When It Rains, It Pours -- July 9, 2015

When it rains, it pours. I was out all day with the granddaughters today. We made our annual visit to the Getty Museum in west Los Angeles and were not disappointed. But I never take my computer with me when I am out with the granddaughters. It's also why I don't have a smart phone. I am addicted to the internet and if I brought a smart phone or a tablet or a laptop along with me, I would be tempted to check in on the news. So I don't bring any electronic "toys" with me when I'm out with the granddaughters, and I generally turn off my decade-old Samsung clamshell (cell phone).

But when it rains, it pours. There was so much news today. I assume my posts have been a bit haphazard, but what I write is mostly to remind me of the stories, not necessarily to get every detail right. That's why I link posts to the "original" source.

But this is the news that caught my eye today (and a couple from yesterday), most of it posted:

• the creditors blinked; Greece will be bailed out; though the Greek economy is already starting to seize; and all Greece had to do was to make "promises";
• China may have stemmed its stock market plunge; remember, the government will do anything to prevent social disorder
• shares of AAPL have "plummeted" over the past few months
• Apple is preparing for a huge launch for new iPhones this fall
• Ford Motor Company is going to shift small-car manufacturing overseas
• California's oil and gas industry is in deep trouble with the state politicians
• if California bans the practice of irrigating with produced water from oil wells, the effects of the California drought will only be magnified; one bbl of produced oil, produces nine bbls of water which can be cleaned up for irrigation
• FDA extends deadline for listing calories on menus; December 1, 2016, almost a year later than scheduled; after the 2016 elections; presidential wannabes did not want to see how many calories those chicken plates are adding to their waist (and waste) lines
• this is a very obscure story; but I saw it some months ago; never posted it; interesting how things have gotten better on such a simple change
• the US is doing such a great job reining in ISIS, President Obama will cut the US Army by 40,000
• North Dakota's active rig count continues to break new records -- unfortunately in the wrong direction
• despite all the bad news in the oil and gas industry, North Dakota is still issuing a lot of permits; eleven permits were issued today
• Minnesotans are doing their part to offset carbon dioxide emissions from China; they are building wind farms, solar farms, redundant transmission lines, etc, for the privilege of seeing yet another electricity rate hike, this one effective as early as January 2016; unfortunately it was not high enough (and appears to be lacking in other regards) which means rates will be going up again as early as 2017
• major violent crime is surging in big cities across the country, including Fargo (Williston appears to be unaffected)
• construction on the new Williston airport should begin next spring (2016); the Bakken construction boom continues
• there was a wheelbarrow of producing wells reporting high-IP numbers today (HRC, XTO, others)

And with that, I'm going to bed. I can't keep up.

But again, see my disclaimer. I am inappropriately exuberant about the oil and gas industry in general, the Bakken in particular. Data points, like those above, are how I see things, or how I thought I saw something reported. I often make factual and typographical errors. I correct them when I find them. If anything I post is remotely important to you, go to the source. If something I post seems wrong, it probably is. I take the Bakken seriously; everything else .. not so much.

Oh, by the way, in my mind there is a difference between investors and traders. When I see a SeekingAlpha article advising "investors" to short a particular stock, I know that the writer is unaware of the difference between investing and trading. I think the Fast Money panel has the same problem. For the most part they are advising traders, not investors.

Remember that joke about an individual having only one tool: the hammer. Everything starts looking like nails. Same for me when it comes to investing. The only buy-sell-hold button that I can find easily at my on-line investment sites: buy.

See my disclaimer.