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Wednesday August 5, 2015

// August 5th, 2015 // Comments Off on Wednesday August 5, 2015 // Daily News

Cramer Remix: Here’s the problem with Apple
CNBC.com

Jim Cramer saw investors try to hide from China on Tuesday. They certainly tried their best and then cringed with pain when they were whacked upside the head by the plunging averages, yet again.
Unfortunately, for some stocks, there is no escaping China.
Even Apple couldn’t hide from China when it dropped more than 3 percent on Tuesday. It recently reported a quarter where it sold 3 million fewer phones than analysts expected. Cramer saw that almost immediately following earnings, a broad consensus developed that assumed the iPhone miss was almost entirely due to the Chinese market.
“So, every time we get bad news out of China, like the doom and gloom from BMW last night, it reminds us that if Apple’s most recent quarter had included July in the numbers, it would have been far worse,” Cramer said.
And Cramer totally understands this logic as Apple’s Chinese business now represents 26.7 percent of its sales, up about 15 percent from one year ago. And even though CEO Tim Cook assured investors that sales were strong in China this quarter, Cramer wonders if that is short-lived, based on how much the Chinese government is propping up its market.
So, while Cramer doesn’t know how weak or strong Chinese sales really are, he does know one thing—Apple’s stock has a really ugly chart.
“It’s a fact of life. The stock is not for the squeamish, and it’s both over-owned and over-loved,” Cramer said. (Tweet This)
Meaning, Cramer thinks that too many analysts are recommending it and too many institutions are over-weighted in it and feel trapped.
However, he continues his long-term view with Apple, and accepts that there might be some Chinese weakness reflected in the share price. Thus, he continues to hold Apple in his charitable trust and is looking to buy more, not sell.

Today’s Inspiration

Live with Purpose

by Joyce Meyer – posted August 05, 2015

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose].
– 1 Corinthians 15:58

Life without purpose is vanity. Webster’s definition of purpose is “something set up as an object or end to be attained.” Christians ought to be people with purpose. We are all purposed to seek the kingdom of God, which is His righ¬teousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (see Ro¬mans 14:17).

Today is an opportunity to willfully and deliberately seek God with the intent to know Him better than we knew Him yesterday. Today we can deliberately move forward with the intent to accomplish good things for the Kingdom.

Tuesday August 4, 2015

// August 4th, 2015 // Comments Off on Tuesday August 4, 2015 // Daily News

As oil falls below $50, analysts eye ‘mid-price’ era

Reuters

A slump in oil below $50 a barrel—a level it has held above for most of the past decade—has raised the prospect of a new era of lower prices, although a return to super-cheap oil seems unlikely.
Prices below $50 for the two crude oil benchmarks, North Sea Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate, were the norm prior to 2005. Brent averaged just $18.37 a barrel in the 1990s, WTI $19.70 a barrel, and both only broke above $50 for the first time in late 2004.
China’s explosive economic growth over the past decade, coupled with flatlining global output, saw Brent soar above $140 in 2008 and it has spent more than 90 percent of the past decade above the $50 mark.
But producers globally, in particular U.S. shale drillers, are now pumping record amounts of oil just as China’s growth looks set to steady at lower levels, while alternative energy sources and better efficiency are denting demand in the developed world.
Suggestions that cheap oil will cure itself by spurring demand may fail to play out as consumers look to save rather than spend.
And a likely deal to lift sanctions on Iran and allow its huge oil reserves to return to markets, has led many analysts to trim their oil price forecasts to reflect deepening oversupply.
BMI Research, a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, said on Tuesday that a strong U.S. dollar, China’s weakening economy and the prospect of rising Iranian oil exports would keep downward pressure on prices in the coming months.
“A retest of Brent crude’s 2015 low around $45 per barrel looks inevitable given current ample market supply and intensifying bearish market sentiment toward prices,” the firm said in a note to clients.
Read MoreBattered oil giant has ‘difficult’ future: Analyst
But while analysts say a return to extremely high prices of $100 a barrel or more is unlikely any time soon, barring a sudden production crash, they also don’t expect a return to super-cheap oil, effectively opening up a third, mid-priced era of prices.

Today’s Inspiration

Choose Peace and Joy Instead of Dread

by Joyce Meyer – posted August 04, 2015

Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
– Deuteronomy 1:29

Probably one of the greatest ways we show our trust in God is by living life one day at a time. We prove our confidence in Him by enjoying today and not letting the concern of tomorrow interfere. It made a big change in my life when I began to gain insight from the Holy Spirit on this problem of dreading things. This truth about living one day at a time greatly increased my peace and joy, and it will do the same thing for you.

I learned that it really was not the event I was facing that was so bad—it was dreading it that made it bad. Our attitudes do make all the difference in the world. Learn to approach life with an “I can do whatever I need to do through Christ” attitude. Don’t say that you hate things like driving to work in traffic, going to the grocery store, cleaning the house, doing laundry, changing the oil in the car, or cutting the grass. These chores are all part of life, and it is useless to dread them.

Don’t let the events of life dictate your level of joy. It is the joy of the Lord that is your strength. Be joyful that you are going to heaven; be grateful that you have someone who always loves you, no matter what. Look at and concentrate on what you do have, not what you don’t have.

Everyone has to attend to some unpleasant details in life. Don’t dread them, but learn how valuable God’s peace is in those circumstances.

Some things are certainly more naturally enjoyable and easier to do than others, but that does not mean we cannot purposely choose to enjoy the other less enjoyable tasks. We can choose to have attitudes of joy and peace. Usually, if we don’t feel like doing something, we automatically assume we cannot enjoy it or have peace during that time, but that is a deception. We grow spiritually when we do difficult things with a good attitude.

Trust in Him Dreading things does not glorify God. Show your trust in Him by facing each day with a good attitude.