Attacks on Saudi facilities threaten spare oil capacity, price hikes

Saturday's attacks on key Saudi Arabia processing plants will test the world's ability to handle a supply crisis as it faces the temporary loss of more than 5% of global supply from the world's biggest crude exporter. The Iranian-backed Houthis group in Yemen claimed responsibility for attacks that shut two plants at the Abqaiq facility, the heart of the Saudi oil industry, which will cut the kingdom's production by about 5.7 million barrels per day (bpd), more than half of the kingdom's output, according to a statement from state-run Saudi Aramco. Crude prices could spike by several dollars per barrel when markets open Sunday night as a prolonged outage could prompt the United States and other countries to release crude from their strategic petroleum reserves to boost commercial stocks globally.

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  Trump Lends Saudi Crown Prince U.S. Support In Phone Call After Attack

  HuffPost
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  Global spare oil capacity in U.S. hands after Saudi outage

  Reuters

Your Savings Are at Risk in the Cashless World That’s Coming

As we've been showing you, governments are planning to seize control of your wealth by getting rid of banknotes and coins. In a purely digital-currency world… the feds will be able to track, monitor, and record all your financial transactions. Worse, your savings will be subject to whatever crazy policies central bankers come up with to cope with the next financial crisis… with little chance of escape.

Attack on Saudi Oil Plant Is What Everyone Feared: Oil Strategy

An attack has penetrated the defenses of Saudi Arabia's massive Abqaiq oil processing facility, the heart of the kingdom's oil production and export infrastructure, causing an unknown amount of damage. Fires at the plant were brought under control within hours, but the flow of crude from Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest exporter, will almost certainly be affected, although we don't yet know by how much or for how long. The Abqaiq crude processing plant is the single most important facility in the Saudi oil sector.

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  Trump Lends Saudi Crown Prince U.S. Support In Phone Call After Attack

  HuffPost
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  Global spare oil capacity in U.S. hands after Saudi outage

  Reuters

5 Stable Dividend Stocks to Buy as Fixed Income Vanishes

Buy stable dividend stocks which pay more than any other relatively risk-free bond in the world will. As investors grow tired of not even beating inflation by buying a 10-year Treasury note, they will inevitably pile into stocks which: 1) have much higher yields, and 2) have a history of steady and consistent dividend hikes. Without further ado, let's take a look at five dividend stocks that fit this description.

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  China Default Risks Hit Bid for Debut Dollar Bond Issuers

  Bloomberg
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  This is Why Aflac (AFL) is a Great Dividend Stock

  Zacks

How one millennial managed to save almost $1 million in 10 years without ever earning a salary of more than $75,000

FIRE refers to the “financial independence, retire early” movement bubbling up in the younger generation these days as a pathway out of the grind — slash expenses, save a bundle and enjoy the freedom that approach ultimately allows. Using the name FluffayPenguin, one anonymous thirtysomething took to Reddit to illustrate his FIRE blueprint, which allowed him to graduate college in 2008 and build a small chunk of change all the way up to $930,000 in savings. Well, for starters, he lived at home half of that time, a choice many millennials are making as housing costs skyrocket.

Graphic: Global spare oil capacity in U.S. hands after Saudi outage

An attack on Saudi oil facilities on Saturday is believed to have disrupted half the country's production capacity, making the United States the only real holder of the global supply cushion via its ability to raise own output or to soften sanctions against other major oil producers. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on the extent of damage on its oil production but industry sources have said some 5-6 million barrels per day (bpd) or 5-6% of global supply have been affected. Saudi Arabia, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' de-facto leader and largest producer, has been long seen as the custodian of the world's spare oil capacity.

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  U.S. accuses Iran of launching drone strikes against Saudi Arabian oil plant

  CBS News Videos
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  Pompeo blames Iran for Saudi oil facility attack as Trump seeks to assure markets

  Politico

U.S. Housing Market Poised to Jump on Rate Cuts

In an attempt to keep the U.S. economy expanding and prevent it from slipping into recession, the Federal Reserve has embarked on a program of interest rate cuts. Among the first visible effects of this policy shift on economic activity has been a revival of the housing market, where home sales and home prices now appear to be on an upswing, as lower mortgage rates spur consumer demand. “Sales of new and existing homes this July were up from a year ago, supported by low mortgage rates and rising family income,” according to Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at real estate data and analytics firm CoreLogic.

Worried about the stock market? Here are easy ways to cut risk

Growth has beaten value in the stock market for many years. But if you are feeling uncertain about the market — the trade standoff, Brexit, the health of the European Union, the threat of a recession and years of unprecedented stimulus by central banks — it may be time for you to diversify or consider a value-oriented strategy. Diversification is not difficult.

Millennials are resorting to this questionable tactic to buy their first homes

Millennial home buyers are going to some troubling lengths to foot the bill for their first homes, according to a new survey. Millennials are more likely than their older counterparts to fund their down payment and closing costs by dipping into retirement savings (13%, versus 8% of Generation Xers and 7% of baby boomers), saving money by moving in with family or friends (14%, versus 5% of Gen Xers and 2% of boomers) or selling personal items (12%, versus 5% of Gen Xers and 2% of boomers), a recent Bankrate survey of 2,582 U.S. adults found. They're trying to exhaust all their options, and they're certainly doing that at higher levels than the other generations.

2 Downtrodden Small Biotechs That Are Showing Signs of Life

You can see this rotation in the large rise over the last few trading sessions in the Russell 2000, as represented by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF . Fewer equities have seen such a seismic shift in investor sentiment than T2 Biosystems Inc. , which has surged 121% over the last five days. T2 Biosystems just renegotiated its main debt facility to secure less onerous terms.

Why Russian and Chinese central banks will keep buying gold

Emerging markets have beefed up gold holdings, undeterred by prices near their highest levels in more than six years, as countries such as Russia and China diversify their foreign-exchange reserves—a trend that is likely to continue. Central bank buying is, of course, important to the supply/demand dynamic for the metal, but is much more important in terms of sentiment toward the metal,” says Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. When central banks are “buying as heavily as they are, it provides cover and a rationale for other central banks to do the same.

New Highs for AMZN Stock Will Come After Growth Challenges End

Amazon stock's AWS segment is the growth driver operating at high margins. The group especially uses the cash generated from AWS to fund the growth in other segments. Wall Street noted that Subscriptions, which mainly constitute Amazon Prime members, were up 37% to $4.7 billion.

The Hidden Reason to Buy Intel Stock

A Hidden Reason to Buy INTC Stock Free cash flow and a sound balance sheet are smart reasons to own Intel. However, there's another reason why some investors might consider buying its stock: Cloudera (NYSE:CLDR), the leading enterprise data cloud provider. The California-based company has had a crazy year on the markets.

Buy Boeing Before the Bounce Is Baked in and Complete

Discount Retail Stocks to Buy for a Recession Predictably, much of the near-term bull case for Boeing stock revolves around the company's ability to get the 737 MAX kinks worked out and get the jet back in the skies. On Wall Street, the consensus expectation is that the 737 MAX could be airborne again before the end of this year, though some doubters put that timeline into 2020. Too deep into 2020 and some risks could emerge for Boeing stock.

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  Boeing 737 MAX: CEO Expects Return by December

  Market Realist
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  Crisis-hit Boeing readies huge effort to return 737 MAX to the skies

  Reuters

4 Retirement Planning Solutions To Make Your $1 Million Last

Congratulations! Your retirement planning has paid off. To calculate how long your $1 million will last in retirement, you've got to do some retirement planning. Let's say your annual income right before retirement will be $80,000.

7 Tech Stocks You Should Avoid Now

It's starting to look like there may be a thaw in the U.S.-China trade war, but that doesn't mean everything goes back to normal. China may strike an interim deal with the U.S. for some things it wants — like pork and soybeans — but won't commit to a complete deal. If China agrees to an intermediate deal, that would mean President Donald Trump can claim victory, Chinese President Xi Jinping can declare victory and the markets can continue to rally.

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  Why the Dow has rebounded from turmoil in August and is nearing a new record

  USA TODAY
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  China issues tariff exemptions for U.S. farm goods

  Yahoo Finance Video

5 Cheap Dividend Stocks to Buy

AB stock has been a good performer with the trailing five years generating a total return of 60.4% with an average annual equivalent of 10.4%. All total return figures were calculated by Bloomberg Terminal, factoring in dividends reinvested on the day of distribution. Compass Diversified (CODI) Dividend Yield: 7.6% Compass Diversified (NYSE:CODI) is an investment holding company set up under the Investment Companies Act of 1940.

These people left their jobs behind to retire early — then life got in the way. Here’s how they coped with FIRE plans gone wrong

Before “retirement,” many members of the FIRE movement are working full time jobs — often lucrative ones — but they leave all that behind in order to live off their savings for decades. And it doesn't always work out that way. Mr. Money Mustache is largely credited with popularizing the idea of “early retirement” and encouraging others to spend less in order to work less, too.

As Larry Culp tries to turn around GE, this is the next phase to watch

But unlike those who followed Jack Welch's storied run at the top, this CEO understands that GE (GE) needs to be treated as a turnaround, rather than just as a course correction. A corporate turnaround has three phases. First, stop doing dumb things; second, improve management practices; and third, find new ways to grow.

Saudi oil sites shut production after hit by Yemen’s Houthi drones

Yemen's Houthi rebels launched drone attacks on the world's largest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia and a major oil field Saturday, sparking huge fires and halting about half of the supplies from the world's largest exporter of oil. The attacks were the latest of many drone assaults on the kingdom's oil infrastructure assaults in recent weeks, but easily the most damaging. They raise concerns about the global oil supply and likely will further increase tensions across the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

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  U.S. accuses Iran of launching drone strikes against Saudi Arabian oil plant

  CBS News Videos
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  Pompeo blames Iran for Saudi oil facility attack as Trump seeks to assure markets

  Politico

How To Find The Next Stock Market Bottom: Why Stocks Turned In 1990

A follow-through day is a mechanism for confirming a new uptrend. The benefit of focusing on this, rather than the news, is that it is more reliable. An investor acts on the follow-through day regardless of what anybody thinks.