Southwest Airlines moved jet fuel from Texas to California on a boat. A boat. The same company that can't figure out how to assign seats just reinvented maritime shipping.
They hired a ship this spring to haul fuel from Houston to Los Angeles because they were worried about supply shortages. Supply shortages in Los Angeles. The city with refineries. The city connected to Texas by pipelines that have existed since before your grandfather bought his first worthless penny stock. But sure, let's load up a tanker like it's 1850 and we're rounding Cape Horn.
This marks the first time Southwest put Texas jet fuel on a boat to LA. Historic. Groundbreaking. A logistical milestone roughly equivalent to FedEx announcing they tried using roads.
The technical analysis here is flawless. Fuel goes on boat. Boat goes to California. Plane goes up. Can't explain that. Some retail trader in Wisconsin is currently Googling "how to invest in boat fuel" and opening a Robinhood account to buy shares in a company that makes barrels.
Southwest looked at every available option and landed on the one method of transportation slower than their average flight delay. They could have used pipelines. They could have used trucks. They could have used the rail system. Instead they went full Oregon Trail and prayed the dysentery didn't get the crew before they reached port.
The fuel made it to Los Angeles without incident, which means we now live in a world where putting petroleum on a boat and floating it up the coast qualifies as innovation. Next quarter they'll announce they're considering wheels for their baggage carts and the stock will gap up 3%.
Your technical indicators can't predict a world where airlines forget boats existed until last spring.
Photo by on Unsplash

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