(Houston)

Oil is an enticing commodity right now. Global cooperation on constraining output has led to strongly rising prices, which coupled with margin improvements during the downturn, means the sector looks ripe for great profits. But where is the best place to put money? Barron’s has tapped a top fund manager for his picks, and they are interesting. Both picks are exploration and production companies, and are Kosmos Energy and Apache. The former is a South American E&P that focuses on offshore drilling, while Apache is Houston-based and focuses more on gas.

FINSUM: These are pretty contrarian bets on small E&P companies. These seem quite high risk/high reward.

(New York)

Advisors (or advisers) look out, your titles are poised to be taken away by the SEC. While much of the focus on the new SEC best interest rule has understandably been centered around its pseudo-fiduciary components, there is actually a major fight brewing over the SEC’s new rules which restrict the use of certain titles. In particular, it wants to bar brokers from using the word “advisor” and potentially “financial planner” as well. The idea is to only associate the word “advisor” with a fiduciary to make it clearer to consumers. Industry interest groups are already railing against the proposal.

FINSUM: We find this a complicated issue. We understand the fiduciary motivation here, but advisors have been using that title for a long time and, for better or worse, are known that way by the public. Further, a fee structure does not, in our view, change whether someone is an advisor (in the general sense of the word).

(Washington)

All eyes on the Fed. Not only is the winding down of the Fed’s balance sheet a potentially major issue to Dollar liquidity and emerging markets, but the market has rate worries to deal with. The big question is how low the US jobless rate can go before it sparks big inflation. Currently sitting at 3.8%, the Fed needs to decide how long it can tolerate the hot market before hiking rates quickly. The US jobless rate has only twice been so low. Once in the 1960s, which led to a decade of high inflation, and once in 2000, which was followed by a recession.

FINSUM: There is currently a big disconnect between the rate rises the market is pricing in versus what the Fed is forecasting. The market may lose that gamble very badly.

(Washington)

The long-awaited, and hotly contested US-North Korea summit between President Trump and North Korea leader Kim went very well yesterday. The summit lasted for hours and resulted in a commitment from North Korea to denuclearize in exchange for the US pledging security guarantees for the country. Trump said the two signed a “very important” document. Trump reported that “My meeting with Chairman Kim was honest, direct and productive … We are prepared to start a new history ... and write a new chapter between our nations”.

FINSUM: For the first time we got the feeling that North Korea has played this whole situation very slyly. They built up nuclear capabilities (probably) simply to have a better bargaining position, and it appears to be working.

(Washington)

A lot of financial industry participants have been hoping that the Trump administration might ultimately disassemble much of Dodd-Frank. Bits and pieces have been toned down so far, but the regulation remains mostly intact. Well, it seems like it is going to remain that way. SEC chief Jay Clayton just confirmed that while the SEC may seek to modify Dodd-Frank around the edges, there won’t be major changes. “I don’t think Dodd-Frank is changing a great deal, just to put a pin in it”, said Clayton.

FINSUM: Clearinghouses might see some changes, but otherwise Clayton seems fairly adamant that Dodd-Frank is staying put.