Stocks Near Records as Banks and Energy Companies Jump

U.S. stocks are rising Monday as banks continue to climb along with bond yields and interest rates, and energy companies rally again with oil prices. Better-than-expected auto sales and a strong report on U.S. factories are also helping stocks higher, although technology companies continue to struggle. U.S. markets will close early Monday for the Independence Day holiday.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index jumped 13 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,436 as of 11:35 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 197 points, or 0.9 percent, to 21,546. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks added 11 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,426. The Dow and Russell are both on track to surpass the record highs they set last month.

The Nasdaq composite lost 8 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,131 as technology companies traded lower. Those companies have struggled for almost a month after a large surge earlier in the year.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK: Banks continued their recent winning ways as bond yields and interest rates increased further. Higher interest rates let banks make more money from lending, and that helped financial companies rally last week. Major banks also raised their dividends and said they will buy back more stock. JPMorgan Chase added $2.52, or 2.8 percent, to $93.42 and Citigroup rose $1.87, or 2.8 percent, to $68.75. Morgan Stanley climbed $1.31, or 3 percent, to $45.88.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.35 percent from 2.30 percent. Companies that pay large dividends, like household goods makers and utility and phone companies, lagged the rest of the market.

MANUFACTURING: The Institute for Supply Management said U.S. factories did more work in June, and its survey of manufacturing reached its highest level in almost three years. That's an indicator of U.S. economic strength, and companies that stand to benefit from faster economic growth, like industrial and basic materials companies and banks, did well Monday. General Electric rose 46 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $27.48 and Boeing gained $1.63 to $199.38. Chemicals maker DuPont added $1.60, or 2 percent, to $82.31.

HIGH RATING: Consumer financial services company Bankrate climbed $1.08, or 8.4 percent, to $13.93 percent after it agreed to be acquired by Red Ventures for $14 a share, or $1.25 billion.

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING: Car companies are reporting their June U.S. sales Monday, and while overall sales are expected to decline for the sixth month in a row, early results were better than investors had anticipated. Ford and GM said their sales each fell about 5 percent, but Ford gained 45 cents, or 4 percent, to $11.64 and GM rose $1.02, or 2.9 percent, to $35.95. Fiat Chrysler advanced 46 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $11.09. Auto parts companies mostly rose as well.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 81 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $46.85 a barrel in New York, on track for its eighth gain in as many days. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 72 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $49.49 a barrel in London. Before their recent winning streak, crude prices had reached their lowest levels of the year. Exxon Mobil rose $1.44, or 1.8 percent, to $82.17 and ConocoPhillips added $1.45, or 3.3 percent, to $45.41.

CHANGE OF PLANS?: Activist investment firm Jana Partners disclosed a 5.8 percent stake in EQT and said it opposes the energy company's plan to buy Rice Energy. The firm said it wants EQT to split off its exploration and production business instead. EQT agreed to buy Rice Energy for $6.7 billion in cash and stock last month. The deal would make EQT the largest U.S. producer of natural gas. EQT shares added $1.75, or 3 percent, to $60.34 while Rice Energy tumbled 95 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $25.68.

NOT GLITTERING: Precious metals prices dropped. Gold fell $21, or 1.7 percent, to $1,221.70 an ounce while silver lost 53 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $16.10 an ounce. Gold and copper miner Newmont Mining fell 73 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $31.66.

CURRENCY: The dollar jumped to 113.40 yen from 112.54 yen on Friday. The euro fell to $1.1358 from $1.1422.

OVERSEAS: France's CAC-40 gained 1.5 percent and the German DAX added 1.2 percent. London's FTSE 100 advanced 1 percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was unchanged and the Kospi in South Korea added 0.1 percent.

U.S. Department of Energy Authorizes Additional Liquefied Natural Gas Exports from Lake Charles

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today the approval of two long-term applications to export additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project in Lake Charles, LA.  Additional exports in the amount of 0.33 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas are approved from Lake Charles’s proposed liquefaction facility.

The two non-additive authorizations for the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project have been issued to Lake Charles Exports, LLC and Lake Charles LNG Export Company (the Lake Charles Companies) authorizing additional exports of domestically produced LNG from the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project to any country in the world not prohibited by U. S. law or policy.  The Energy Department previously authorized the Lake Charles Companies to export LNG up to the equivalent of 2 Bcf/d of natural gas to any country in the world not prohibited by U.S. law or policy from the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project.  Now, with further engineering of the planned project, additional design capacity has been realized and the Energy Department is authorizing an additional 0.33 Bcf/d of exports from the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project. 

According to the Lake Charles Companies, the construction of Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project will provide thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs as well. 

Natural gas production from America’s shale reserves has generated economic growth and jobs across the United States. Utilizing this clean energy source has also enabled the United States to achieve the largest drop in carbon emissions of all countries in 2016. The DOE is eager to bring this clean burning resource and its benefits to all of our international trading partners.  President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Secretary Perry continue carrying this message around the globe, working together with the United States’ allies and trading partners in creating a clean and affordable energy future.

Gains in U.S. natural gas production are expected to continue, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Short Term Energy Outlook projecting an average dry natural gas production rate of 73.3 Bcf/d in 2017, the second highest on record.  These production gains have led to increasing export opportunities for the United States, which is transitioning to become a net exporter of natural gas. The Department of Energy has now authorized a total of 21.33 Bcf/d of natural gas exports to any country in the world from planned facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and the Gulf of Mexico.  The Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project would further position the United States to become a predominant LNG supplier to the rest of the world.

Federal law requires the Energy Department to conduct a public interest review for applications seeking unrestricted export destinations such as the ones submitted by the Lake Charles Companies.  The Energy Department conducted an extensive review of the Lake Charles applications.  Among other factors, the Department considered the economic, energy security, and environmental impacts, including macroeconomic studies that showed positive benefits to the U.S. economy in scenarios with LNG exports up to 28 Bcf/d.  The Department determined that increased exports from the Lake Charles LNG Liquefaction Project, jointly owned by the Texas-based Energy Transfer and the Anglo-Dutch based Royal Dutch Shell, for a period of 20 years, was not inconsistent with the public interest.

U.S. now has a voice in the world's energy market, says Laredo Petroleum CEO

President Trump on Wednesday met with tribal, state and local leaders to push the administration’s “energy dominance” policy and make the United States a global energy super power.

“I don’t want to be energy free, we want to be energy dominant in terms of the world,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “From my first day in office, we’ve taken swift actions to lift the crushing restrictions on American energy.”

In an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman, Laredo Petroleum CEO Randy Foutch said the U.S. is significantly contributing to the world supply of oil.

“We’re slowly getting across to a lot of people in that the United States because of the way we’ve been able to drill oil shells, we now have a say and a voice in what happens in the world energy market,” he said.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports the U.S. is on track to become a net exporter of energy by 2026. Foutch said energy is a “proxy” for standard of living and it only benefits the U.S. to become energy independent.

“The more energy the higher standard of living,” he said. “The fact that we now have substantial oil and natural gas, supply is good for all of us.”

Oil prices ended higher Wednesday for its fifth straight session settling up over 1 percent to slightly above $44 a barrel, making it the longest winning streak since May 23rd. However, oil is still down more than 7 percent for the month.

Foutch said the company has very little control of the world price of oil and sees service cost reducing as prices deteriorates.

“We have a lot of downside protection. If prices run down below that, we expect service cost to adjust also, so we are one of those companies that ha said we were gonna protect our downside by hedging our product out a couple years,” he said.

Paving the path to U.S. energy dominance

This week, the Trump administration is hosting “Energy Week” to discuss with state, tribal, business and labor leaders how we can pave the path forward toward U.S. energy dominance.

This is a truly amazing moment in the energy sector, and President Trump is seeking to capitalize on the opportunity for the betterment of the American economy and our citizens. For the first time in four decades, the energy story in the United States is about becoming an energy exporter and no longer about peak resources or being beholden to foreign powers.

Mr. Trump wants America to utilize our abundant domestic energy resources and technological innovations for good, both at home and abroad. An energy-dominant America means a self-reliant and secure nation, free from the geopolitical turmoil of other nations that seek to use energy as an economic weapon.

An energy-dominant America will export to markets around the world, increasing our global leadership and influence. Becoming energy dominant means that we are getting government out of the way so that we can share our energy wealth with developing nations. For years, Washington stood in the way of our energy dominance. That changes now.

The United States has been a net energy importer since 1953, but thanks to innovation and technological advancement, we are on the brink of changing this. For example, by 2018 the United States is expected to be a net exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). American companies can, and already have, exported U.S. LNG to our international trading partners in Europe and Asia. This includes China, where bilateral energy trade was an important element of President Trump and President Xi Jinping’s 100-Day Action Plan. We hope to build on that dialogue with other allies around the world who are seeking to buy American LNG.

The United States is blessed with an abundance of natural resources, and energy technology and services. We are a world leader in nuclear and renewable technology. We can use this to our economic advantage for the betterment of American families, workers and manufacturers. Tapping into our full energy potential in this country will lead to robust job growth and expansion in every sector of our economy. From retail to manufacturing, we can bring jobs back to America, while continuing to improve our environment with cleaner fuels and technologies.

Oil prices may have finally hit bottom now that bullish hedge funds have thrown in the towel

A sharp drop in bullish bets on oil prices could be a contrarian signal that crude futures don't have much further to fall and may have even finally hit bottom.

Speculative bets that U.S. crude prices will rise surged earlier this year, creating a crowded trade that was eventually undercut by higher-than-expected output growth from U.S. oil fields and a slower-than-anticipated drop in global stockpiles. Oil bears then pounced, but will now have a tougher time driving down prices because bullish bets have already tumbled from record highs.

Hedge funds and other money managers have cut their long positions, or bets that crude prices will rise, to the lowest level since November, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission covering the week through June 20. At the same time, short positions, or bets that prices will fall, have risen toward record highs.

That further shrank the ratio of long to short positions, which had blown out earlier this year after money managers piled into the bull trade as OPEC began cutting its oil output in a bid to shrink global crude stockpiles and stabilize prices. The ratio now stands at roughly 2-to-1, down from a recent high of about 12-to-1 in February.

The current number of short positions is unsustainable, and traders will eventually have to cover those positions, which should push up oil prices, said Tamar Essner, director of energy and utilities at Nasdaq Corporate Solutions.

"We are not yet at the highest level of short positions on record, but nearing it, which means we could start to move higher in the back half of the year," she told CNBC.

Benchmark oil prices rose more than 2 percent Tuesday as traders covered short positions.

To be sure, this is just one of many metrics analysts watch, Essner warned. The market is still long oil prices, and it could flip into a net short position.

While the market could yet fall further than the recent 10-month intraday low of $42.05, a drastic move below $40 a barrel likely wouldn't last long, Essner said. She doesn't see the market going much lower than current levels, though sentiment will largely focus on how quickly global stockpiles fall.

OPEC and other exporters have so far had little success driving down those levels. The producers agreed to cut roughly 1.8 million barrels a day through the first six months of this year and last month extended the agreement through March.

"The hedge fund community has clearly lost their faith in OPEC and the Saudis to be able to achieve balance, which was a much ballyhooed position over the last couple of months," said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital.

But at this point, the risk of opening new short positions is beginning to outweigh the potential reward, he said.

The potential gains from shorting oil looked good when it was trading above $50, but consensus is forming around the notion that oil prices will bottom out in the upper $30 range, Kilduff said. With oil trading around $44 a barrel, potential rewards are getting slimmer, while a geopolitical shock that sends oil significantly higher would make a new short position costly.

"We've fallen a long way. If you're initiating a short position now, you missed a lot of the ride down," Kilduff said.

Hundreds of US mayors to vote on switch to renewable energy by 2035

Mayors meeting in Florida are considering an ambitious commitment to have US city governments run entirely on renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2035.

Leaders from more than 250 cities gathered at the US Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach were scheduled to vote on Monday on a resolution to reach the 100% clean energy goal.

Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine is leading the effort after being in the spotlight for his moves to combat sea level rise.

A May survey by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions said 47 cities spent nearly $1.2bn annually on electricity for city operations.

Mayors at the conference have overwhelmingly expressed support to fight climate change, especially after the Trump administration pulled out of the Paris climate agreement last month.

“I think most mayors in America don’t think we have to wait for a president” whose beliefs on climate change are disconnected from science, New Orleans mayor and new conference president Mitch Landrieu said at the beginning of the conference.

“There’s near unanimity in this conference that climate change is real and that humans contribute to it. There may be a little bit of a disagreement about how actually to deal with it.

“If the federal government refuses to act or is just paralyzed, the cities themselves, through their mayors, are going to create a new national policy by the accumulation of our individual efforts.”

US indexes inch higher as energy stocks claw from the hole

U.S. stock indexes ticked higher Friday as energy companies clawed back some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week. After flipping from modest losses to gains, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is on pace to close out the week with a modest gain, its fourth in the last five.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 added 5 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,439, as of noon Eastern time.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,410, and the Nasdaq composite rose 19, or 0.3 percent, to 6,256. The Russell 2000 of small-company stocks rose 8 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,412.

HIGHER ENERGY: Energy stocks in the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent and trimmed their loss for the week to 2.9 percent.

They followed the price of oil higher, as benchmark U.S. crude rose 33 cents to $43.07 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 39 cents to $45.61. Natural gas also rose 3 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Energy stocks had plunged earlier in the week with the price of oil, which sank to its lowest level since August on expectations that the world has more crude available than users need. Oil, though, began to stabilize Thursday.

EQT, a producer of natural gas and crude, rose to the biggest gain in the S&P 500. It jumped $2.80, or 5.4 percent, to $54.83. Range Resources, another gas and oil company, rose 78 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $22.21.

TAKING A BATH: Bed Bath & Beyond had the sharpest loss in the S&P 500 after it reported weaker earnings for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The retailer's revenue also fell short of Wall Street's forecasts. Shares fell $4.01, or 11.9 percent, to $29.74.

STRESS FREE: Financial stocks flipped between modest gains and losses after all 34 of the largest U.S. banks passed the Federal Reserve's stress test. The test, meant to help restore confidence in the financial system following the 2008 financial crisis, checks whether banks are strong enough to withstand a deep recession.

YIELDS: The 10-year Treasury yield held steady at 2.15 percent late Thursday. The two-year yield was flat at 1.34 percent, and the 30-year yield held steady at 2.72 percent.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 111.27 Japanese yen from 111.34 yen late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.1198 from $1.1147, and the British pound rose to $1.2726 from $1.2672.

MARKETS ABROAD: In Europe, France's CAC 40 fell 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX lost 0.5 percent and the FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 percent.

A monthly survey revealed that a measure of economic strength in the 19-country Eurozone slipped to a five-month low in June, which was below market expectations. However, the IHS Markit composite purchasing managers' index indicated that job creation and business confidence were still robust.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 0.1 percent, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was close to flat.

COMMODITIES: Gold rose $8.20 to $1,257.60 per ounce. Silver added 18 cents to $16.69, and copper rose 3 cents to $2.63 per pound.

Heating oil rose a penny to at $1.39 per gallon and wholesale gasoline was close to flat at $1.43 per gallon.

America’s hungriest wind and solar power users: big companies

Major U.S. corporations such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and General Motors Co (GM.N) have become some of America’s biggest buyers of renewable energy, driving growth in an industry seen as key to helping the United States cut carbon emissions.

Last year nearly 40 percent of U.S. wind contracts were signed by corporate power users, along with university and military customers. That's up from just 5 percent in 2013, according to the American Wind Energy Association trade group.

These users also accounted for an unprecedented 10% of the market for large-scale solar projects in 2016, figures from research firm GTM Research show. Just two years earlier there were none.

The big reason: lower energy bills.

Costs for solar and wind are plunging thanks to technological advances and increased global production of panels and turbines. Coupled with tax breaks and other incentives, big energy users such as GM are finding renewables to be competitive with, and often cheaper than, conventional sources of electricity.

The automaker has struck deals with two Texas wind farms that will soon provide enough energy to power over a dozen GM facilities, including the U.S. sport utility vehicle assembly plant in Arlington, Texas that produces the Chevrolet Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon.

The company is already saving $5 million a year worldwide, according to Rob Threlkeld, GM's global manager of renewable energy, and has committed to obtaining 100% of its power from clean sources by 2050.

"It's been primarily all driven off economics," Threlkeld said. "Wind and solar costs are coming down so fast that it made it feasible."

Growing corporate demand for green energy comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is championing fossil fuels and targeting environmental regulations as job killers. This month he announced the United States will withdraw from the landmark Paris Agreement to fight climate change, a move that was condemned by several prominent U.S. executives, including General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeff Immelt.

Trump’s administration, however, has made no moves to target federal tax incentives for renewable energy projects, thanks mainly to bipartisan support in Congress. Many Republican lawmakers hail from states that are major solar or wind energy producers, among them Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa.

U.S. companies, meanwhile, are pursuing their own clean-energy agendas independent of Washington politics. Over the past four years, corporations have contracted for about 7 gigawatts of renewable energy – enough to power more than 1 million homes. That number is expected to rise to 60 GW by 2025, according to the Edison Foundation Institute for Electric Innovation, a utility-backed non-profit based in Washington D.C.

Growth in renewables for years was driven by utilities laboring to meet tough state mandates to reduce carbon emissions, particularly in places such as California. Early corporate adopters included Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), leading-edge companies with progressive company cultures, deep pockets and major power needs.

Now mainstream industries are stepping in as costs have plummeted. Wind-power costs have dropped 66% since 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association, while the cost to install solar has declined 70% since 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association trade group.

This year alone, home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc (HD.N), wireless provider T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O), banker Goldman Sachs and food producer General Mills (GIS.N) announced major purchases of renewable energy.

POWER TO THE PPA

Such deals can take many forms, but most are so-called power purchase agreements. Known as PPAs, these are roughly 10-to-20-year contracts in which the owner of a large solar or wind project sells electricity to large customers, often at rates lower than those charged by utilities. These agreements allow energy users to buy renewables at attractive prices with no upfront investment.

These agreements also help companies avoid outages if the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. The massive wind farms and solar plants that support these contracts often supply electricity straight to the grid rather than feed it directly to corporate customers' plants and offices. Companies get the benefit of clean energy without cutting themselves off from the security of the grid.

The arrangement also saves companies from having to do it all themselves. Mark Vanderhelm, vice president of energy for Wal-Mart, said the retailer is about half way to its goal of sourcing 50% of its power from renewable sources by 2025. While the chain has installed solar panels atop hundreds of stores, it has purchased much of its green energy via two PPAs.

"For us to meet our goals, we wouldn't be able to get there by doing it all on site. We just fundamentally don't have enough roof space," Vanderhelm said.

He said Wal-Mart is seeing roughly single-digit percentage savings with its green-power contracts.

Furniture retailer IKEA is a notable exception to the PPA trend, preferring to own the renewable-energy assets that serve its U.S. business, including rooftop solar systems on most of its buildings and two wind farms in Texas and Illinois. The approach is part of the Swedish company's long-term corporate strategy of owning all of its stores, factories and the land on which they're built.

Demand from big corporations has benefited a host of wind and solar developers including Pattern Energy (PEGI.O), First Solar (FSLR.O) and NextEra Energy (NEE.N). BNB Renewable Energy Holdings LLC, a privately held New York-based developer, said corporations now make up about half its business.

"There is a convergence right now where price is low and their sustainability commitments are high," said Jos Nicholas, a managing partner with BNB.

The developers or owners of the projects, meanwhile, get the stability of long-term contracts plus those federal tax breaks. The solar credit is worth up to 30 percent of a project's value. For wind, the most popular tax credit is a maximum of 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced for a decade.

AMBITIOUS GOALS

Since 2014, nearly 100 large global companies have committed to transitioning to 100% renewables through a partnership with The Climate Group, a nonprofit that's working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Roughly two corporations a month are joining that effort, according to Amy Davidsen, the organization's executive director for North America.

In addition to GM, U.S. companies that have made the commitment include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) and Nike Inc (NKE.N).

Still, many big firms remain on the sidelines because they lack an overall corporate sustainability mandate, view renewables as having unattractive returns or because the contracts are too long, according to a 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.

Many small- and medium-sized businesses have a hard time benefiting too. They don't consume enough energy to negotiate large, lowest-cost PPAs like the big guys. Smaller projects, such as installing rooftop solar panels, tend to depend heavily on state and local incentives that come and go.

The 2020 expiration of the federal tax incentives is another concern. But industry watchers expect U.S. companies will continue their ambitious public commitments to boost renewable energy use even if those breaks aren't renewed.

General Mills, for instance, sees climate change as a major threat to the agricultural supply chain behind products such as Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt. The company has a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2025.

"If the front end of that business model breaks down -- Mother Nature -- we're in a world of hurt," the company's chief sustainability officer, Jerry Lynch, said.

Wind, solar energy have not harmed U.S. power grid: industry study

With the Trump administration expected to publish an analysis that could undermine the U.S. wind and solar industries, two renewable energy lobbying groups on Tuesday released their own study saying new energy sources pose no threat to the country's power grid.

Wind and solar advocates have said the government study's outcome appeared to be pre-determined to favor fossil fuel industries. The new report, commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association and Advanced Energy Economy, says cheap natural gas is behind most of the decline in the numbers of U.S. coal-fired power plants in recent years, not government subsidies that have bolstered the growth of wind and solar power.

It also said there is no evidence to show that wind and solar energy are threatening the reliability of the electric grid.

The groups commissioned the report shortly after Energy Secretary Rick Perry in April ordered a 60-day study of the reliability of the grid and said Obama-era policies offering incentives for the deployment of renewable energy had come at the expense of energy sources like coal and nuclear.

With the 60-day deadline for the DOE study looming this month, AWEA and AEE released their own analysis of the issue performed by economic consulting firm Analysis Group.

The authors of the analysis found that the rapid growth of renewable energy and related policies were "a distant second to market fundamentals in causing financial pressure" on coal plants without long-term contracts. Market forces such as new, more-efficient efficient natural gas plants, low natural gas prices and flat electricity demand are the biggest contributor to coal plants' inability to compete, the report found.

The analysis also found that greater diversity of technologies made the system more reliable.

"There are lots of different technologies that fill different pieces of the reliability puzzle," said Susan Tierney, one of the report's authors. "That led us to believe that there is not a problem on the horizon for reliability."

EQT to buy Rice Energy in $6.7bn tie-up of US natural gas producers

EQT Corporation agreed to acquire Rice Energy in $6.7bn cash and stock deal that will combine two of America’s largest natural gas producers.

As part of the transaction, Rice shareholders will receive 0.37 shares of EQT common stock and $5.30 in cash, the two companies said in a statement. EQT will take on about $1.5bn of net debt as part of the deal.

This is one of the first major upstream deals in several years but the latest in a series of large oil and gas deals, as rising energy prices have led companies to make bold acquisitions to fill the gaps created when commodity prices plummeted.

More than 20 deals worth more $50bn have been agreed in the US so far this year, up from $35bn during the same period in 2016, according to Dealogic data.

The energy sector is thirsty for finance executives with deal-making skills as rising oil prices spur merger activity and companies seek to fill vacancies created during the market bust.

“This transaction brings together two of the top Marcellus and Utica producers to form a natural gas operating position that will be unmatched in the industry,” said Steve Schlotterbeck, EQT’s chief executive.

“Rice has built an outstanding company with an acreage footprint that is largely contiguous to our existing acreage, which will provide substantial synergies and make this transaction significantly accretive in the first year.”

Wind and solar in March accounted for 10% of U.S. electricity generation for first time

For the first time, monthly electricity generation from wind and solar (including utility-scale plants and small-scale systems) exceeded 10% of total electricity generation in the United States, based on March data in EIA’s Electric Power Monthly. Electricity generation from both of these energy sources has grown with increases in wind and solar generating capacity. On an annual basis, wind and solar made up 7% of total U.S. electric generation in 2016.

Electricity generation from wind and solar follows seasonal patterns that reflect the seasonal availability of wind and sunshine. Within the United States, wind patterns vary based on geography. For example, wind-powered generating units in Texas, Oklahoma, and nearby states often have their highest output in spring months, while wind-powered generators in California are more likely to have their highest output in summer months.

Monthly solar output is highest in the summer months, regardless of location, because of the greater number of daylight hours. About half of all utility-scale solar power plants in the United States use some form of sun-tracking technology to improve their seasonal output.

Based on seasonal patterns in recent years, electricity generation from wind and solar will probably exceed 10% of total U.S. generation again in April 2017, then fall to less than 10% in the summer months. Since 2014, when EIA first began estimating monthly, state-level electricity generation from small-scale solar photovoltaic systems, combined wind and solar generation has reached its highest level in either the spring or fall. Because these seasons are times of generally low electricity demand, combined wind and solar generation also reached its highest share of the U.S. total during these times of year.

Based on annual data for 2016, Texas accounted for the largest total amount of wind and solar electricity generation. Nearly all of this generation was from wind, as Texas generates more wind energy than any other state. As a share of the state’s total electricity generation, wind and solar output was highest in Iowa, where wind and solar made up 37% of electricity generation in 2016. In addition to Iowa, wind and solar provided at least 20% of 2016 electricity generation in six other states.

In almost all states, wind makes up a larger share of the state’s total electricity generation than solar. Among the top dozen states, only California and Arizona had more solar generation than wind in 2016. Three states in the top 12—Iowa, Kansas, and North Dakota—had no generation from utility-scale solar plants in 2016 and relatively little output from small-scale solar photovoltaic systems.

US reportedly investigating 1MDB ties to acquisition of US energy company

U.S. authorities are probing whether the $2.2 billion purchase of U.S. energy company Coastal Energy was partly financed with funds allegedly funneled from Malaysian wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The buyer of Coastal Energy was a joint venture between Compañía Española de Petróleos SAU, or Cepsa, owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, and a shell company controlled by Malaysian financier Jho Low, according to a U.S. Department of Justice asset-seizure lawsuit dated on Wednesday, the report said.

The lawsuit and statements announcing the deal said Low invested $50 million and Cepsa funded the remainder, the report said, adding that the lawsuit stated that a week later, Cepsa transferred $350 million to Low's shell company.

Goldman Sachs, which had around $600 million in revenue from 1MDB in 2012-2013 for bond deals, advised Cepsa on the acquisition, but didn't have Low as a client, the report said.

Goldman said it was unaware of any transaction which involved the shell company selling its joint venture stake back to Cepsa, according to the report.

The bank's compliance department told bankers to stop working with Low and his shell company, citing concerns over his wealth, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said Low's whereabouts were unclear, but that he had previously denied wrongdoing. CNBC was unable to contact him for comment.

Coastal Energy did not immediately return CNBC's emailed request for comment, which was sent outside of office hours.

Goldman Sachs did not comment on the WSJ report but provided this statement:

"Neither Jho Low, Jynwel or SRG were a client of Goldman Sachs in connection with the Coastal Energy acquisition.

"Prior to reading the government filing, GS was not aware of, and had no involvement in, any transaction in which SRG sold its stake in a joint venture back to CEPSA."

1MDB didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.