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The Justice Department Is Dropping Its Criminal Cases Against Trump“Is this legal?” — SG restaurant worker asks after their manager forces them to pay $10 for each food tray that a customer throws out in the trashBroncos can wipe away back-to-back heartbreakers and make playoffs by beating Kansas City85% candidates in Maha fray lose security deposit, Cong leads MVA chart with 9, none from BJP

Some tech industry leaders are pushing the incoming Trump administration to from other nations. The heart of the argument is, for America to remain competitive, the country needs to expand the number of skilled visas it gives out. The previous Trump administration did not increase the skilled visa program, instead clamping down on visas for students and educated workers, increasing denial rates. Not everyone in corporate America thinks the skilled worker program is great. Former workers at IT company Cognizant that said the company favored Indian employees over Americans from 2013 to 2022. A found Cognizant, and other similar outsourcing companies, mainly used its skilled work visas for lower-level positions. Workers alleged Cognizant preferred Indian workers because they could be paid less and were more willing to accept inconvenient or less-favorable assignments. Innovation is our superpower and it relies on people. Sourcing talent from 8 billion people in the world instead of 330 million here makes sense. Nearly half our Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. Growing them also relies on expanding our skilled workforce. The cap on skilled-worker visas has hardly changed since the computer age started. With AI on the horizon, attracting and building talent is more important than ever. After years of openly allowing millions of undocumented entrants into the country, why is there controversy over legally increasing somewhat the number having desirable skills? Undocumented immigration significantly impacts lower skill level jobs and wages competing with domestic workers at every skill level. Why should special cases be made against those having higher skills? Could they just not walk across the border anyway, why make it more inconvenient to those with desirable skills? Knowledge and technology are key drivers of the U.S. economy. Students come from all over the world to learn at U.S. universities, and their spending contributed $50 billion to U.S. exports last year. Technological advantage is what keeps us ahead of the rest of the world. Highly skilled immigrants contribute much more in taxes than they receive in public benefits. The skills immigrants bring to America can make us all better off. According to Forbes, the majority of billion-dollar startups were founded by foreigners. I’ve interviewed dozens of data analysts and programmers from Berkeley, UCSD, USD and a few other schools and 75% of them are foreign. There simply are not enough American graduates to fill the AI and data mining related jobs now exploding in the U.S. If we wish to remain a competitive economy, we need highly skilled and bright immigrants to come here and stay. Being able to employ highly skilled workers from a larger pool of candidates would strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. companies by increasing their capacity to perform research and innovate. This would boost the country’s economic output. Skilled workers from other nations that cannot remain in the U.S. will find jobs working for foreign rivals. The demand for H-1B visas far exceeds the current cap of 85,000, demonstrating a need to modify this program. Every country needs skilled workers, at all levels, to grow its economy. We should take advantage of the opportunity these workers provide our employers who need these skills. It should be blended into our immigration policies allowing for both short and long term visas. San Diego is a premiere example of how highly skilled workers from around the globe enrich a community and its regional economy. Of course Visa levels need to be increased. But let’s go further. Tie visas and immigration with a provision that those who are admitted and educated at a U.S. university be incentivized, or even required, to be employed in the U.S. in exchange for their admittance. While attracting high-skilled immigrants can fill critical gaps in sectors like technology, health care and advanced manufacturing, increasing high-skilled immigration could displace American workers and drive down wages in certain industries. There are already many qualified American workers available for some of these jobs. We should balance the need for specialized skills with the impact on the domestic workforce. I believe we can begin to increase the number of visas after a careful review of abuse. We should expand skilled visas to drive innovation and economic growth. Individuals who perform high-skilled work in labor-restricted industries or graduate from respected colleges with relevant degrees should be prioritized for naturalization. We depend on immigration for GDP growth, tax revenue, research, and so much more. Despite the abhorrent rhetoric and curtailing of visas in the first term, I hope the incoming administration can be persuaded to enact positive changes to a clearly flawed system. But it should be based upon need, not politics. There are several industries that have or could have skilled workforce shortages, especially if the next administration tightens immigration as promised and expected. Over the years, there have been nursing shortages that have been met partially by trained and skilled nurses from other countries. The physician shortage is expected to get worse in the years to come. So, this visa program may very well be needed. While skilled immigration could boost our economy and competitiveness, the U.S. should prioritize developing our domestic workforce. Hiring foreign nationals in sensitive industries or government-related work, especially in advanced technology or defense, raises security concerns. A balanced approach could involve targeted increases in non-sensitive high-demand fields coupled with investment in domestic STEM education and training programs. This could address immediate needs while strengthening the long-term STEM capabilities of the American workforce. Alan Gin, University of San DiegoHaney Hong, San Diego County Taxpayers AssociationRay Major, economist

THIS WEEK’S DOSE 118th Congress Continues to Grapple with Contentious CR. With the collapse of Republican support for the negotiated continuing resolution (CR) package, as of the time of publication on Friday at 3:00 PM EST, Congress is still grappling with how to extend government funding into the new year. At a minimum, we think any final deal will at least provide a short-term extension to a number of expiring health programs. House Health Committees Select New Republican Members. Republicans identified new committee members, while House Democrats have yet to name new members for the 119th Congress. House Energy & Commerce Committee Announces New Health Subcommittee Chair. Incoming Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) announced today that Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) will be the Health Subcommittee Chair. CBO Details Options to Reduce Federal Deficit. A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report highlights options for Congress to consider to reduce mandatory and discretionary spending. House Bipartisan Task Force on AI Releases Report. The report recommends that the healthcare industry maintain robust support for healthcare research related to artificial intelligence (AI) and encourages the development of standards for AI liability. ASTP/ONC Releases HTI-3 Final Rule. The rule is the second of three expected final rules following the release of a proposed rule from the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator (ASTP/ONC) this summer. CMS Actuary Office Data Shows Increased Healthcare, Hospital Spending. Healthcare spending in 2023 reached $4.9 trillion, a third of which was hospital spending, representing a sharp increase compared to 2022. CONGRESS 118th Congress Continues to Grapple with Contentious CR. Addressing their final agenda item, lawmakers need to at a minimum enact a short-term CR that extends government funding beyond the current CR’s December 20 expiration date. Earlier this week, House Republican leaders brought forth a bipartisan agreement negotiated on both sides of the Capitol to extend government funding through March 14, 2025, and include significant other policies, including disaster relief funding, a Farm Bill extension, and a sizeable package of bipartisan healthcare policies. That package included pharmacy benefit manager reforms, patent reforms, a limited Medicare site neutral policy, Medicaid home- and community-based services policies, a 2.5% offset to the scheduled Medicare physician fee schedule reduction, and a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities. However, amid growing concern from House Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump voiced his opposition Wednesday night and pushed for the debt limit to be raised, putting the package in immediate jeopardy. House Republicans in response developed a slimmed down CR on Thursday to raise the debt limit and fund the government into March 2025, with the inclusion of three months of funding for expiring healthcare programs. A vote on that package failed on the House floor with 38 Republicans joining most Democrats in opposition. As of the time of this publication, on Friday at 3:00 PM EST, House Republicans are working to coalesce around next steps to avoid a government shutdown and appear poised to vote on a CR similar to the one that failed on Thursday, without the provision to raise the debt limit. While we think the CR will include short-term extensions of expiring health provisions, it is not yet clear at this time. Beyond the CR, activity on the House floor this week included passage of numerous public health bills , such as legislation on home care for veterans and funding for autism research. Some of the bills previously passed the Senate and could be signed by President Biden, while others were not voted on in the Senate and will need to be reconsidered next Congress. The House also moved Senate bill S. 4610 , which will now go to the president. This bill proposes to do something we all thought had been done centuries ago: naming the bald eagle the official national bird. House Health Committees Select New Republican Members. The Republican Steering Committee added four new members to the Ways & Means Committee for the 119th Congress: Reps. Rudy Yakym (IN-2), Max Miller (OH-7), Aaron Bean (FL-4), and Nathaniel Moran (TX-1). Ten Republicans have been added to the Energy & Commerce Committee, including three freshmen: Craig Goldman (TX-12), Julie Fedorchak (ND-AL), and Gabe Evans (CO-8). The seven other Republicans joining the committee are Michael Rulli (OH-6), Erin Houchin (IN-9), Russell Fry (SC-7), Laurel Lee (FL-15), Tom Kean (NJ-7), Nick Langworthy (NY-23), and Cliff Bentz (OR-2). Democrats still need to select their new members on the Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees. Across the Capitol, both Republicans and Democrats need to select new members for Senate committees. With a switch in control in the Senate, Republicans will add new members to both the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Democrats also have Finance Committee seats to fill after previous members lost reelection or retired. House Energy & Commerce Committee Announces New Health Subcommittee Chair. Incoming Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) announced today that Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) will be the Health Subcommittee Chair. Carter has been a supporter of extending Medicare telehealth flexibilities and reforming pharmacy benefit managers. CBO Details Options to Reduce the Federal Deficit. The report comes as Republicans, who will control both Congress and the White House next year, look for ways to reduce federal spending and seek policies that could offset their planned extension of Trump 1.0 tax cuts and other objectives. Healthcare options include reducing federal Medicaid matching rates, reducing Medicare Advantage benchmarks, creating federal spending caps for Medicaid, and implementing Medicare site neutral policies. CBO releases this report regularly; just because an option is included does not mean it is politically tenable or will be pursued, but scoring policies does provide a menu to Members of Congress if they are seeking to find savers. CBO also released a primer explaining how it incorporates administrative and judicial actions when publishing projections of the federal budget and preparing cost estimates. House Bipartisan Task Force on AI Releases Report. The task force adopted several high-level principles to frame its policy analysis, and the report includes both overarching and industry-specific findings and recommendations. The task force found that the use of AI in healthcare can reduce administrative burdens and speed up drug development and clinical diagnosis. It also found that the lack of ubiquitous, uniform standards for medical data and algorithms impedes system interoperability and data sharing. Healthcare recommendations include maintaining robust support for healthcare research related to AI and supporting the development of standards for liability related to AI issues. ADMINISTRATION ASTP/ONC Releases HTI-3 Final Rule. In the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-3) rule , ASTP/ONC finalized: The addition of a definition of “reproductive health care” to the information blocking regulation defined terms. Select proposed revisions for two existing information blocking exceptions (the privacy exception and the infeasibility exception). A new information blocking exception (the protecting care access exception). ASTP/ONC has divided finalization of the policies that were included in the broad HTI-2 proposed rule , released in July 2024, into three installments: The HTI-2 final rule released on December 11 focused on the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. The December 16 HTI-3 final rule focused on protecting care access. The forthcoming HTI-4 final rule will likely address certification updates and other elements of the HTI-2 proposed rule and is expected to be published in March 2025. CMS Actuary Office Data Shows Increased Healthcare, Hospital Spending. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data show that healthcare spending reached $4.9 trillion in 2023, an increase of 7.5% from 2022. This represents the highest percentage change since 2020. The high spending can mostly be attributed to an increase in insurance coverage and high hospital and prescription drug usage in the private insurance market and in Medicare. Hospital spending alone reached $1.5 trillion in 2023, an increase of 10.4%, which is the largest spending increase since 1990. Despite this increased spending, healthcare expenditures remained 17% of the economy overall, the same percentage as in 2022. While the federal share of healthcare spending decreased, an overall increase in healthcare spending could raise alarm bells on Capitol Hill among conservatives who are concerned about high healthcare expenditures. QUICK HITS Biden Administration Releases Fall 2024 Unified Agenda. The agenda lays out what rulemaking is planned for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025. Given that President-elect Trump will be inaugurated in one month, don’t get too attached to this list. Many of these regulations could be set aside or rewritten, and other regulations will be initiated. CMS Calls for Proposals for 2025 Health Equity Conference. Proposals are due to CMS by January 17, 2025, and must focus on the theme “Building a Healthier America.” The Health Equity Conference will be held April 23 – 24, 2025, although it should be noted that this event could be altered or cancelled once the new Administration takes office. More information can be found here . CMS Publishes Lessons from AHCAH. The Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative allows acute care hospitals to deliver inpatient care in a patient’s home. A CMS blog post highlights data from a September 2024 report on the initiative and how it improves care. MACPAC Releases 2024 Medicaid, CHIP Data Book. MACStats , released by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), includes data on Medicaid and CHIP enrollment, spending, and eligibility. Four State Medicaid Programs Will Participate in IBH Model. The Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) model will begin on January 1, 2025, and Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, and South Carolina will participate. The model involves collaboration between CMS, participating state programs, and community-based behavioral health providers to improve behavioral and physical health. CMS Holds Webinar on IOTA Model. The webinar provided an overview of the mandatory Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) model . The model is scheduled to begin in July 2025 but could be modified or repealed by the incoming Trump Administration. CMS Approves California Behavioral Health Section 1115 Waiver. The new waiver , which runs from January 2025 through December 2029, gives California authority to test the effectiveness of innovative practices aimed at strengthening the continuum of community-based behavioral health services. Goals of the waiver include strengthening the workforce, supporting the health of children and youth involved in the child welfare system, and reducing stays in institutional settings for significant behavioral health needs. OIG Finds Expenditures for Diabetes and Weight Loss Drugs Rapidly Increased. From 2019 to 2023, Medicaid spending on certain diabetes and weight loss drugs, including glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, increased by more than 540% to total $9 billion, according to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report . The report follows CMS’s proposal to require Medicare and Medicaid coverage of weight loss drugs for the treatment of obesity. Senate Finance Democrats Release Emergency Reproductive Care Report. The partisan report concludes an investigation into how pregnant women are receiving emergency reproductive care at hospitals in the wake of the Dobbs decision. It assesses how they believe abortion bans conflict with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Marketplace Sees Record High Enrollment. Over 16.6 million consumers enrolled in marketplace coverage in this year’s open enrollment through HealthCare.gov, and their coverage will begin January 1. Consumers can continue to enroll through January 15 for coverage that begins February 1. NEXT WEEK’S DIAGNOSIS Once Congress resolves the CR situation, the 118th Congress will draw to a close. The 119th Congress will begin on January 3, 2025, when members will be sworn in. You can find the combined House/Senate 2025 congressional calendar here . We will next publish on January 10, 2025. We hope you have a happy holiday and a great start to the new year.Trump’s mass deportation threats in his first term fizzled. Here’s how they may play out this time.

In this month’s edition of our comparison series, we take a look at two upstream powerhouse producers. The first, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY), is in the process of digesting a large acquisition and carries a lot of debt as a result. Is the share price fully discounting this factor? We will see. The second is EOG Resources, (NYSE:EOG) a company that in recent years has chosen to grow organically, eschewing the M&A craze that has brought a lot of consolidation into the sector. There is a reasonable comparison between the two even though EOG is priced at about 2.5X OXY. Both have big acreage positions in the Delaware basin that are the cornerstone of their income. Both have international exposure with operations in Middle East-OXY, and in Trinidad-Tobago-EOG. Both have catalysts for growth in the coming year. And, like many comparisons, there isn’t necessarily a bad choice. So let’s dive in. Are we near a bottom in upstream oil and gas stocks? I think we are. It should be understood that oil production is a cyclic business -production rises until prices stabilize - and then it begins to decline as activity tapers off. We've had a step change from technology-driven cost and efficiency improvements that have extended the period of production semi-levitation at current levels that must come to an end. Sometime. Without going through a lot of verbiage and reference citations, it just makes sense that we are nearing a peak in the last reservoir to show significant growth - the Permian. If you think about it, since 2010 we have stuck a straw in the Permian, and production has risen from about 1 mm BOEPD to over 6.2 mm BOEPD. Today we are extracting 2.23 bn BOE annually from the Permian, and that just can't go on forever. Estimates are that we are well past the midpoint of production from the key reservoirs that deliver this oil and gas to us. put out a newsletter in conjunction with Novi Labs recently that discussed some aspects in detail that largely agrees with this thesis. Concerns about demand-which has actually stayed fairly robust recently, have offset the plateauing of output in traders' minds, and led to a weakening of prices. Does that reflect reality? My core macro for upstream oil and gas investing is that North American producers are undervalued due to a lack of understanding about the fragility of current shale production levels. Shale is also called 'short-cycle'-meaning that output is related to activity and can be controlled thereby. Obviously less so now due to technology, but the principle remains valid up to a point. The point is growth may be constrained by lower-tier development not being as productive and other logistics impacts-water injection may put a damper on output. The incoming administration's plan to increase production by 3 mm BOPD may also be putting a ceiling on crude and upstream E&P's. I view this as a near impossibility in liquids, and highly doubtful in gas-which is increasing all by itself as the reservoirs being drilled are gassier. There simply aren't enough rigs to generate this kind of growth, and no sign the industry is willing to build them up to that level. When the disconnect between what the incoming administration wants to do and what is possible becomes evident, the drag on prices will evaporate. I think there will be extreme winners, and extreme losers when the real impact of declines in the Permian are noticed by the market. In that scenario, I think we are near a bottom for stocks in the upstream sector, particularly ones with the critical mass that OXY and EOG possess. Occidental Petroleum, (NYSE:OXY) was one of the big wins for investors coming out of the pandemic. Many recognized the value Anadarko brought and loaded up in the teens. It’s been a rough ride since late 2022. The fact those who bought at the 2020 bottom are still in the black after a 35% capital implosion since April of this year, doesn't ease the pain of seeing all that money shifted over into the loss column. Now with the post-election jitters of "Drill Baby, Drill" roiling the market, if anything the slope has gotten worse. Notably absent from the market since midyear, has been Uncle Warren, who over the last couple years has been busy, amassing, a 29% stake at prices well above $50 in some June-24 buys, above $60. Until the other day we were wondering what was it about OXY that Warren liked in $50s that he didn't in the $40s? That curiosity was resolved last week with news of his in OXY shares. and holds; warrants that would let him add another 90 mm shares bringing his position to about 40% of the float. If you have any faith in domestic energy at all, it would seem that this is the time to be adding to upstream positions. Buffett may have put a floor on OXY shares with his vote of confidence last week, as the company navigates softer commodity prices. Energy comprises only a tiny fraction of the SP-500 index now, thanks to multiple compressions over the last couple of years. Does that make sense? I don't think so, but things are what they are, and the decline in the sector weighting certainly has a rationale to it as commodities have underperformed. OXY has struggled in comparison to a loose peer group over the past year, only slightly outperforming, bottom-hugging Devon. Only a couple, EOG and Diamondback Energy, (NYSE:FANG) have managed to deliver any growth, while other Delaware basin-focused producers, OXY, Devon Energy, (NYSE:DVN), and ConocoPhillips, (NYSE:COP) are down. FANG and EOG top the list with Operating Margins (OMs) of 42% and 35% respectively. DVN comes in right behind EOG at 32%. This article isn't about DVN, but I must say it makes the negative sentiment toward the company all the more odd. The company is an oil and gas producing juggernaut with total output currently at 1.42 mm BOEPD and guiding to 1.47 mm BOEPD in Q-4. OXY’s cornerstone is in the Permian’s Delaware basin, but through the CrownRock deal has a significant foothold in the Midland basin. It also has production from the U.S. GoM, and internationally in the Middle East. The company also has a chemicals-caustic soda business that operates in the black and actually is symbiotic to their nascent Direct Air Capture-DAC business - in that caustic drives a reaction to liberate the carbon for capture. The company is successfully integrating the CrownRock purchase into their operations which is receiving an increasing share of D&C capex this year - the goal being to increase the overall oil percentage of total production. It was also noted that legacy CrownRock water infrastructure is contributing about $10 mm in savings this year. OXY is successfully managing LEO costs down through production increases, leveraging infrastructure around new pads, and actively engaging with service providers to minimize the white space-slack time, between TD'ing a well and rigging up to frac. The Delaware continues to perform with the company increasingly drilling secondary benches and seeing better than anticipated performance. Speaking for OXY, s as they wring superior performance out of low-tier benches-Wolfcamp B & C as an example. “These secondary benches that we have second and third and fourth benches that we can develop in the Permian in the Delaware and the Midland Basin, and we're still continuing to get more out of those reservoirs. I expect though in the near-term with weaker prices that what we used to think as a peak in say in three years, moves further out because with weaker prices I think there's going to be less growth in the Permian.” I don't think this is true for all companies (if my prognostication that the Permian peaking in the nearer term is way out of whack), as OXY has some of the best Delaware dirt around, thanks to the Anadarko deal. All in all, OXY is generating $3.1 in AFFO and netted $1.5 bn in free cash for the quarter. Pretty much every nickel they take in is going toward debt reduction, which is as it should be. OXY's cashflow priorities are shown in the slide below. Once LT debt is less than $15 bn, then the focus shifts to buying back shares and redeeming Warren's 10% yielding Preferred stock. This puts holders of the common stock at the end of a multiyear list for any significant boost to the dividend. This could be problematic for the stock affecting any chance of a price recovery. I also think that this mindset on the part of management may be contributing the weakness in OXY shares, as investors look for steady cash. A noted that in turbulent times, investors shift from growth stocks to dividend payers. “Investors typically flock to the dividend payers in down markets or when the economic outlook turns cloudy. Indeed, many companies with big payouts, including utilities and consumer staples, produce stable earnings in any weather.” Ok now let’s review EOG. The company has a reputation as being one of the best-run shale drillers and has consistently returned capital to shareholders through the cycle. This shows in the value creation claimed by the company in the slide below. If WTI sees the gain projected over the next couple of years the free cash available for distribution could be enormous. Analysts rate EOG as , but I doubt that rating takes into account the swoon since early November. The Q-4 EPS forecast for the company is $2.57 per share. This is down from the $2.78 per share forecast for Q-3, which they crushed at $2.89. If they beat on Q-4, it will be consistent with their performance over the entire year. Share price forecasts range from $146-$170, with a median of $144, making an entry point sub-$120 a very reasonable short-term prospect. Particularly when the shareholder-friendly plans for capital returns are factored in. The company has just made a triple-bottom sub-$120, and with a Q-4 beat is unlikely to get much cheaper. I think there will be extreme winners, and extreme losers when the real impact of declines in the Permian are noticed by the market. In that scenario, I think we are near a bottom for stocks in the upstream sector. The company is banging on the door of the million barrel-a-day equivalent producer club. One of the things that sets it apart from other shale players is its well-distributed legacy positions in key shale plays that date from early shale E&P activity in the 2010's. The company has first class assets which are shown in the company graphic below. Recently it’s made a big push into the long-neglected Utica shale. EOG has mostly legacy acreage positions that date back to the Enron days pre-shale revolution when dirt was cheap, and thus have avoided the need for big capital outlays to snag competitors at $50-100K per acre. The last , which they comparatively ‘stole’ for $5,400 an acre. Deal execution like this shows on the balance sheet with a paltry $3.6 bn of long-term debt presently. On DE basis none of its peer group even comes close. EOG has some of the best dirt in the Delaware, thanks to the Yates deal. Perhaps you’ve seen the Wolfcamp white paper put out by the EIA. If not . It shows that some of the best Wolfcamp A, and Bone Spring benches are in southern Eddy and Lea County New Mexico, and in Loving County, Texas. A recent discussed the intensity of drilling in these areas. We're a fan of good dirt around here as it drives cost impacts from logistics and technology. This enables EOG to be pretty selective in the projects they sanction, putting a 30% after-tax rate of return at $40 per barrel. That's a pretty steep hill to climb, but it insulates the company from all but the wildest swings in commodity prices. It also enables price realizations that top the peer group at $77 for Q-3, 2024. I think most of us get the idea behind stock buybacks and their intrinsically increasing the value of remaining shares. That has to be balanced though with the fact that much of this is fraught with peril at squandering capital. This is done by buying back stock in one quarter and seeing the price continue to decline. That is certainly the scenario extant these days. I am surprised equity analysts don't pursue this in conference calls more. EOG has been bitten by the share buyback bug-noting that it will be done ‘opportunistically’, but shows a much more shareholder-friendly attitude with its robust $3.90 per share annual dividend, than many companies that have totally scrapped special dividends in favor of buybacks. The Yield on Cost (YOC) is actually pretty decent at 3.28%. Bottom-line management at EOG knows shareholders need to eat while waiting for the stock float shrinkage to drive share prices higher. EOG's entry into the with relatively little fanfare. Things seem to be going pretty well from the comments in the slide below. EOG has a huge acreage position, and the Utica is far less developed than the Marcellus. The northeast is gas hungry from the explosive growth in AI data centers and the demand coming from the Cove Point LNG terminal on the Chesapeake Bay. On the horizon, new East Coast plants are creating a potential uplift in demand. It is fair to say that EOG isn't cheap here. But against a cohort of near-million barrel producers, it's reasonably priced. Things can always get cheaper, so this multiple might shrink. I am betting there is less elasticity in EOG than in others. I don't think there is any doubt that OXY is a buy for long-term capital appreciation at current levels. As I have noted, I feel strongly that American oil and gas companies are undervalued in terms of their true impact on society, here at home and globally, and lack only a catalyst to rerate higher. This would totally change the dynamic for owners of these assets, but there is no date certain as to when this will occur. The question is, can we wait that out while receiving peanuts for our capital? That leaves us looking for income while we wait for growth, and the money coming quarterly from OXY will not buy Porterhouse steak at Kroger. It may not even buy chicken breasts without a coupon. Chicken leg quarters are the immediate future of OXY holders as we wait on capital appreciation in the commodity rerating I expect. The problem I see is management's dogged determination not to pay a respectable dividend to reward shareholders now. Let's review. First, they had the debt from Anadarko. Ok, that transformed the company...while almost killing it. They got through that and then rising oil prices worked their magic and we had a 5-bagger in appreciation, with the stock price peaking at $75 in late 2022. Holders of OXY stock will listen to any song management sings with that kind of growth in their portfolio. Then came the CrownRock debt and dilution. As I have noted, the company is rightly knocking down the debt, but their single-minded focus on buying back stock at multiples where no one else, except Warren Buffett, is buying does investors no service. The YOC is under 2% and there are no special dividends planned to spread a little cash among shareholders. Since reinstituting the regular dividend in 2022 it's been raised twice and I expect it will be raised again when Q-4 earnings are announced. By another 4-5 cents. To continue our chicken metaphor, this is chicken feed. OXY trades at 5.5-6X EV/EBITDA and $48K per flowing barrel. Not terribly cheap on either metric, so it's probably a toss-up,-pay interest on debt or capitalize on a 30% downdraft in stock prices...since April of this year. Now let’s look at EOG. EOG is trading at a flowing barrel price of $69 per barrel. Again not give away prices. You can buy shale cheaper. EOG has a reputation of being one of the best-run companies in this sector and most of the metrics I've seen substantiate that notion. I've always been willing to pay up for quality, and that's the recommendation here. Buy EOG. EOG has 4.43 bn bbl of 2P reserves as of the end of 2023. During the year they replaced 202% of production with new discoveries. Both are solid metrics and justify the current prices for the stock. At $40 per bbl, EOG has a net present value (NPV) of $179.00 per share, which comes for the share price. This doesn't take into account future revenue from the Utica play, so I regard it as conservative. Also, investors entering EOG before 1-17-25 will receive the previously announced and just raised regular dividend of $0.98 per share on Jan-31st. I regard the timing as auspicious. The yield is admittedly not spectacular-3.08% but I am expecting a special dividend at some point in the coming year that will improve the overall yield on cost. I think EOG is an outstanding bargain for future growth and immediate shareholder returns. Every serious investor in upstream E&P companies should have a position in the company. Accordingly, I rate EOG as the winner of this month’s comparison.SKY SPORTS chiefs have asked Roy Keane’s pundit pals to help them investigate the former Ireland midfielder’s scrape with a fan. Keane was on post-match pitchside duty after Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich when he was verbally accosted by a home supporter. The former Portman Road boss, who had two seasons in charge of the Suffolk side, was angered by the comments and caught on camera telling his verbal assailant “I’ll wait for you in the car park”. Ipswich security staff then intervened to take the supporter away. Yesterday, Ipswich fan Neil Finbow claimed on social media that he had been the subject of Keane’s ire. In his Facebook account, Finbow wrote: “New claim to fame - just been offered out into the carpark by Roy Keane after a few choice words. “Even Jamie Redknapp had to come over to get him away - just ya average Sunday evening out.” Responding to a comment, he then allegedly wrote: "I was reminding him that he set us back five years and ruined our football club. I also mentioned how he wasn't fit to step foot anywhere near our ground [Portman Road]. "Oh, and I mentioned about him walking out on a World Cup and breaking Haaland's leg and putting it in his autobiography. "I hate the bloke, and that's been boiling up since he got sacked all those years ago." FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS Finbow went on to write in a further comment: "The truth hurts, mate. I feel sick when I look at him." He went on to say that Keane argued with another fan and that his car park comment may have been taken out of context. He told the Daily Mail : "The argument all stemmed from an issue with his children. The fan's issue was about getting autographs back in the day when he was the manager here. The guy was basically saying Roy Keane ruled with fear. "You could see him pointing to the car park because that is where the autographs were done, and that's where he had the issue with Roy all those years ago. So, it makes sense they were pointing over there." He added: "What Roy said back could have been misconstrued. He might have wanted to talk in the car park as that's where it all happened. "It's hard to tell. But yeah, he could have meant 'I'll talk to you in the car park,' but it came across as if he was inviting him out [for a fight]." It was the second incident involving Keane and supporters in 15 months. In June, Arsenal fan Scott Law was given a three-year banning order by magistrates and ordered to pay £764 after butting Keane after a dispute in a lounge at the Emirates Stadium after the Gunners’ win over United in September. Sky Sports executives have now asked Keane’s pundit duty colleagues - Redknapp, Izzy Christensen and presenter Kelly Cates - as well as production staff on duty to give their accounts of the incident so that a full picture can be given. At this stage, though, Sun Sport understands that no further action is expected while there have been no internal discussions about Keane being given extra security support in future. IN theory at least, the only way is up for Manchester United, writes Charlie Wyett. We are nearly a third of the way through this Premier League season and it is still staggering to see United lurking in 12th place. They have managed just four wins with a goal difference of 0. Only Everton, Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored less. It is certainly not a false position and a point at Ipswich illustrated the massive job that Ruben Amorim faces. United’s fans sang the name of their new manager throughout the game. They also gave the players rapturous applause on the final whistle and although this was an improvement on some of the performances this season, the bar has been set pretty low. The club’s optimistic supporters will see that their team is only six points off the top four. Ultimately, though, it is difficult to see United even reaching last season’s final position of eighth as they look worse. United’s patched-up defence will improve - and a three-man formation at the back will help them - but you have to wonder where the goals are going to come from. Marcus Rashford struck after 81 seconds and then went missing for the rest of his 68 minutes on the pitch. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee were also introduced in that double change midway inside the second half but added absolutely nothing. What a terrible couple of signings they have proved to be and United’s fans would swap both of them for Ipswich’s Liam Delap. Amorim did not celebrate the Rashford goal and paced around his technical area throughout looking uneasy. Each time there was a break in play, he called over players for instructions. Alejandro Garnacho headed over to the touchline on a couple of occasions while there were also words for Diogo Dalot, Casemiro and Jonny Evans. Amorim, a manager with infectious enthusiasm, will be hopeful he can get his message across to all of the players in the next few weeks. But the problem for the Portuguese coach is that this was the first of 10 games in the space of 33 days. What he really needs are spells on the training ground without a midweek game but he does not have that luxury.None

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