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Colorado - Thu. 10/17/24 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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NEW RULES FOR OIL AND GAS ADOPTED BY THE STATE’S ECMC
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The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission Tuesday passed sweeping rules to deal with the cumulative impacts of drilling. The ECMC, which replaced the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission, adopted the sixty pages of rules requiring operators to meet strict new standards regarding cumulative impacts of past, present and future oil and gas development to be permitted to develop new mineral resources, beginning Dec. 15, 2024.
New rules define cumulative impacts as the effects on public health and the environment, including the impacts to air quality, water quality, climate, noise, odor, wildlife, and biological resources caused by the incremental impacts that a proposed new or amended operation … would have when added to the impacts from other past, present and future development. The rules require operators to assess the impacts of their drill sites within a mile of their pads and for water resources up to 2½ miles away, five miles if it potentially impacts drinking water supplies.
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POPULOUS HOTEL OPENS NEAR DENVER’S CIVIC CENTER
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Denver’s newest hotel, and one of the most distinctive, opened to the public Tuesday. The Populous, a 265-room hotel by Denver developer Urban Villages, which has an aspen-inspired exterior and cost $100 million to build, is located on a 0.24-acre site at the corner of 14th Street and Colfax Avenue. The city of Denver sold the property to a group associated with Urban Villages and it is one of a few privately-owned properties in the Civic Center Park area of the Golden Triangle district. The 13-story, 135,000-square-foot hotel is managed by Chicago-based Aparium Hotel Group and features two restaurants, a coffee shop, and several gathering and event spaces. Studio Gang is the architect for the hotel. Rooms start at $195 per night, according to the hotel’s website.
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COLORADO AVALANCHE ADD FIRST SPONSOR LOGO TO JERSEYS
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Corporate sponsor patches have long been a mainstay of NASCAR and professional soccer, and now they’re making an appearance in Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, and Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche announced the IMA Financial Group signed an agreement to put its IMA logo on all Avalanche sweaters, home, away and alternate jerseys. The Denver-based insurance brokerage and wealth management company had already been the longtime official insurance brokerage and risk management partner of the Avs and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment before signing on as a jersey partner. IMA's CEO Rob Cohen has been a longtime supporter of the Denver sports scene, co-founding the Metro Denver Sports Commission, which worked to bring many sporting events to town, including the 2018 NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four, the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four and the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships.
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HOLIDAY SPENDING FORECAST: “NORMAL” AT 3.5% INCREASE
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The National Retail Federation said on Tuesday that it expected holiday sales to increase 2.5 to 3.5 percent from last year, to as much as $989 billion. That’s slightly slower growth than the year before, when holiday sales in 2023 rose 3.8 percent, but in line with the 3.6 percent annual increase that marked the season before the COVID-19 pandemic sent shopping into overdrive. The Retail Federation defines the holiday season as sales from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, and does not include purchases from auto dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. Once again, the growth of e-commerce sales is expected to outpace total retail sales, with the trade group estimating that they will rise 8 to 9 percent, between about $295 billion and $298 billion.
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WALGREEN’S ANNOUNCES CLOSINGS: 1,200 STORES
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Walgreen’s Boots Alliance, the owner of Walgreen’s Drug Stores, Tuesday announced it will close 1,200 stores over the next three years, including 500 stores next year. The announcement was made during the company’s latest earnings call and Walgreen’s officials said of the roughly 8,000 stores nationwide, 6,000 are profitable. The company reported an operating loss of nearly $1 billion in the three months through August, about twice as much as the loss in the same period last year. Walgreen's will also make changes to how it stocks its stores, by being “more selective” with the brands it carries, as well as expanding its own brands.
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MARKETS HAVE STRONG REBOUND, DOW HITS ANOTHER RECORD HIGH
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After a major selloff Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 falling back more than 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq Composite down more than 1 percent, the markets surged back Wednesday, with the blue-chip index gaining 337.28 points, or 0.79 percent, and ending at 43,077.70. The S&P 500 added 0.47 percent to 5,842.47, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.28 percent to close at 18,367.08.
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MONARCH SKI AREA’S EXPANSION RIGHT ON TARGET
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Monarch Mountain is not as well-known as Crested Butte or the areas in Summit County, but it is very accessible and a great central Colorado ski area. It is in the process of a major expansion following the Forest Service approval of adding 377 acres of lift-served territory. The expansion is the long-awaited development of the backside of Monarch Mountain, called No Name Basin, with the blue- and black-rated terrain lying on the western side of the Continental Divide. There will be six trails served by a fixed-grip, triple chairlift, to be installed next summer. There will be tree-skiing and the area’s longest drop, close to 1,000 feet. No Name Basin’s official opening is scheduled for the 2025-26 season.
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THE SPACE RACE CONTINUES…IN AFRICA
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China, Europe and the U.S. have all been involved in “strategic” efforts to increase their presence in Africa. Although most of those endeavors have involved economic development, it extends into outer space. To date, a total of 17 African countries have put more than 60 satellites into orbit and, along with Senegal, both Djibouti and Zimbabwe have also watched their first satellites become operational during the past 12 months.
Dozens more African satellites are expected to go into orbit in the coming years. All of this is happening while the African continent currently has no space launch facilities of its own. It is another means of powerful countries elsewhere in the world using space programs to build relationships and gain more geopolitical dominance.
One of the latest launches, in August, had 116 satellites onboard, including the first ever developed by the country of Senegal. Senegal’s new satellite was built by Senegalese technicians. While not wanting to detract from their significant achievement, it is worth noting that development of the satellite was made possible through a partnership with a French university, and that the spacecraft was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California.
The future looks bright for additional African-based efforts, with some 80 satellites currently in development in African nations and the prospect for African spaceports, as space launches from equatorial regions require less fuel. The Luigi Broglio Space Center, an old Italian-built space port including a sea platform off the coast of Kenya, could be brought back into service one day. The last launches there took place in the 1980s.
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SKI SEASON IS ABOUT TO BEGIN: SOME ALTERNATIVES TO CONSIDER
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Skiers are gearing up for a La Niña winter, with the promise of more snowfall to the Americas and colder temperatures in Europe, after a very difficult ski season last year. With more Americans looking to travel to Europe and overseas to ski, Bloomberg offers some alternatives to some of the classic destinations:
- Instead of Courchevel, France … try St. Nicolas de Véroce: the St. Nicolas de Véroce resort is on the opposite side of the same Évasion Mont Blanc ski region from Courchevel and nearby Megève, but with lower prices
- Instead of St. Moritz, Switzerland … try Arosa Lenzerheide: 40 miles north of St. Moritz, but higher elevations and lower prices
- Instead of Kitzbühel, Austria … try Saalbach: it is located about an hour from Kitzbühel, but has more lifts with three new gondolas and lifts being installed before the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships this February
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WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE THE BEST RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
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The U.S. retirement system doesn’t get high marks relative to other nations, according to the annual Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, released Tuesday. The U.S. got a C+ grade and ranked No. 29 out of 48 global pension systems in 2024.
Countries receiving an "A":
- Netherlands (No. 1)
- Iceland
- Denmark
- Israel
"B+" Countries:
- Singapore
- Australia
- Finland
- Norway
"B" Countries:
- Chile
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Switzerland
- Uruguay
- New Zealand
- Belgium
- Mexico
- Canada
- Ireland
- France
- Germany
- Croatia
- Portugal
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MARKET UPDATE - 10/16/2024 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 10/10/2024)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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