Podcast episode

Episode 228 – Marks on the Market: Energy Markets, AI CapEx, & The Discipline Dividend | Jordan Strebeck

Host Richard Cunningham sits down with co-host Luke Roush and returning guest Jordan Strebeck of Fortress Energy Partners for a conversation that starts at the S&P 500’s all-time high and ends at a Permian Basin wellhead where operators are paying to get rid of their own natural gas.

All opinions expressed on this podcast, including the team and guests, are solely their opinions. Host and guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as specific investment advice for any individual or organization.

Episode Notes

Markets are sitting at record highs. Oil supply is quietly draining by the hundreds of millions of barrels. And somewhere in the Permian Basin, an operator just paid someone else to take their natural gas off their hands. Richard Cunningham and Luke Roush open this month’s Marks on the Market with a fast-moving macro recap before welcoming back Jordan Strebeck of Fortress Energy Partners for a ground-level view of the energy story behind almost every investment decision right now.

The conversation covers the AI CapEx arms race among the hyperscalers, what SpaceX’s IPO means for the rest of 2026’s pipeline, and why 1,500 unicorns are still waiting on the sidelines. Then it shifts into energy: the Middle East conflict’s real effect on oil supply, why the domestic shale industry is showing unexpected capital discipline, and the infrastructure bottleneck turning Permian natural gas into a liability instead of an asset.

It closes, as these conversations always should, with something more permanent than a market cycle — a word on presence, parenting, and what it looks like to steward well the time and influence we’ve been given.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Cold open and disclaimer

00:39 Richard opens August’s Marks on the Market

01:58 Markets at record highs despite every reason to sell off

04:40 Luke on the rebalancing rally and the Fed’s rate posture

06:37 The hyperscaler AI CapEx numbers, by the billions

08:21 SpaceX’s IPO and a market rediscovering gravity

09:50 IPO markets thaw after four dead years

10:55 1,500 unicorns and the liquidity problem behind them

17:02 Lower middle market private equity, sector by sector

18:05 Jordan Strebeck joins from Midland, Texas

19:16 Recapping the Middle East conflict’s oil market impact

20:30 Why the market is treating the conflict as transitory

24:12 The shale industry’s surprising capital discipline

25:29 Shifting to AI’s natural gas demand

26:10 Inside the Permian’s negative natural gas prices

28:57 The case for more of everything — nuclear, gas, solar, wind

30:32 Strategic petroleum reserves and the 400-million-barrel drawdown

35:53 Closing thoughts: presence, parenting, and stewardship

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