delivery, so it was 10:45 p.m. before the plant was ready to load his trailer. By then, the clock had run out on his federally mandated 14-hour workday, so Mr. Wagner couldn’t pull up to the dock. He slept that night in his truck on the plant’s lot and left empty-handed the following morning, unable to reschedule the pickup.”
“Once A Startup Unicorn, Mattress Brand Casper Is Now Scrambling To Raise $150 Million As It Bleeds Cash” (Insider). “Casper is trying to raise as much as $150 million in a secondary offering as it confronts mounting losses, a plunging stock, and potential solvency issues. The mattress company and direct-to-consumer pioneer disclosed plans to raise capital through a variety of securities offerings in an S-3 filing on Oct. 25, and is seeking to raise $50 million in common shares and the rest through a combination of preferred shares, debt, and other instruments.”
“Kevin Durant Launches Second SPAC To Buy A Crypto Business Because Everything Is Perfectly Normal And Reasonable And It’s A Totally Sensible Thing To Do” (Dealbreaker). “Donald Trump’s nascent hacker’s dream of a social media platform is off the table, legally or otherwise. So, too, is WeWork, thanks to Shaquille O’Neal. SeatGeek’s no longer available after signing a deal with a SPAC backed by Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. Still, Durant has got a taste for the blank check now and he can’t stop, even as there remain hundreds of SPACs desperately seeking dance partners, and the legal and regulatory future of the space remains very much up in the air.”
