OPEC and its oil-producing allies agreed Wednesday to their largest cut to daily crude output since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, a decision the Club took steps to prepare for earlier this week by paring our energy exposure. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a group of partner producers led by Russia, together known as OPEC+, said they are cutting oil output targets by 2 million barrels per day. The move is seen as an attempt to reverse a steep slide in crude prices since early June, when prices topped $120 per barrel before tumbling more than 30%. Oil rose over 1% on the heels of the announcement, adding to strong gains at the start the week. Club holdings Halliburton (HAL), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Devon Energy (DVN) and Coterra Energy (CTRA) also were in the green. The details Officially, OPEC+ is cutting production by 2 million barrels a day starting in November, from their August production target of 43.856 million barrels a day. However, analysts say, the actual number of barrels coming offline could ultimately be less than the headline figure given that many OPEC+ members have already been producing below their targets. Francisco Blanch, head of global commodities at Bank of America, addressed the potential discrepancy in a CNBC interview Wednesday . “I think one of the big questions is, are we really going to get a 2 million barrel a day real cut or is it going to be a 2 million barrel a day nominal cut that is, essentially, readjusted by the fact OPEC itself is producing 3 million barrels a day under their actual quotas?” Blanch explained. “I think if you reallocate those countries that are underproducing and they don’t actually cut, you’ll get, probably, more like [a] 1 million, 1.2 million barrels a day actual cut,” he added. The cartel’s decision to lower production is not a complete surprise to markets, but the expected magnitude ratcheted up in recent days. For example, last week, some analysts had been warning of a reduction between 500,000 and 1 million barrels per day, well below the headline cut OPEC+ delivered Wednesday. In the days leading up to the decision, energy markets started to price in OPEC+’s looming production adjustment. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose nearly 7% over the first two days of the week. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, climbed more than 8% combined on Monday and Tuesday. After the OPEC+ announcement Wednesday, Brent was trading around $93 a barrel, while WTI was hovering above $87 a barrel. The Club’s positioning The Club’s energy exposure is all about protecting our portfolio from inflation, while collecting sizable dividend payouts along the way. In general terms, elevated oil prices are good for energy stocks and a headwind for the broader market. Owning stocks like Pioneer Natural Resources, Devon Energy, Coterra Energy and Halliburton has been a way to hedge against that dynamic. With oil supply already tight, OPEC+’s decision to slash production further is all about shoring up crude prices. Fears of a recession denting oil demand — combined with other factors like a strong U.S. dollar —contributed to crude prices tumbling during the summer months. We stuck to our investment discipline in the run-up to the OPEC+ meeting, as expectations for the cut pushed up oil prices. We trimmed 25 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources on Monday, redeploying cash from that sale into Estee Lauder (EL), and sold 100 shares of Devon Energy on Tuesday. We made those two sales of PXD and DVN into outsized strength — just as we trimmed our energy exposure when the sector was outperforming the overall market in late August and early September. After allowing our energy position to grow too large in early June, when oil was around $120 per barrel, we’ve been committed to our discipline in periods of outperformance. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long PXD, DVN, CTRA and HAL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
The OPEC logo on a sign at the group’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
OPEC and its oil-producing allies agreed Wednesday to their largest cut to daily crude output since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, a decision the Club took steps to prepare for earlier this week by paring our energy exposure.
After a rocky rollout of its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system in China, Tesla is dropping “FSD” from the name of the system while it faces increased scrutiny from regulators.
Last month, Tesla started rolling out a limited version of its FSD system in China, finally allowing driver assist features to be used on urban roads in the country after a long wait.
Tesla is facing competition from Chinese domestic manufacturers. BYD recently pushed a software update giving smart driving features to all of its vehicles – for free. This is surely part of what pushed Tesla to roll out its FSD system in China in the first place.
But immediately after that rollout, Tesla drivers started racking up fines for violating the law. Many roads in China are watched by CCTV cameras, and fines are automatically handed out to drivers to break the law.
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It’s clear that the system still needs more knowledge about Chinese roads in general, because it kept mistaking bike lanes for right turn lanes, etc. One driver racked up 7 tickets within the span of a single drive after driving through bike lanes and crossing over solid lines. If a driver gets enough points on their license, they could even have their license suspended.
It looks like it’s now making some naming changes, too – and these changes are timed in a way that suggests they might have something to do with that new scrutiny for connected vehicles.
The change in names appeared on Tesla’s website in the last day or so. You can see it below, in both Chinese and translated to English:
Previously, the system was called “FSD Intelligent Assisted Driving” in Chinese. The new name drops “FSD” from the title, and simply calls it “Intelligent Assisted Driving.” It has also previously been called “Full Self-Driving Capability” in China.
Tesla has received plenty of criticism over the years for the name of its system, which, despite being called “Full Self-Driving,” does not actually allow cars to fully drive themselves. Tesla changed the name to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” in the US last year, to show that a driver still needs to supervise the vehicle while the system is active.
Despite the name change, the system is still fetching the same price – 64,000 yuan, or about $8,800 USD. Each level of
Tesla also removed the world “autopilot” from the Chinese name for its lower version of driver assist software. This word is meant to evoke airplane systems which can do basic tasks but still require an attentive pilot to take over in case anything goes wrong, but has also been subject to criticism over the years because of the colloquial understanding that suggests drivers can stop paying attention while it’s turned on.
Tesla says that it still intends to offer its driver-assist system in China once it gets the necessary approvals. Perhaps today’s retreat in naming conventions is part of those requirements.
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The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SEL is more expensive than the more basic SE, but it’s a better lease deal this month – here’s the lowdown.
The 2025 IONIQ 5 SE Standard Range is the cheapest lease deal right now because it can be leased for $199 per month over 24 months with $3,999 due at signing.
If you want to drive the 2025 IONIQ 5 SE Long Range, which adds an extra 73 miles of range and 57 horsepower, the monthly payment rises to $229 per month over 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. As CarsDirect points out, that puts the effective monthly cost at $396, and that’s a fantastic deal relative to the SE Long Range’s price of $48,125.
But when we look at the SEL trim, things get interesting: You can upgrade to the $51,075 SEL model for just $10 more per month.
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Hyundai cut $40 off the lease price of the 2025 IONIQ 5 SEL in March, giving it a monthly price of $406. CarsDirect reports that Hyundai is able to offer this great deal on the SEL trim because of the comparably high residual value (65% vs. 63%) and $750 more in lease cash ($12,250 vs. $11,500) factored into the payment than the SE Long Range.
The SEL and SE Long Range have the same powertrain, but that extra $10 a month gets you projector headlights, roof rails, a hands-free power liftgate, a power passenger seat, heated rear seats, rear climate control vents, a heated steering wheel, and other goodies.
These 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 offers are advertised in Los Angeles and are valid through March 31.
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Tesla has been banned from upcoming federal EV rebate programs in Canada as the government freezes the suspicious $43 million in rebates that Tesla claimed days before the program was paused earlier this year.
The move was suspicious as it would have required Tesla to deliver over 8,000 vehicles at just 4 locations on a weekend, which is physically impossible.
It is believed that Tesla preemptively filed for thousands of rebates after being made aware of the pause to ensure it wouldn’t run out in an anticipated surge in demand due to the program’s pause.
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However, this tactic proved problematic. The government told other car dealers who actually delivered EVs before the end of the program that they couldn’t get the rebates, which were already applied to the customer purchases, as Tesla took most of the money for vehicles it likely didn’t deliver.
Today, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s new transport minister, confirmed that the funds have been frozen until it can investigate precisely what happened with Tesla’s rebates.
Furthermore, Freeland confirmed that Tesla will be banned from future federal rebates for electric vehicles. In this case, it has more to do with the trade war launched by President Trump, whose biggest political donor is Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
She said (via the Toronto Star):
No payments will be made until we are confident that the claims are valid. I also directed my department to change the eligibility criteria for future iZEV programs to ensure that Tesla vehicles will not be eligible for incentives so long as the illegitimate and illegal U.S. tariffs are imposed against Canada.
The federal government is following the same strategy as some provinces. British Columbia has recently banned Tesla products from its EV charger rebate. Nova Scotia just announced that it has excluded Tesla from its $2,000 rebate at the purchase of a new EV.
Quebec just relaunched its own EV incentive program today. It will come into effect next week, and so far, Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles are still included in the list of eligible vehicles.
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