Monday, July 7, 2014 -- Active Rigs Back Up To 192

Active rigs:

	7/7/2014	07/07/2013	07/07/2012	07/07/2011	07/07/2010
Active Rigs	192	188	213	166	132

RBN Energy: the glut of light oil in the Rockies providing great margins for the refiners.

The Wall Street Journal

It is not going well for Ukraine rebels; preparing for "last stand" against pro-Russian forces.

Hillary starting to distance herself from President Obama.

As food prices rise, Fed keeps watchful eyes. An increase in food prices should help Michelle's war on obesity.

Iraq insurgents (ISIS/ISIL) have seized "advanced arms."

This is interesting: Norah Jones will release an album on July 15 -- she with a trio called Puss N Boots. Ms Jones has done several duets in the past. I do believe she has learned from Willie Nelson. Seriously.

The Los Angeles Times

Huge earthquake measuring 7.1 off Guatemalan coast. To the best of my knowledge there is no fracking in Guatemala, and, to the best of my knowledge, George W. Bush is not visiting Central America today.

Omaha.Com

Obama "Presidential Library" float wins award in local "Fourth of July" parade, Norfolk, Nebraska, -- "most popular float in the parade."

********************************

For Investors Only: Exelon

I've had a number of posts on Exelon with regard to its changing energy mix. Based on those stories I never thought I would see this. Morningstar is reporting:

After missing out on nearly all of the stock market’s rally since March 2009, Exelon has been on a tear this year. The stock is up 29% year to date while the S&P 500 is up just 8%, both including dividends. The rally leaves Exelon trading at the smallest discount to our fair value estimate since July 2008.

But we still think the upside outweighs the downside, making Exelon one of the most attractive utilities we cover. For bulls, we still see 18% upside if power markets continue climbing toward our midcycle assumptions. For bears, we question management’s capital allocation and suggest that the market could be overvaluing Exelon’s regulated utilities. Here we present both sides of the story for investors wondering what to do with this embattled but high-quality company.

It's a very, very good article, well worth the read. It reminds folks that it is very, very difficult to make sense of the market.

*******************

In early-morning trading, the market is off about 60 points. This may be due to the report on Germany's surprise slump in industrial production and/or Goldman Sachs coming out with news that the Fed may be ready to raise interest rates. Or it may simply be some profit taking. From GS:

Goldman Sachs now believes the first hike in the U.S. federal funds rate will come in the third quarter of 2015, rather than in the first quarter of 2016.

That's a long way off, but the market uses any excuse to take a profit.

Warning! This is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or think you may have read here.