Thursday, December 31, 2015

New Year's Greek Carols from Rhodes island/ Κάλαντα Πρωτοχρονιάς Ρόδου (Β. Κάζουλλη...

Monday, December 28, 2015

Top Holdings of Billionaire Carl Icahn

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn's top holdings,according to SEC Form 13F and InsiderSense, include:
1.Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) 27.54%
2.Apple Inc (AAPL) 20.87%
3.CVR Energy (CVI) 10.48%
4.Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) 5.15%
5.Cheniere Energy Inc (LNG) 4.94%
6.Hologic Inc (HOLX) 3.95%
7.Nuance Communications (NUAN) 3.56
8.Freeport McMorAn (FCX) 3.47%*
Mr.Icahn's two nominees are to become members of Freeport McMorAn's board of directors.The company has been hit hard by the global decline of core commodity prices.It is the leading publicly traded miner of copper and the leading miner of molybdenum,with significant gold,oil and natural gas projects as well.Based in Phoenix,Arizona,Freeport has a global workforce of about 80,000 in North and South America,Africa and Indonesia.It has exploration targets in the Americas and Morocco.*
Carl Icahn,79,was educated at Princeton University,New York University and NYU School of Medicine.His New York-based firm,Icahn Enterprises,is a diversified holding company.Mr.Icahn,who sometimes appears on business television,has a net worth of 22.5 billion dollars.He is married to Gail Icahn and the father of Brett and Michele Icahn.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Oil Prices Drop To Milestone Lows - when will this end?

Brent crude bottomed out at 36.05 in early trading Monday,its lowest level in 11 years,before recovering slightly.In the US,the energy sector is the worst performer in the S&P 500 Index,down more than 20% year to date.A perfect storm of ample supply,a mild autumn and mild early winter outlook,and the coming back to market of Iranian,Libyan and US oil exports is driving oil prices down to bedrock levels.In parts of the US,this has allowed the price of gasoline to slip to 1.53 a gallon in Owasso,Oklahoma.*
Mid-term,however,Lukoil CEO Vagit Aleperov told CNBC,prices may rise to 40-50 dollars a barrel in 2016 as exploration cutbacks during the downturn take hold and start to reduce supply.Near term,we would need OPEC to move in order to support prices.The US lifting its ban on oil exports will simply lead to US prices equalling Brent prices.
Lukoil stock rose 11.60 rubles,up 0.50% in Monday trading.*
LKOH:PJSC Lukoil (MICEX)

Space Station - Unplanned Spacewalk Completed - all objectives achieved

Space Station

Monday, December 14, 2015

A Warning To High Yield Investors From Billionaire Carl Icahn

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn tweeted that a meltdown in high yield was just beginning.For example,Third Avenue Management is liquidating its Focused Credit Fund and preventing withdrawals,promising to distribute the bulk of investors' money on 16 December,and put the rest in a trust that will pay them interest and make distributions to them until its liquidation costs are covered.The fund was liquidated because so many investors were redeeming their shares at once,Third Avenue said in a letter to the fund's investors.*
We did have that Seeking Alpha conference,Mr.Icahn told CNBC.I warned then it's simple and self-evident that the high yield market is just a keg of dynamite that sooner or later will blow up.The etfs of BlackRock and other companies are very dangerous because there's no liquidity behind these etfs.I think that any person that goes into this should basically be warned.You're starting to see the danger that is manifest now that there is no liquidity for these high yield bonds.They were sold at very low interest rates.Because it's BlackRock,everybody believes there's going to be liquidity.
It's just beginning to be a major problem.The SEC sees danger because these companies that really should have had to pay higher interest rates borrowed a great deal of money,and I'd like to know how they're going to pay that back,or even how they're going to restructure the finances,Mr.Icahn explained.

Friday, December 11, 2015

Echosmith Perform 'Let's Love' Live on Today Show

Ellie Goulding - Army (Official Audio) - new album song

Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love (Prince's Trust 1988)

Rush - Tom Sawyer

The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man (Audio)

The Beatles - Hey Jude - newly restored

Remember - John Lennon (Remastered 2010)

Shop Talk:Year End Thoughts

Dear Readers,
The end of the year and the winter holidays have come to our hearth and home.Time to look back as well as celebrate,give thanks,and do all we can to get back in the black in every way,spritually as well as financially.It's been a pleasure to provide you with many written posts and videos all year long here at the flagship blog.Now won't you please spare a moment to click on an advertisement to ensure that this continues?And thank you in advance.
Have a blessed holiday season,dear readers near and far,from America to Europe and beyond,all the way to the Far East.


Andrew Taylor,publisher
The Taylor Star

Monday, December 7, 2015

Impressive Cygnus Launch Reassures Orbital ATK and NASA

More than a year since the failed launch attempt of its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft,Orbital ATK and NASA could relax yesterday with the flawless ULA Atlas V launch of an enlarged version of Cygnus,which unfurled its new solar panels and was pointed in the right direction to reach the ISS 250 miles above Earth.On 28 October 2014,the Antares rocket had exploded in a spectacular fireball,incinerating the company's spacecraft and the NASA cargo it was to carry to the ISS.Since then,Orbital has ascertained that it was probably the Antares' AJ-26 refurbished Russian engine that was responsible for the explosion in the form of a faulty turbopump;it is working to select and test a replacement for the AJ-26,while at the same time moving to United Launch Alliance,a Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture,for the rockets it needs to meet its eight-mission NASA contract obligations.Yesterday's successful Atlas V launch of the Cygnus SS Deke Slayton II,named for the NASA Mercury program astronaut and director of flight operations who died in 1993,was its fourth ISS resupply mission,the midpoint of the contract.It also marked the return of ISS resupply launches to US soil and Orbital's first launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida.Besides launching from Cape Canaveral,Orbital is now utilising Kennedy Space Center's spacecraft processing facilities and services for the ISS missions.
Cygnus,which contains the Thales Alenia Space Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM),is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Wednesday,when US astronauts Scott Kelly,currently on a one-year mission with Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko,and Kjell Lindgren grab the spacecraft with the Canadarm2 robotic arm and attach it to the earth-facing ISS Unity Module.It will be docked for two months while the astronauts unload the Cygnus of such cargo as the SAFER jetpack,which is a self-contained maneouvering unit mainly for emergency use during spacewalks,as well as such items as science experiments,gases for breathing and a microsatellite launcher with the first ever microsatellite.*
Orbital ATK is a leading aerospace and defence technologies company with over 12,000 employees in 20 US states and several international locations.Its products range from small caliber ammunition all the way up to commercial aerostructures,commercial and government satellites,rockets,missile propulsion systems and advanced space systems for human exploration.*
Orbital ATK Inc (OA),Lockheed Martin (LMT),Boeing (BA)