What's happening to USA bond yields?

The 10-year USA bond yield has fallen to 2.26% because of geopolitical reasons in Syria & NK.

A low bond yield is bad for the economy because it will denote that the economy is not growing and fixed-income investments will have very lousy rates of returns because the returns are eroded by inflations.

Gold is also affected by geopolitical reasons.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-hits-five-month-high-042918105.html

Can you imagine an inflation of 2% and 10-year bond yield at 2% too? This would mean that fixed-income return would be negative after costs.  When fixed-income investments are losing money, consumer spendings will be greatly affected and a vicious cycle will develop that will cause recession.

China 1st quarter GDP growth is 6.9%

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-17/china-roars-back-to-lift-global-outlook-as-u-s-consumer-weakens?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=bd&utm_campaign=headline&cmpId=yhoo.headline&yptr=yahoo
It's good to see China growing at 6.9% in the first quarter of 2017 because China is helping to prop up the world economies.  China accounted for 1/3 of global growth per se in 2016 and China would contribute more this year as US would be in protectionistic mode.

China is likely to be the first country to complete a quantum computer.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0411/c90000-9201395.html

As predicted in our earlier post, China is likely to be the first country to produce a quantum PC because of its profound understanding in quantum physics after its successfully developed quantum satellite and radar.

http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2016/11/china-is-having-leapfrog-technology.html

China driverless truck will be on the road soon.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0415/c90000-9203422.html

Chin'a artificial intelligence has reached a level that is ahead of many countries now.  It is one of the best AI developers in the world.

This is how Germany welcomes China's investments.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0417/c90000-9203858.html

Germany is the biggest economy in Europe and it is welcoming China's investments like never before.  This is something we'll never see in Singapore because we need to help USA to contain China.

Singapore stock calls for 17 April 2017

South Korea will enter economic downturn in 2017 - Part 5

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170412000787

Besides the Korean Conglomerates' fallouts from THAAD, Korean tourism will also suffer greatly and this will hit the citizens directly because services industry like hotels, coaches, eateries, etc employ more people.  Services sector usually contributes a large chunk of GDP growth than manufacturing in a developed country.

Part 4:
http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2017/03/south-korea-will-enter-economic.html

It maybe unwise to intercept NK's missiles.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/japan-pm-issues-sarin-warning-083354792.html

NK may install sarin gas in its warheads that are targeted at Japan.  Therefore, it's unwise to intercept the missiles as Japan will suffer chemical poisoning like Syria.

Pissing match between USA & NK.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-may-launch-strike-north-235410571.html

Just ignore the pissing match between USA & NK.  However, we need to monitor the situation in Seoul.  If foreigners start fleeing, it means war is coming.

Baltic dry index - 1296

Today, Thursday, April 13 2017, the Baltic Dry Index climbed by 14 points, reaching 1296 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 - 847

The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. rose by 8 this week to 847.

A year ago, 440 rigs were active.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Thursday that 683 rigs sought oil and 162 explored for natural gas this week. Two were listed as miscellaneous.

New Mexico added seven rigs, Oklahoma gained three, Texas increased by two, and California, North Dakota and Ohio each gained one.

Mississippi fell by three rigs, and Alaska and Louisiana each lost two.

Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming were all unchanged.

The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981. It bottomed out last May at 404.

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Related stocks: Keppel Corp, Sembcorp Marine & Cosco.

Syria declared it didn't launch the chemical attack.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/syrias-assad-says-chemical-attack-100-percent-fabrication-135550221.html

There's really no reason for Assad to conduct a chemical attack because he's winning the war and he would risk Putin's support if he did that.

Fake news! Fake news! Fake news! By USA!

How do you know when USA will attack North Korea?

There are about 25m people living in Seoul.  If there's news that foreigners are leaving Seoul, it will mean that USA is going to attack North Korea.  This is a very obvious tell-tale harbinger for war.

Japan should stop its illegal occupation of Diaoyu islands.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-defence-scrambles-idUSKBN17F0J6

The truth is already out and Japan should stop whitewashing the history.  Oxford's library archives and China's own documentations already prove that China is the true owner of Diaoyu islands.  Therefore, Japan should stop its illegal occupation of Diaoyu islands.

Russia is right to veto the UN resolution against Syria.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/russia-vetoes-un-resolution-condemn-syria-chemical-attack-220532406.html

There is no concrete proof that Syria government is the mastermind behind the chemical attack.  The accusation is solely based on USA intelligence.  UN is not under the control of any country and must be impartial on its own or risk losing credibility.

Singapore stock calls for 13 April 2017

Singapore didn't do well in the first quarter.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/singapore-apos-economy-contracts-annualized-000000991.html

Despite all the bullish economic growth forecasts by economists, Singapore didn't do well in the first quarter by declining 1.9% on annualized basis.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/singapore-retail-sales-swing-red-090100355.html

Our retail figures also didn't do well either.

Big insects found crawling on mars!

Wow! Curiosity rover drilling forced insects to crawl out from underground.

Singapore stock calls for 12 April 2017

Rickmers Maritime to close down!

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/rickmers-maritime-to-wind-up-after-failing-to-reach-deal-with-lenders

We had stated in March that Rickmers Maritime would have great difficulty to restructure its debts.  Therefore, it's not surprising that Rickmers Maritime will close down.

http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2017/03/rickmers-will-have-hard-time-to.html