US rig count - 950

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. decreased by two this week to 950.

A year ago, just 462 rigs were active.

Houston oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that 764 rigs sought oil and 186 explored for natural gas this week.

Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Louisiana gained four rigs, California increased by two and North Dakota and Utah each gained one.

Oklahoma and Texas each declined by three, New Mexico fell by two and Alaska decreased by one.

Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 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.

=======================

Related stocks: Keppel Corp, Sembcorp Marine & Cosco

USA is forcing China to take Taiwan by force.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2017/07/13/499383/aits-chairman.htm

The USA mooted the idea of performing navy port of call in Taiwan and passed a provision last month.  Thereafter, the USA upped its ante by trying to make it a legislation for its navy to establish the port of call in Taiwan.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/china-slams-us-defence-bill-over-taiwan-provision/articleshow/59633295.cms

This is against the one China policy and anti secession law in China.  If China doesn't invoke its anti secession law after USA port of call in Taiwan, the Chinese won't trust the communist party anymore.  Therefore, China has to take Taiwan by force to satisfy its nationalistic sentiment.

I don't understand how the USA congress can have the power to intrude and contravene another sovereignty.  If this practice is allowed in the international arena, any country can do the same and China can also pass a legislation in its parliament to violate the sovereign of USA.  Even ICJ which is under UN cannot accept and rule on any case that will violate another sovereignty.

Singapore stock calls for 21 July 2017

Hail storm killed goats in Spain.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4706398/Hail-stone-storm-Spain-killed-sheep-wrecked-cars.html

Freak weather caused by global warming. Sigh!

Failure of the North & South Korea talk, Why?

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/no-korean-military-talks-north-snubs-souths-call-011540288.html

The NK snubbed the SK because NK knew that SK couldn't decide on any terms and conditions since SK was no longer a sovereignty in the eyes of the NK.

Why did I say so?

Well, this is so easy to see.  If NK is willing to stop its nuclear development in exchange for the removal of THAAD and US troops in SK, is SK able to make that decision?

The answer is a resounding NO.

The real crux of the problem is actually between USA & NK.  Therefore, SK cannot engage NK in any discussion because it cannot make any decision on behalf of USA.  The NK knows this but SK doesn't even understand its own position.

As long as the USA is in the picture, there will NEVER be a peaceful resolution between NK & SK.

Do you eat USA beef? Mad cow disease is detected in USA cow now!

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cattle-bse-alabama-idUSKBN1A32IY

I don't eat USA beef because it is laced with ractopamine.

The USA has mad cow disease now! So watch out for your health!

http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2016/11/what-do-you-get-for-being-staunch-usa.html

Political battles are playing out in China!

Have you ever wondered why billionaires in China are getting into troubles?

http://variety.com/2017/biz/asia/wanda-leeco-add-to-darkening-sentiment-china-financial-markets-1202498324/

This is because President Xi is getting rid of the cohorts that belong to the corrupted system.  President Xi is engaged in a dragon-tiger battle in which Xi is the dragon and Hu, Li and Jiang are the 3 tigers.

Let me give you a synopsis of the corrupted system.

Jiang Zemin wielded powers in the military and finance industry.  President Xi managed to wrestle the military power from Jiang prior to taking down his key henchman, Zhou Yong Kang.  Currently, Jiang Zemin is under house arrest (I verified this with my China relative.).

Li Peng wielded powers in the electrical power and finance industry.  President Xi removed Li Peng's daughter from the power industry.

Hu Jin Tao wielded powers in the electrical power and water industry.

Most of the China billionaires are not true entrepreneurs and they amassed tremendous wealth through political powers with their connections.  Wanda's Wang Jian Lin was closely connected to Bo Xi Lai who was taken down by Xi because Bo Xi Lai was Zhou Yong Kang's henchman.  Wang Jian Lin would follow Bo Xi Lai wherever Bo was posted and Bo would approve Wangda's malls in prime districts.

President Xi had ordered banks to terminate all financing to Wangda which caused Wang Jian Lin to sell his company assets to raise funds.  There will be more troubles for Wang Jian Lin because the government is checking his accounts for money laundering.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-curbs-wanda-investors-fret-123813928.html

Leeco's founder also got into troubles because of his background.

http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/chinese-court-seizes-millions-assets-leeco-jia-yueting-1202487399/

Jack Ma of Alibaba is very worried now because he is also closely associated with the old guards.

President Xi survived 2 assassinations (one gunshot and one intoxication) while trying to get rid of the 3 tigers.  Jiang was believed to be the mastermind of the assassinations.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-city-leadership-shake-signals-xi-power-play-021744915.html

Singapore stock calls for 20 July 2017

Nam Cheong defaulted on its bonds!

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-20/nam-cheong-stops-servicing-428-million-debt-as-it-restructures

It is not surprising to see Nam Cheong defaulted on its bonds.  Please refer to our previous posting on Nam Cheong.

https://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2017/03/what-happened-to-nam-cheong-today.html

OMG! Hail storm in Tokyo!

This is just like in the movie the day after tomorrow.  Climate change is really scary.

World's first electric and autonomous bus completed road test in South China.

Wow! China electric and autonomous bus will be on the road faster than any country including Singapore.

When you conduct military exercise in South China Sea, be prepared for China to conduct military exercise near your sea too.

http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/190517/india-singapore-navies-conduct-joint-exercise-in-s-china-sea.html

India and Singapore conducted military exercise in the South China Sea in May 2017.  Therefore, it is not surprising to see China conducting exercises in Indian ocean too.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0718/c90000-9243240.html

Do you believe in past life or reincarnation?

http://totalalive.com/girl-remembers-past-10-lives/

There is a girl who remembers her 10 past lives and her past lives stories have been verified by a renowned UK anthropologist.

There are many cases of reincarnation in this world and I will just highlight a few amazing stories here.

http://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2016/10/amazing-russian-boy-who-claimed-to-be.html

There is also a China village which is renowned for reincarnation as most of the reincarnations happened in nearby regions.

http://english.china.com/travel/keywords/travelogue/252/20160525/667076.html

Singapore stock calls for 19 July 2017

Singapore non-oil domestic exports (NODX) - Part 4

Singapore NODX increased 8.2% in June YOY.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/singapore-nodx-8-2-june-022800800.html

Year on year changes:

June 2017: 8.2%
May 2017: -1.2%
Apr 2017: -0.7%
Mar 2017: 16.5%
Feb 2017: 21.1%
Jan 2017: 8.6%
Dec 2016: 9.1%
Nov 2016: 15.6%

https://sg-stock.blogspot.sg/2017/06/singapore-non-oil-domestic-exports-nodx.html

Foreigners' feedbacks are more important to SIA than logical rationale.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-airlines-to-review-serving-nuts-on-its-flights-after-toddler-has-allergic?xtor=CS11-86?xtor=CS11-86

SIA may stop serving peanuts in its planes because of a toddler's allergy.

Parents should understand their own child's health and it is incumbent upon them to make sure that their kids don't eat a certain food.  However, parents have no right to demand airlines not to serve peanuts.  Can we demand NTUC not to sell peanuts or peanut butter because our kids are allergic to them?

Service providers have the right to sell/serve but we've the right to reject or not to buy.  By insisting the service providers not to offer them is not a democratic solution but a selfish act.

There are many allergies and we can't ban all the food.  If someone complains to SIA of chilli allergy, is SIA going to ban chilli?  If someone complains to SIA of seafood allergy which is very common, is SIA going to ban seafood too?

I must say SIA has no logical rationale.  No wonder it is losing to other airliners.

US stock market is the world's most expensive!

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-stock-market-is-the-worlds-most-expensive-2017-07-18?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

How far do you think the US stock market can rise further when it is already the most expensive?  If the corporate earnings cannot match the stock market expectations, then a crash is imminent and unavoidable.

The stock market is so high because of QE and the unwinding of QE is going to begin soon in the USA.

Do you notice that the USD has been falling?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-falls-after-senate-republicans-abandon-bill-to-replace-obamacare-2017-07-18

What's the impact of USD depreciation?

USD fell heavily yesterday (Tues) because of Trump's medical care reform rejection in congress.  Trump will have problem pushing for his tax reform and fiscal policies in congress too as he is losing support and confidence.

Commodities will spike up because these are priced in USD and buyers can buy more commodities with cheaper USD.  When the demand increases, the price will go up.

Japan is pushing for TPP again after its failure to join OBOR initiative.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/business/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-japan-china-globalization.html

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/13/vietnam-malaysia-stand-in-the-way-of-japans-trans-pacific-partnership-dream.html

Without the USA, TPP is useless as its economic size and benefits will be reduced significantly.

Japan is blaming Vietnam and Malaysia for standing in the way of TPP (ex-USA).

Hahaha! Good luck to Vietnam and Malaysia as these 2 countries will have to compromise a lot in this new round of talk.  Japan will not compromise as it is the biggest economy in the new TPP.

Singapore stock calls for 18 July 2017