The Market, Energy, And Political Page, T+8 -- November 13, 2018

Mideast: some time ago I said that "Khashoggi" changed everything in the Mideast. For one thing, President Trump now has almost "unlimited" leverage over the Crown Prince (MbS) of Saudi Arabia.

Interestingly enough, Scott Adams had a special Mideast podcast this afternoon. From where did he start his "Mideast analysis"? Yup, with Khashoggi.

Unfortunately Scott Adams comes to a ridiculous conclusion -- Scott Adams may understand "persuasion," but he does not understand the Mideast. None of us do, but at least we know that we don't understand it.

Daycare: good intentions gone awry. From The Bismarck Tribune, new daycare providers cannot begin work until 'fingerprint screen is complete." At least that's what critics say: a bad law. In fact, law enforcement canget answers back in less than 24 hours. Sounds like something is wrong when it takes a month for a day care employer to get fingerprint results back. Sounds like a job for Amazon cloud!

NYC and DC: speaking of Amazon, apparently it's being reported that Amazon will build its two new headquarters in NYC and in "northern Virginia" -- a euphemism for Washington, DC -- down the street from The Washington Post, no doubt.

Apple: a year or so ago, all indications were that Apple, Inc. was going to start increasing dividends for its shareholders. That did not happen. Share buybacks, yes, but not increasing dividends. What's up? This is about the same time that Apple, Inc, made the decision to quit providing information on number of units sold. Connecting the dots. Which famous investor does not like paying dividends? Which famous investor talks a lot but doesn't give much information out about specifics? Which famous investor recently invested heavily in Apple, Inc? Ah, yes, Not rocket science.

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