DiscoverEKT Interactive01 – The Hedge Introduction
01 – The Hedge Introduction

01 – The Hedge Introduction

Update: 2022-09-29
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Description

The Hedge Podcast


 




 


The Hedge – An Introduction


“In the first task, almost inevitably is getting past this conversation.


Where do you think prices will be in one month, three month, one year periods?”


Hi, and welcome to this first episode of The Hedge, a podcast about risk management and volatility in energy markets.


The Hedge is an effort to bring more insight and industry expertise to our energy learning community.


We will take a varied approach to suit the needs of our diverse audience – from Hedging 101 to topics that any risk management professional can appreciate.


We look forward to any feedback on topics of interest to our audience, and hope to grow and improve along the way.


Topics:



  • Blue Lacy LLC – One year in

  • Help! I’m accidentally in the energy business

  • Step 1 – Moving things in the right direction


 




 


Your Hosts


 



Blue Lacy Logo
Steve Sinos Blue Lacy
Doug Stetzer


 


The Hedge is a collaboration between EKT Interactive and Blue Lacy Advisors, an energy risk management consultancy.


Blue Lacy Advisors is headed by Steve Sinos, a professional with 20 years experience in energy markets.


Our goal here at EKT Interactive is to bring expert voices and insight to our learning community.  Doug Stetzer,VP of Content and Community at EKT Interactive will co-host this podcast with Steve.


 




 


Links and Resources


Blue Lacy LLC – Strategy and Risk Advisory


Steve Sinos – LinkedIn


EKT Interactive


Doug Stetzer – LinkedIn


 




 


Transcription


 


Hey, everyone, Doug Stetzer here from EKT Interactive, and I’m excited to announce The Hedge, a new podcast with longtime friend and colleague Steve Sinos of Blue Lacey Advisors and Energy Risk Management consultancy.


I’ve known Steve for a long time and he’s one of those people that I just seem to learn a lot from whenever we talk. So I pitched him on the idea of recording some of our conversations and launching this podcast. He agreed, and I just really think our learning community will benefit from his experience and knowledge. And in return, I hope we can get the word out about Steve’s new company, Blue Lacey Advisors, and the risk management services that they provide.


Hedging 101


The Hedge will be a mix of conversations tailored for our Energy 101 audience, sort of the Hedging 101, as well as a discussion around solid risk management practices and how they are influenced by or react to current events, price volatility in the energy markets. So I think a lot of people in energy will learn a lot and get a lot out of these conversations.


If you’re already part of the EKT learning community, then you know who we are. So I thought I would mainly use this first episode to introduce Steve, and honestly, since he’s the expert in this field, you’ll find he does most of the talking.


I’m just here to hopefully not as stupid questions. We hope you enjoy these conversations as much as we do. So let’s get started with this first episode of the Hedge.


Yeah, no, I think we, you know, we’ve known each other a long time, so I think we tend to get into good conversations. This, sometimes I look back like you said, like, Man, I wish I was recording some of those nuggets, or at least taking notes.


And so I was excited to get it on, you know, get it recorded here and for sure to get the name out there. You know, Blue Lacey’s only a year old, actually, this is our year anniversary this week of filing with the state to have, you know, official recognition for tax purposes, <laugh>, and not coincidentally then, like, we’re putting together all of our different vendors, and then it was really been a nice reception so far, but still nobody knows, you know, like, it’s hard to say anybody knows who you are when you, when you just get started.


And so I was excited to be able to share it with some of your, with your regular listener, you know, and yeah, like I’ve been in, you know, so I think I’ve been doing this for 20 years now.


Started straight Outta school and, you know, you ask kind of like, what is, what is the niche and how do we find it? It was through these conversations, right? Like over time you would talk to people and it was, there were a handful of questions that just kind of never seemed answered in ways that were satisfying to our clients and more so those questions sort of always needed to be answered again, right?


And it’s not definitional stuff, like what is a put and how do you use it? What would you use it for? It’s more like, this thing happened today or this week or this month, and that, you know, makes me question whether my original strategy still makes sense now, what? Right. And, and that, I think they all boil down to that question sort of now what?


Right?


And Blue Lacey came about, just sort of a series of iterations, and quite frankly, I got tired of being laid off, you know what I mean? Like in the, in our world, you get laid off every couple of years, whether you’re doing well, you know, is sort of secondary to how the market’s doing. And, uh, by the end of 2013, I had been in the, in the industry for, for 10 years and been laid off three times and it was just kind of tired of it and needed a break.


I was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted, took a bit of the garden and leave, you know, they paid me to go away. And so I took advantage of it, put my dog in the truck, and traveled the middle of the country here and kind of came back thinking what I really liked about this industry I could do on my own.


Right. I didn’t need a major brand behind me to have these interactions. And so it’s been a total of about 10 years as an independent advisor and just in the last year, really truly on my own, with my own shingle, my own website, all that sort of stuff, paying the bills through the vendors, all that stuff on my own. And so, you know, it’s, it’s so far so good. It’s been exciting to grow and I think proving out the thesis we’ve benefited from timing a little bit.


The 10 years leading up to this year we’re rather boring, right? Right. Folks got low to sleep in a comparatively low-vol world, low cost world, high growth, you know, maybe some of the EMP guys struggle to make money because of that competitive aspect of it, that depressed energy prices. But now we’re in a high ball, high cost, high, high commodity price world that, um, it’s possible that across the value chain we have winners and losers, you know?


And so I think it was the best time. I don’t, I didn’t do it on purpose, but it was one of the first time in my career I think I benefited a little bit from timing. So <laugh>, we can run with it.


Yeah. And, and, and you mentioned something there that I just wanna like dig into just a little bit, man. And, uh, and it’s that word reactionary, like you were talking about, you know, talking to clients and they’re calling you after the fact, after something’s happened.


And I think that’s kind of gets to the heart of, of hedging services and, and the conversation that, that you probably have with people is, is shifting from a reactionary, you know, standpoint of like, Oh my gosh, you know, if you’re a consumer, you know, prices have doubled and it’s, you know, hurt my bottom line, or if you’re a producer, like, Oh my gosh, prices are falling and I, you know, I’ve gotta meet my dead obligations. Like, that shift from reaction to having a plan has gotta be, you know, a conversation.


You have a lot. And, uh, you know, is that accurate?


Like, is that how you would describe it? And, and what’s the kind of like the process for, for taking someone from one phase to the other?


Yeah. So you’re 100% correct, right? When people are thinking about their businesses, they plan in a spreadsheet world where prices, costs, revenues are all boiled down to dot point line items, right?


Oil’s gonna be 80 bucks, natural gas is gonna be seven, whatever it is, right? Dies

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01 – The Hedge Introduction

01 – The Hedge Introduction

EKT Interactive