“Be Patient – There’s the Rarest Thing On Wall Street” – Jeff Saut

1. OPEC Share of US Oil Imports At 30-year Low — FT, U.S. imports of crude oil from OPEC nations are at their lowest level in almost 30 years, underlining the impact of the shale revolution and advances in hydraulic fracturing. OPEC’s share of U.S. crude oil imports in August dropped to 40% – accounting for 2.9M bpd. The import is the lowest since May 1985.
2. U.S. House to Hold Hearing On Oil Export Ban — according to Reuters, the House subcommittee on energy and power, chaired by Representative Ed Whitfield, will hold a hearing on Dec. 11 over whether Washington should lift its nearly 40-year crude oil export ban. The debate will come into sharper focus in January, when Republicans take over leadership of both the House and Senate.
3. Carl Icahn Raises Stake In Car Rental Company Hertz — Activist investor Carl Icahn has raised his stake in Hertz (NYSE:HTZ) to 10.8% from 8.5%, now owning 49.3M shares. Icahn landed three Hertz board seats in September, and has backed the recent hiring of John Tague as CEO.
4. Q3 GDP Revised Up — the second reading of Q3 GDP was released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis was 3.8%. Wall Street economists were looking for a revision downward from 3.5% quarter-over-quarter seasonally-adjusted annual rate (SAAR) growth in the initial reading from one month ago to 3.3% QoQ SAAR.
5. OPEC Sticks To Oil Production Targets — MarketWatch, OPEC members agreed late last week to stick to the oil-producer group’s existing output target with minimal cuts in production. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said its 12 members, who collectively pump around one-third of the world’s oil, would comply with its current production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day. That would involve a supply cut of around 300,000 barrels a day. As of last week, the enery ETF (XLF) dropped nearly 9% on the news.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: