Oil and natural gas prices tumbled further Thursday, dragging down Club holding Coterra Energy (CTRA) and other energy stocks along the way. And that’s created a prime opportunity to do some buying, according to Jim Cramer. Shares of Coterra Energy dropped more than 3% Thursday, to around $26.30 apiece, pushing the stock’s losses over the past month to roughly 10%. Coterra — the last remaining energy holding in the Club’s portfolio — reported solid quarterly results earlier this month that prompted us to reiterate a buy-equivalent rating and $30-per-share price target. “I know people are selling [Coterra], but this is the one I want to buy,” Jim said Thursday . Our most-recent purchase of Coterra came on Oct. 26, at roughly $28 per share. In general, our recent approach to investing in exploration-and-production companies like Coterra has been to buy when sentiment turns against the group, while exercising caution when the broader market becomes bullish. And in this moment, the group is out of favor amid declining oil and natural gas prices. Both commodities matter to Coterra, whose revenues are split roughly 50-50 between oil and gas. On Thursday, U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell more than 5%, to around $72.50 a barrel, on pace for its fourth-straight weekly decline. WTI has tumbled roughly 18% over the past month. Natural gas prices dropped more than 4% Thursday, to roughly $3.044 per million British thermal units, or MMBtu. In November alone, natural gas has declined more than 14%. For both commodities, the recent price declines ultimately boil down to worries about a glut of supply relative to limited demand. On the oil side, demand concerns have been heavily influenced by economic and industrial data — including weak Chinese refining activity for October. Meanwhile, weather forecasts hold significant sway over demand for natural gas. Colder temperatures create more demand, while warmer conditions are seen as bearish for prices. Fresh inventory data published by the U.S. government has added to the negative picture for both oil and natural gas, further pressuring prices on Thursday. U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels last week compared with the prior week, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. At the same time, U.S. oil production remained at record levels of 13.2 million barrels per day. And on Thursday, the EIA said natural gas in storage rose by 60 billion cubic feet, which was more than the market expected, according to FactSet. That release comes against a backdrop of mild weather lately and strong U.S. gas production, which started to increase in October and has only continued in recent weeks, said Eli Rubin, an analyst at EBW Analytics Group, a natural gas-focused consultancy. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long CTRA . 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.
Silhouette of Permian Basin pumpjacks taken at dusk, north of Midland, Texas, U.S. in late 2019.
Richard Eden | via Getty Images
Oil and natural gas prices tumbled further Thursday, dragging down Club holding Coterra Energy (CTRA) and other energy stocks along the way. And that’s created a prime opportunity to do some buying, according to Jim Cramer.
The Canadian home improvement chain picked up a pair of Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks, and it’s putting them to work on last-mile delivery routes in the Greater Toronto Area.
This month, the Canadian home improvement retailer Home Hardware began operating two Volvo electric semi trucks out of its St. Jacobs, Ontario truck depot. The pair of trucks will fulfill last-mile deliveries throughout the area, and mark the company’s first step towards transitioning its entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles.
The Volvo VNR trucks have an operating range of 442 km (about 275 miles). Their delivery routes will take them from Home-brand stores within a 100-150 km (about 90 miles) radius of the St. Jacobs distribution centre.
“We are proud to introduce our new battery-electric trucks to our privately-owned fleet,” said Kevin Macnab, president and chief executive officer, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. “Recognized by the Private Motor Truck Council as Safest Large Fleet, as well as Trucking HR Canada as a Top Fleet Employer and a Fleet of Distinction, Home Hardware Stores, Ltd. is committed to forward-thinking logistics that evolve our supply chain to best support our dealers so they can serve their communities.”
Home Hardware debuted their new Volvo VNR Electric trucks at the company’s 60th anniversary celebration and annual franchise event, the Home Hardware Homecoming, held last week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Is that an insurmountable head start for companies like Tesla to make up? It’s hard to know (and my brain is broken, anyway), but I invite you to check out this episode of Quick Charge recorded a few weeks ago (below) talking about Volvo Truck’s lead, and then share your take on the state of the electric semi truck market in the comments.
The newest edition to the CAA-Quebec roadside fleet is a fully electric Lion5 flatbed – and the CAA says it’s the first 100% electrique tow truck in service in North America!
Based on the Lion5 medium-duty truck and upfit with a flat bed body developed by XpaK Industries, CAA-Quebec (think AAA, but in Quebec) is marking an important milestone in its 80-history with the deployment of the first electric tow truck in Canada.
“Roadside assistance has always been in CAA-Quebec’s DNA, and it goes without saying that we are taking the lead in electric towing. We have a responsibility to set an example and take a leadership role in protecting the environment,” said Marie-Soleil Tremblay, president and CEO.
As far as the truck itself goes, the Lion5 chassis is packed with 210 kWh of in-house, 800V battery packs. Those are good for a range of up to 310 km (a touch over 190 miles) courtesy of an energy-efficient, high-torque electric motor putting 315 hp that Lion Electric claims can eliminate between 75 and 100 metric tons of greenhouse gas per year compared to a comparable diesel truck.
What’s more, the Lion5-based tow truck promises to reduce CAA-Quebec’s energy (read: fuel) costs by about 80%, and regular maintenance costs by about 60% compared to gas or diesel vehicles in the same class.
“With this new 100% electric, made-in-Quebec tow truck, we are helping to redefine the future of the towing industry,” said Patrick Gervais, VP Trucks and Public Affairs at Lion. “We are proud to be part of a cleaner and more sustainable future with players like CAA-Quebec and XpaK.”
The Lion5 tow truck was delivered in July, and will spend a year being put through its paces in a multitude of towing situations and extreme weather conditions. CAA-Quebec’s roadside assistance service will share its experience with partners throughout Canada and the AAA in the US.
Electrek’s Take
“Electrek’s Take” is where we put our industry experience to use interpreting the news we report. Here, in an article about a “first ever” new commercial segment being entered by a highly visible EV, I probably should be talking about operating costs, “dollars and sense,” and the importance of stabilized costs for a fleet manager’s projections.
Best known in the US as the OEM behind Nikola, Italian truck brand IVECO entered the 2.5 to 3.5 ton medium duty commercial van segment at this week’s IAA Transportation conference with this: the eMoovy electric chassis cab.
The IVECO version leverages the Hyundai’s excellent 800V architecture. That means the eMoovy supports ultra-fast 350 kW charging and V2x functionality, so it can be used to back up a job site, supply power to workers, or even power a home (presumably).
In that article, Peter wrote that, while Hyundai would develop and build the chassis, IVECO would customize the electric vans to suit broader commercial markets and distribute the vehicles throughout its network. If that sounds familiar, that’s because (on the surface, at least) the deal seems pretty similar to the one IVECO has with Nikola … which begs the question: will Nikola get an eMoovy variant to sell in the US?
The new electric van will directly target Ford E-Transit customers in Europe, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t be an attractive alternative for commercial fleets on this side of the pond, as well – especially with the “big rig” street cred that could come with the Nikola association.
Electrek’s Take
The commercial EV market is driven by dollars and cents. If EVs have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than their gas or diesel counterparts? They’ll continue to sell, and their market share will continue to grow. The only question Hyundai and IVECO need to answer is whether North American truck buyers be more likely to buy a Hyundai-branded van, or a Nikola one.
We asked a similar question to Kia’s James Bell on Quick Charge a few weeks back. Listen to his response to those questions, below, then share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.