What is Super-Spiked by Arjun Murti?
Super-Spiked takes aim at what looks like an increasingly messy energy transition by examining the clash of energy commodity & equity markets with climate policy, ESG investor initiatives, and geopolitics. This is not an investment newsletter and no financial advice will be given, explicitly or implicitly. It will reflect 100% of my own, strongly-held views based on a 30 year career researching and analyzing global energy markets.
Who am I?
If you don’t know me, I was the Goldman Sachs “Super Spike” analyst from the 2000s commodity bull market era. I retired as a partner in 2014 after 22 years as a sell- and buy-side energy equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Investment Management, and Petrie Parkman & Co. I have since stayed active as an independent board member of ConocoPhillips, a senior advisor at Warburg Pincus, and an advisory board member at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy as well as ClearPath. In March 2023, I “un-retired” to become a partner at Veriten, an energy research, strategy, and investment firm.
I give my background so you know who I am and so you don’t think I am trying to hide any real or perceived conflicts of interest. That said, Super-Spiked is written in my name to reflect only my personal views. Nothing I write should be attributed to any affiliation I have, past or present. I am American so undoubtedly have the biases and perspectives that come with this great country that I have been truly blessed to have been born, raised, and live.
Why did I start Super-Spiked?
Throughout my career analyzing global energy markets, I have found mainstream media, governments, NGOs, think tanks, and institutional investor narratives often badly miss the mark on what drives energy markets and prices. The world is currently hyper-focused on addressing climate change via a transition away from fossil fuel-based energy. The transition, in my view, is not on-track to go well as we head for a worst of all world’s outcome via spiking energy prices that hurt consumers without any appreciable change to our CO2 trajectory.
It doesn’t have to be this way. A messy transition hurts everyone, in particular the least fortunate among us. I have some views on how it could go better! I love capitalism. I hate socialism. I prefer limited government. But I am against anarchy and crony capitalism, meaning a certain amount of government and regulation is needed.
A big part of my motivation to start Super-Spiked comes from my deep disdain for partisan politics. The political left and right (USA), in particular, often create false binaries that mis-inform the public, unfortunately amplified by non-energy experts in the media. This newsletter is not about supporting one side or the other.
I am also highly motivated by my aversion to the corresponding rigid, single-issue ideologues that are currently the loudest voices on energy transition. I dedicate Super-Spiked to the billions of people that are currently energy poor. Energy availability and affordability is a fundamental human right and the world is nowhere near where it should be in providing affordable, available energy for all. In my view, we will never address climate change without first, or at least simultaneously, ending energy poverty.
Who is Super-Spiked for?
Super-Spiked is for everyone that has an interest in energy transition, which should be all of humanity. My writing is geared toward my former Goldman Sachs client base, government and public policy leaders, and energy sector executives. With that said, I do hope anyone with an interest in this topic will find this newsletter accessible, illuminating, and entertaining. Whether you agree or not with anything I write is a wholly different matter. I am not trying to convince you that I am right and you are wrong; I am simply trying to share my observations based on my career and life experiences. I don’t take myself as seriously as you probably think I do, so relax and constructively engage.
Analyst certification
Like anything on the Internet, read with skepticism and assume this author has real or perceived conflicts of interest. However, my analyst certification to you is that everything I write 100% reflects my strongly held personal views at the time of the original posting. I write on no one’s behalf except my own.
I welcome constructive engagement, discussion, and debate
I do not miss working full-time as a Wall Street analyst, but I do miss the interaction, discussion, friendly and sometimes less friendly back-and-forth debates with many of my former institutional investor clients and colleagues. It was the best part of my old job. I hope some of you will start reading this and reach out via the Comments section, on Twitter (@ArjunNMurti), on YouTube (here), or via my former colleagues.
By publishing without charge, I remain free to write without any set frequency and only on topics or at times where I feel I have a differentiated view. That said, I have been aiming for about once a week, usually on Saturday, with a mix of written posts and YouTube videos (all posted on this website). My Wall Street track record provides indisputable proof that I am often wrong even if I come across as a never-in-doubt know-it-all as I was recently described. In my career I have made some good calls as well, but there is no guarantee I will ever be right again. So be forewarned: you may well get what you paid for here!
Regards,
Arjun
If you enjoy Super-Spiked, feel free to share and reach out via the Comments section or by responding to an email.
