Iran Sanctions Begin To Bite (Again) -- Oilprice.Com -- June 6, 2018

From oilprice.com:

After an initial hesitance over how the returning U.S. sanctions will affect Iran’s oil buyers, European refiners are beginning to wind down purchases from Iran after tanker providers, insurers, and banks began to shun Iranian deals and destinations for fear of exposing themselves to secondary sanctions.

Several large European companies in France, Spain, Italy, and Greece are reportedly admitting that they won’t risk U.S. sanctions and are unable to find tankers and insurer providers willing to facilitate shipments of Iranian oil to Europe, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing company and trading sources.

Iran’s total oil exports have averaged around 2.5 million bpd in recent months, peaking in April, just before the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Iran says that its May oil exports were higher than this year's average, but it now looks like European refiners are choosing not to risk and have started to figure out ways to wind down Iranian oil purchases.

Iran’s oil exports to Europe account for around one-fifth of the total, while most of the Iranian crude goes to China and to India.

Wow, I love this president.

"Returning....." --- finally someone got that right. It seems the mainstream media forgets that the sanctions are not "new." They were in place before Obama and Valerie Jarrett eased those sanctions. President Trump simply put the agreed-to sanctions back in place. Obama and Jarrett pulled the rug out from under our allies when they unilaterally eased the Iranian sanctions. [Today, it is being reported that the Obama administration may have also engaged in "illegal" banking activity in an effort to aid Iran. I don't know the specifics, but it should be easy to find. Yes, it was easy to find; here's one link, an NBC News link.]

I had forgotten this about sanctions. I read about it before when sanctions were first put in place, but forgot. Foreign leaders can talk all they want about how they will defy US sanctions, but once they find out that they can't find insurers for their ocean-going tankers ...

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The Apple Page

From the linked article below:

• Apple's iOS 12 will be available for iPhones launched as far back as 2013
• this is unprecedented for Apple and smartphone makers
• it also shows that Apple isn't trying to force you to upgrade your iPhone

Earlier today I listed several companies that exceed my expectations. (That does not mean I would invest in them; it simply means their products and/or service exceed my expectations.) One of those companies was Apple.

After years of refusing to get a smart phone, I finally gave in and bought my first smart phone. I bought the iPhone SE because it is the smallest. I've never had so much fun with a gadget.

Tonight I stumbled upon this story. I was not aware of this until just now. The story is linked here.

Apple said that iOS 12, its new software that will launch in September, will be available for iPhones dating back to 2013, including the iPhone 5s.

That's unprecedented for Apple or any other smartphone maker. Older Android devices are lucky to get a new version of the operating system more than a year or two after they're launched.

This means that people with older iPhones will get some (though not necessarily all) of the new features included in iOS 12. It also means they'll get the latest security patches from Apple and, since iOS 12 focuses on speeding up iPhones, presumably better performance.

Apple says iOS 12 can open apps up to 40 percent faster, open the camera app up to 70 percent faster and open the keyboard up to 50 percent faster than the previous operating system, so new software shouldn't feel so sluggish on older phones.

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Are We Headed For A Clean Sweep?

Golden State Warriors lead the series 3 - 0.