🛢 Oil’s big comeback

It was a shocking sight.

In April 2020 — as COVID-19 fears gripped the world for the first time — the futures price of WTI oil hit -$37.63 (as in negative).

While the price shock didn’t last long, many predicted doom for the energy stocks.

Energy is now on pace to be…

… the top-performing sector on the S&P 500 this year (beating out 10 other sectors including Tech, Consumer, and Health Care). It’s a feat Energy hasn’t accomplished since 2016, per Bloomberg.

While the benchmark S&P 500 is up ~29%, the Energy sector is up ~47%.

The sector’s performance — unsurprisingly — coincides with the rise in oil prices, which jumped over the past year as the world restarted. In October, WTI oil crossed $85 (a 7-year high) and it now sits at $73.

Energy companies are typically classified…

… by their operations, per Investopedia:

• Upstream companies discover, drill, and extract oil. They are also known as exploration and production companies (e.g., Schlumberger).
• Downstream companies refine the raw inputs into consumer products like diesel, natural gas, lubricants, and pharmaceuticals. They may also provide marketing services (e.g., Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum).
• Integrated companies provide both upstream and downstream services. The largest players — like ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron — are called supermajors.

Meet the best-performing energy company

Oklahoma-based Devon Energy — which provides upstream oil exploration services — has gained 170%+ in 2021 and is the top stock on the entire S&P 500.

Investors are loving the stock for one big reason, per Bloomberg: It’s “spewing cash” and giving it back to shareholders in the form of dividend hikes and aggressive buybacks.

While WTI oil is currently forecasted to be in the $60s next year, the Energy sector — and appetite for it — are a long way from **checks notes** negative dollars.

North Korea isn’t exactly known for its flourishing cross-border economic relationships.

Intense sanctions make it extremely difficult for the country to conduct trade (which is why they do it on secret boats).

To make up for this, North Korea has built some lucrative side hustles, including an elusive state-run cybercrime unit responsible for ~8% of the country’s economic output in 2020.

Kim Jong Un is a fan

In 2010, there were just ~1k members in North Korea’s cyberwarfare guidance unit. Today, it’s estimated there are 6k+.

According to the US Army, the unit consists of multiple divisions, including Bluenoroff, a group of 1.7k hackers on a fairly straightforward mission to “conduct financial cybercrime.”

Under Kim’s reign, the country’s cybercrime operations have garnered ~$2.3B in returns since 2011.

What type of crimes we talkin’?

Big ones. The group’s resume includes:

• An attempt to steal $2B from networks run by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
• Deploying a malware that tricked people into thinking they were trading on a cryptocurrency platform — which banked the hackers $316m.
• A wildly elaborate attempt to steal $1B from Bangladesh’s central bank that got stopped because of one tiny overlooked detail. (The story is straight out of a movie.)

Speaking of movies, remember that time North Korea hacked Sony and threatened to attack US movie theaters if the studio screened The Interview?

Matilde Ek worked on a packing line at See’s Candies, a California-based confectionery that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corporation has owned since 1972.

Ek claims employees weren’t properly distanced, while visibly sick employees remained at work, per Law360. Nothing changed, even after employees and their union brought these issues to supervisors.

Ek caught the virus and passed it to her husband, who died. Now, Ek and her 3 daughters are suing See’s.

See’s wanted the suit dismissed…

… claiming they were only responsible for workers’ comp. But last week, a California appeals court disagreed, allowing the case to move forward.

Could this be a trend?

It already is. There are claims against Tyson Foods in Iowa, a mental health provider in Connecticut, and a Publix grocery store in Florida.

In fact, the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has an entire database of similar lawsuits here.

Most are still pending, and some companies — including Tyson and Publix — have offered the same defense as See’s.

Whether they’ll move forward currently lies with state courts. The See’s decision is the 1st of its kind in California, per The San Francisco Chronicle. But:

• Akin to the See’s case, a Florida court dismissed Publix’s request
• But a Delaware court decided a plaintiff must file a workers’ comp claim first
• And in Texas, a new law makes it harder for employees to sue over workplace COVID exposure

So what’s next? The legal landscape isn’t clear. But with 800k+ Americans dead from COVID, more lawsuits from surviving family members against workplaces will undoubtedly follow.