In short
Earn Your Leisure Podcast Notes
Episode Title
Venezuela, Oil, & the Investments Set to Benefit
Hosts
Rashad Bilal & Ian Dunlap
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Episode Overview In this episode, the hosts delve into the volatile situation in Venezuela, focusing on its implications for global finance, particularly regarding oil. They analyze the recent court hearing of Venezuela's ousted president and discuss the potential impacts on U.S. companies and investments in the oil sector. The conversation navigates through complex geopolitical issues while addressing the moral dilemmas that come with investing in regions experiencing turmoil.
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Key Themes
- Geopolitical Context
- Current Situation in Venezuela
- Ousted president's court hearing in New York.
- Allegations of mismanagement and potential for regime change.
- Historical Comparisons
- Parallels drawn between Venezuela and past U.S. interventions in Iraq and Libya.
- Differences highlighted in the nature of current U.S. interests in Venezuela.
- Oil Industry Insights
- Major Oil Players
- Companies identified: Schlumberger, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Baker Hughes.
- Key ETFs: XLE (Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund), ITA.
- Oil Trade Viability
- Discussion on the quality of Venezuelan oil (thick crude, refining challenges).
- Concerns about the sustainability of investments given the political instability.
- Moral Dilemmas in Investing
- Profit vs. Ethics
- Debate on whether it is right to invest in sectors that benefit from international conflicts.
- Rashad emphasizes the gray areas of morality in investment, citing that some Venezuelans view U.S. involvement as a pathway to a better future.
- Friendly Extortion Concept
- Discussion on how U.S. interests may align more with strategic benefits than outright regime changes.
- Future Implications
- Broader Ambitions for U.S. Influence
- Speculation on U.S. strategic interests extending to Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Greenland.
- Concerns regarding new age imperialism and its impacts on global geopolitics.
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Key Takeaways
- The current political turmoil in Venezuela presents both opportunities and ethical challenges for investors.
- Major U.S. oil companies may stand to benefit, but the long-term viability of these investments is uncertain given the ongoing instability.
- The episode invites listeners to reflect on the complexities of investing in regions with significant moral implications, emphasizing that the perceived benefits can often come at a high ethical cost.
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Conclusion The episode serves as a critical discussion point for those interested in the intersections of geopolitics, finance, and morality. It encourages listeners to consider the broader implications of their investment choices and the intricate realities of global politics.
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Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOGeopolitical Context of Venezuela
1:48 to 3:22
Discussion of the political situation in Venezuela and its implications.
“Let Square handle the back end so you can keep pushing your vision forward.”
Investment Opportunities in Oil
3:22 to 5:25
Exploring potential oil investments amidst Venezuela's turmoil.
“write it down – Schlumberger, Chevron, and ExxonMobil.”
US Companies and Oil Extraction
5:25 to 9:05
Examining the position of US oil companies in Venezuela.
“Run a business and not thinking about podcasting?”
Ethics of Investing in Turmoil
9:05 to 11:01
Debating the moral implications of investing in Venezuelan oil.
“I mean, I think it just happened two days ago.”
Political Dynamics in Venezuela
14:03 to 14:23
Explore the complexities of Venezuela's political opposition and regime dynamics.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts then add supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora and as the number one podcaster iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. Learn how podcasting can help your business. Call 844-844-IHEART Earners, what's up? You ever walk into a small business and everything just works? Like the checkout is fast, the receipts are digital tipping is a breeze and you're out the door before the line even builds. Odds are, they're using Square. We love supporting businesses that run on Square because it just feels seamless, whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a pop-up market, or even one of our merch partners.
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2:05Actually had a court hearing today for the ousted president. And he pleaded not guilty in New York Southern District's federal court. They got him in MCC, I believe. Brooklyn. Is it Brooklyn or Manhattan? They had him in Brooklyn. They put him in a helicopter, went to Manhattan for the court. And then I think they brought him back to Brooklyn. He'd be in Brooklyn. Okay. I thought it was MCC, man, correctional. But regardless of anything, interesting times that way, and to say the least, I did make a video about this. So if you're interested in the whole geopolitical thing, you can check Instagram.
2:42But, you know, one of the major questions is, how can, and I hate that this is actually even one of these things, but it's a real thing. People want to know how they can make money from the situation. It shouldn't be, but it is. It is. And it's the world that we live in, and it's the world that we'll always – it's the world that we'll always live in. Yeah. But if they had listened to – so we talked about this on Market Mondays before this happened. You gave a whole breakdown of what could happen. Kudos to Bloomberg, Nicole, and Shelly. We talked about it in Stock Club probably two or three months ago.
3:20The obvious players here are – write it down – Schlumberger, Chevron, and ExxonMobil. Great. That's that The part that people should be asking is How long Will this trade be relevant Given the circumstances Of what they're facing Nobody will care about this oil trade in three months It's a good move For today It's the first official trading day Of the year In terms of volume wise Makes a great story because of what Trump is doing Now we can get into the nefarious part of well let's do it now if if a country books have not been properly managed troy going back to that watch the paper every morning right wouldn't it behoove you to maybe ascertain some oil so that the petrodollar trade stays afloat while the dollar is being devalued and on top of that potentially go snatch 600 000 bitcoin from a government and silver now we see why that silver trade panned out so well prior to the new year um don't forget the gold trade in combination and gold and gold was up today and and that's also another benefit factor of the situation so i definitely think that yeah like you said that was one of the questions how long is it going to last because i mean it does make up i think like less than one percent of the world's oils but yeah a major part of that is because they haven't been able to refine their oil efficiently and their oil is a lot thicker than Saudi Arabia.
4:54So it takes more, it takes more efficiency to refine the oil. So a lot of that, a lot of the reason why they haven't, and they have sanctions obviously as well. So you lift the sanctions, you get more, um, refined oil. Um, and, and you can start to see some level of, of change. Now Saudi Arabia already said that they could potentially strike back on this situation if, if it goes against them, But it's interesting from a geopolitical standpoint because, okay. Okay. Before we get to that. So investments. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora.
5:36And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com. That's iHeartAdvertising.com. Chevron. Yeah. ExxonMobil. Conoco. Conoco. Yep. The ETF, XLE. Yep, we were on that. ITA is another one. Halliburton. For sure. Yeah. Tertiary, yeah, and Schlumberger. Schlumberger. Schlumberger. Schlumberger, yep.
6:17Baker Hughes. I think it was well documented. Phillips, 66. Yeah, it's well documented. I think, Ian, what you touched on is the real story. It's the you seize the oil. We're talking 3 billion barrels. You trade that for petroleum dollars, which is US currency. And now you force the rest of the world to use that currency to get the oil. And I'm not saying he was a great leader, not to cut you off. Yeah, we're not here to discuss that. The parallels between the Hussein and Gaddafi issue here. But it's actually not the same, though, because if you look at it, like I said, from a geopolitical standpoint, the interesting thing about it, which is kind of a curveball to some people, is that, okay, classic regime change.
7:09You take the president, you take the resources, you put a new regime in place. but they haven't hinted that they wanted to do that because there is an opposition that allegedly won the election. She's in exile right now. She actually won the Nobel Peace Prize and she gave her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump in an effort to favor him. But Trump says she's not qualified to run the country. She doesn't have the support. That actually looks like they're actually backing the vice president who was a longtime socialist. she was around when Hugo Chavez was around. So it doesn't really look like they're looking for regime change in a typical way that it was in Iraq and it was in Afghanistan and it was in all these other countries.
7:56It doesn't seem like that's what they're looking for. It seems like they're looking for a new leader that is easy to... Not a whole new regime change. That takes a lot of time. A new leader, already infrastructure in place and they can just... that is in alignment with the vision of. Or will get in alignment with the vision of. I think it's interesting too, that point. But I think the other part is that if you listen to the US companies, the oil companies, they're not saying like, hey, we're actually going to do this. Like we don't want to go to Venezuela. It's not something that it's like, all right, we want to go spend a billion dollars and build infrastructure.
8:32Yeah, Chevron is there. And I'm sure y 'all probably cover that. But it doesn't look like, hey, oh, 3 billion barrels of oil. Our country has seized it. Let's get in there, get infrastructure, let's refine it. It's interesting. I don't trade oil. So for me to give investment advice on oil would be, it was just out of my lane. It's not something I do. Obviously, I think it was well documented from everybody today and all the companies that we named here make a lot of sense. But yeah. Well, I definitely think that there's interest from American companies. I mean, I think it just happened two days ago.
9:08Right. And it's still a sensitive situation. so I don't think they could just raise their hand and say look I want to be the first one to just exploit your country and take all the oil well the one that was already exploiting got the call first they never left but one got exiled and they won a lawsuit right like ConocoPhillips won a$10 billion lawsuit that they haven't got a dollar from right so part of it is like yes we're coming to seize but yes there's a debt that is still owed to American company from oil that was yours which makes it even crazier But yeah, I think anytime you have 300 billion barrels of oil, even if it's not the best refined, even if it's thick, I mean, it's an opportunity for sure.
9:52Definitely. And especially if the government is cooperating. Is there a thing called friendly extortion? This is, yeah. There's a thing called friendly extortion. So sometimes you get extorted from like a real aggressive standpoint, and then sometimes you get extorted from a friendly extortion. Like we're seeing confessions of an economic hitman play out like a video game. My second concern, for any of you who ever play ball, your coaches ever give you like the game against a team that you know has no chance? this to me was a war game to set up the other takeover that he wants to for another country I won't say it here he said Colombia he said Colombia is on the clock Cuba is on the clock he said Mexico he said Greenland he said we need it that's the annexation that's going to happen with that he said we need it new age imperialism and there were a couple people and I saw a few posts and this is when I put the phone down this afternoon.
11:06You kind of alluded to it when you started. It was like that moral fabric, right? Like knowing that, you know, oil probably or some of these companies would have a slight spike today. Do we invest in those companies? It's a fine line, right? Like there's that part of like that moral investing that people will stick to or some people just say, yo, there's an opportunity to make money. we got to make it. Well, also a thing with morals is that morals is a tricky thing. For sure. Go ahead. No, go ahead. For the most part, because it's not really black or white. A lot of times it's gray. So a lot of Venezuelans are happy that this happened.
11:48This is true. I've even heard Venezuelans say that I'd rather be an American colony than to be... Under his rule and leadership. Yeah. You see that? Yep. hey I mean they're not crying about it so but he's had a good point too what about even though the people may have unrest it doesn't mean that the regime change is absolutely right like I agree Maduro could be nefarious at times but I don't like the start of this cycle this is year one it feels like he's been in three years already If he does this to Colombia Then it's the issue in Nigeria They're setting a propaganda And it's always the same It's cartel, narco-terrorism Or Christians being killed As a way to invade And now in government There's no checks and balances And the ones who will check him Are too afraid of that administration To even do anything So it's a very scary thing to see be pulled off so quickly.
12:58And the other part is like, how did they get him so easily? Well, also, you know, I hate to be that guy. Not only how did they get him so easily, but all of a sudden now we want the vice president to stay in office. She's cooperating. Look, if your best friend gets hit and you become - And you are fine and dandy? If you become friends with the person that got your best friend hit, well, the best friend has to look at you. Yeah. I thought she was going somewhere else. I thought she was going to say the Nike tech. Well, the Nike tech, was that even real? Because he had three different outfit changes.
13:39What? But from a serious standpoint. Like what? This is an interesting thing. Because I'm like, damn, this is like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Like, you take somebody in the middle of the night. you just you just abducting presidents now and his wife you just abducting presidents and then within 48 hours you already said that there's no opposition that's going to come into power when they said the opposition was 78 of the vote and you say like no no she doesn't have she doesn't have the majority of the um people and then you automatically just start working with the same regime that you you say you want a new regime but you start working with the same regime that you say that you didn't want anymore the new regime is a regime i can have interest This episode is brought to you by PNC Bank.
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From the publisher
In this clip from Market Mondays, Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap dive deep into the unfolding situation in Venezuela and its global financial impact. They discuss the dramatic court hearing of Venezuela’s ousted president in New York, the ongoing disputes over oil, and how U.S. companies may stand to benefit from geopolitical shifts. Ian Dunlap identifies major players in the oil industry—Schlumberger, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Baker Hughes—and key ETFs like XLE and ITA that are at the center of this fast-moving trade. The conversation explores how these companies and investments could be affected, but also raises the big question: how long will this oil trade remain relevant given the volatility in Venezuela? Rashad Bilal highlights the complexity of Venezuela’s oil situation, noting its thick crude oil and refining challenges, compounded by years of sanctions. The clip uncovers how U.S. interests may be less about regime change and more about friendly extortion and strategic alignment, drawing parallels to historic situations in Iraq and Libya but also pointing out important differences. This is not just a discussion about profit and trades—it’s a candid look at the moral dilemmas facing investors. Is it right to invest in sectors benefitting from international turmoil? Rashad Bilal reflects on how many Venezuelans accept U.S. involvement for a chance at a better future, underlining that the story isn’t black or white. The conversation wraps with speculation about wider ambitions for U.S. influence, naming Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and even Greenland as potential targets for strategic moves. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in the intersection of geopolitics, finance, and morality. *Hashtags:* #Venezuela #OilTrade #Geopolitics #MarketMondays #RashadBilal #IanDunlap #Investing #Finance #USPolitics #Imperialism #StockMarket #OilStocks #GlobalMarkets
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