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Tuesday, August 8, 2017

South Korea is punishing Japan for its WW2 atrocities.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/korean-court-orders-japans-mitsubishi-pay-over-war-051843656.html

Although WW2 has ended 70 years already, South Korea still cannot forgive and forget the atrocities committed by Japan because of Japan's denial.  In this sense, China is more forgiving towards Japan despite the Nanjing Massacres.



There are sea lices in the sea. Beware when you wanna swim in the sea.

Sea lices feed on dead and live flesh!

Economic 101 - Don't let the unemployment rate fool you!

In a perfect world, high economic growth will have low unemployment rate and low economic growth will have high unemployment rate.  However, we do not live in a perfect world and there is a paradox in every theory.  Therefore, we can have a low economic growth and a rising unemployment rate in an economy like Singapore.  Rising unemployment rate seems like a benign factor in this case.  How true is this?

The paradox arises from the definition of being unemployed.  An unemployed person is considered unemployed if he is actively looking for a job but cannot get a job within 6 months.  Thereafter, he is no longer considered unemployed because he will be categorized as out of the labour force as his interest in finding a job has disappeared after 6 months.

The labour force consists of employed and unemployed persons (Employed + Unemployed).

The calculation of the unemployment rate:
Unemployment rate = No. of unemployed / labour force

Let's exemplify the paradox with some examples.

Example A:
Labour force = 100 persons (Employed + Unemployed)
Employed = 95
Unemployed = 5

Unemployment rate = 5/100 = 5%

Example B;
Let's say 1 person cannot find a job in 6 months after actively looking for a job and he is considered to be out of the labour force.  Therefore, the following will change.
Labour force = 99 (1 is out of the labour force)
Employed = 95 (remain constant)
Unemployed = 4 (1 is out of the unemployed because he is out of the labour force)

Unemployment rate = 4/99 = 4%

As you can see, the number of employed persons is the same (95) in both examples but the unemployment rate has improved from 5% to 4%.  This happens without any improvement in the economic growth and the government can claim credit for lowering the unemployment rate by doing nothing.

Therefore, when you read any unemployment rate figure, please remember to look at the details and not just the headline number which can be very misleading.

Monday, August 7, 2017

OMG! Thailand is seriously considering the development of Kra Canal and the Thais are very supportive of this project.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Influential-Thais-in-push-for-Kra-Canal-project?page=1

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Economy/Influential-Thais-in-push-for-Kra-Canal-project?page=2

The Thais are supportive of the development of Kra Canal nowadays because of the great benefits it will bring to Thailand.  This Kra Canal project will have great multiplier effects which will generate a lot of business and job opportunities.  It is also easier to get funding for this huge project after the establishment of AIIB and China is extremely interested in this project.  Moreover, China has both the funds and the technologies to complete this project for Thailand.

Singapore will be finished once Kra Canal is developed.

Is the US professor, Huang Jing, pro-china or anti-china?

Just look at the videos below to form your own opinion.

Huang Jing's speech on China Media.
His speech in China seemed to be in favour of China.  This made sense because he would be arrested if he made anti-china remarks on China's state TV media.

However, he made a speech against China when he's not in China.

Singapore stock calls for 7 August 2017


China AI tops image recognition competition!

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0804/c90000-9251280.html

China AIs have been winning a lot of international competitions nowadays.  China will be a high technology country in no time as it progresses at such rapid speed.

Samsung is suffering in China.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0804/c90000-9251318.html

Samsung is having sluggish sales in China because of THAAD deployment in SK.

China consumers do not want to buy Samsung S8 now because of nationalistic sentiment.

AFP news agency embarked on smearing campaign again.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-scores-diplomatic-coup-sea-row-150454667.html

China didn't ignore international laws but ignore a pseudo international court's ruling. PCA is a fake international court which everyone knows by now but AFP still insists that it is UN-Backed despite UN public declaration on PCA.

http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2016/09/australia-declares-that-pca-has-no.html

Australia also ignored PCA ruling because PCA didn't have the jurisdiction to rule on international matters.  The only true international court is ICJ which is under UN.

Mobile phone exploded in the chest pocket could cause serious damage to your body.

This is a very GROTESQUE video of the damage to a body when a mobile phone exploded in a chest pocket.

Do not place mobile phone in your chest pocket or pants' pocket!

Sunday, August 6, 2017

A glimpse of China Air Force prowess.

It's always thrilling to watch the air force training.  Enjoy!

Typhoon Noru in Japan!

More and more countries are getting torrential rain and typhoon effects which are worse than before.

Nature is angry now! We need to stop climate change or else we will suffer for our own doings.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

USA tried to subvert SG's interest!

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/singapore-revokes-professor-apos-entry-113706061.html

We know that those Chinese who are anti-China will emigrate to USA.  Therefore, this Chinese US citizen is definitely working under the guise of the USA to subvert our interest.

This is what we get for being USA's ally.  Opps...Maybe USA doesn't regard SG as an ally but a pawn.

Flying dragon captured on cam in China.

A flying dragon or a flying dinosaur?

OMG! Dubai's 84-storey building catches fire again!

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/03/middleeast/dubai-tower-fire/index.html

Fire-proof building materials are needed to prevent such fire!

AGC is taking action against Li Sheng Wu, Son of LHY.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/agc-seeks-contempt-court-proceedings-li-shengwu-004530979.html

Sigh! LSW and his dad LHY will not want to live in SG anymore.  The only one left will be LWL, sister of PM Lee, in SG.  LHL is breaking up the Lee family.

Alan Greenspan warns about the bond bubble!

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/04/greenspan-bond-bubble-about-to-break-because-of-abnormally-low-interest-rates.html

Yes, interest rates cannot stay low perpetually and low-interest rates will affect the financial industry especially the banking sector.

The risk-free rate is at 2.26 now and if you factor in the 2% inflation, you are virtually making no income out of buying the 10-year treasury bond.  This lack of money-making opportunity forces investors to seek higher returns in riskier assets and causes bubbles in other assets.

The FED's intention is to increase interest rates gradually so that it will have ammunitions to handle the next recession.  However, when the bond yields start to rise rapidly, the risk-averse investors will flock to bonds and dump riskier assets that they bought previously.  This is why Alan Greenspan said that stock market would crash when the bond bubble burst.

This too-fast-too-furious event is not reflected in the mindsets of ordinary investors yet because VIX is showing great complacency among investors.

Baltic dry index - 1032

Today, Friday, August 04 2017, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 9 points, reaching 1032 points.
Baltic Dry Index is compiled by the London-based Baltic Exchange and covers prices for transported cargo such as coal, grain and iron ore. The index is based on a daily survey of agents all over the world. Baltic Dry hit a temporary peak on May 20, 2008, when the index hit 11,793. The lowest level ever reached was on Wednesday the 10th of February 2016, when the index dropped to 290 points.
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Related stocks: Sembcorp Marine, Cosco & Pan Ocean

US rig count - 954

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. decreased
by four this week to 954.
A year ago, just 464 rigs were active.
Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 765 rigs sought oil and 189
explored for natural gas this week.
Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained four rigs and Alaska increased by one.
Louisiana declined by five rigs, Oklahoma decreased by two and New Mexico and North Dakota
were down by one apiece.
Arkansas, California, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming were all
unchanged.
The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out in May of 2016 at 404.
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Related stocks: Keppel Corp, Sembcorp Marine & Cosco