7 Secrets

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Anthony Jerdine

1.Walk 25% faster
Psychologists studies shows that slovenly posture and sluggish walking attract unpleasant attitudes toward oneself, work and even people around us. However, psychology also tell us that you can also improve your attitude and emotions by changing your posture and speeding up your movements.
Follow someone who is functioning at an “average” level in life and pay close attention to how that person walks. That person has an average way of walking. Right?
Now find someone who is very successful and pay attention to how that person walks. Let me know what you’ve noticed.

2.Don’t overthink about it
“Actions cure fears”. The more you wait on something to happen or the more you wait to take a decision is the more unlikely it is going to happen. You want to start your own business, don’t wait on the economy to get better, it will never get better. Eliminate every excuses and come up with reasons why you should start your own business or accomplish whatever you think about every day.

3.Speak Up
Be a leader and hold that position. Be the first one to comment on something, be the first one to have an opinion, be the person of influence and people will treat as you are. Make it a rule to speak up at every opportunity you have.

4.Be cheap
Stop ALL spending except on those things that can increase income. Do NOT spend to consume;spend only to increase income. My mentor had $1,200,000 in cash but he was still driving a Toyota Corolla at the time. He was saving most of his income and people thought that he was always broke. In reality, he was being “cheap”. You need to be cheap to increase your stack and have money to invest in the future.

5.Write your goals
Get a journal and treat it as the most sacred journal you ever had.
Respect it and consume it every day. Find the purpose of your mission. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want your life to look like? How much do you want to earn? What type of friends do you want to have? Describe every details of the life that you desire into words. Writing your goal with a pen allows your mind to focus on one only thing which is the action of writing those goals. Make it a rule to wright your goals every single day. Your goals will start changing soon or later. You’ll have bigger goals and a bigger vision.

6.Create a dream board
After writing your goals, put them into pictures, numbers, and ideas. Have several dream boards around your house and your office. They will remind you of your goals and you’ll always be connected to them.

7. Develop the habit of reading every day
Every successful people have a strong habit of reading. By reading, you learned about the mistakes of others and you have the power to avoid them when you see them. Reading also grow your knowledge and your confidence. Even if it’s 10 minutes a day, it will impact your mindset. Have you ever met a shy and dumb millionaire? If yes, I would love to meet that person.

Make it a rule to apply those secrets as a daily routine and you will become as powerful as any CEO on the planet.

Oil Producers Not Alone in Downturn

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Anthony Jerdine

Oil Producers Not Alone in Downturn
By Anthony Jerdine | March 30, 2016

Much is written about the plight of shale oil producers stemming from the downturn in oil prices. Forty-two oil companies declared bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2015, according to Haynes and Boone, and management consulting companies like Deloitte predict much more will experience the same fate in 2016. (For more, see: 5 Energy Companies Crushed by Low Oil in 2016.) Oil producers are not the only ones suffering in the oil downturn. Many other sectors related to oil production are also facing challenges as the number of Exploration and Production (E&P) companies declaring bankruptcy grows.

Midstream Companies
Oil transportation companies, also known as midstream companies, are feeling the pressure of low oil prices. E&P companies, or upstream companies, are hoping to exit deals made with these midstream transportation companies as oil producers seek bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 restructuring, reports Oil & Gas 360. It is an unusual move because these transport contracts are usually unbreakable and remain in place even after production is sold to a new owner post-bankruptcy. In this lower oil price environment; however, upstream companies that are burdened with high debt loads are seeking alternative ways to free themselves from other financial obligations to provide more flexibility during bankruptcy proceedings.

This is a real headache for midstream companies that negotiated transportation contracts when oil prices were significantly higher than they are today. Bankrupt E&P companies are no longer able to pay previously negotiated prices and are trying to cancel pipeline contracts to clear the way for possible acquisition deals. For example, Quicksilver Resources Inc. is seeking to cancel its pipeline transportation contract with Crestwood Midstream Partners LP(CEQP) by March 31 to close the sale of its U.S. assets to BlueStone Natural Resources for $245 million, Reuters reports.

In another deal, Sabine Oil & Gas filed a motion in court to cancel its midstream contracts. Sabine argued that it “could not deliver the required minimum amounts of gas and condensate and that rejection would save Sabine as much as $115 million,” according to the law firm Jones Day. Fitch Ratings, a credit rating agency, said in a press release related to Sabine Oil & Gas’s motion to cancel its contracts with the midstream service providers that “counterparty risks continue to be a concern for the midstream service space given expectations for continued E&P bankruptcy activity.”

Offshore Drillers
Another sector that is under a lot of pressure is the offshore drilling sector. Moody’s, another credit rating agency, says the offshore drilling industry is going through a severe cyclical downturn, and the agency expects day-rates to remain depressed over the next several years because of low producer spending and rig oversupply.

Paragon Offshore plc filed for bankruptcy on February 15, affecting $2.4 billion worth of debt, according to Moody’s. Paragon joins several other energy companies that have sought creditor protection amid the oil rout. Hercules Offshore Inc., the owner of the largest fleet of shallow-water drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, said Feb. 11 that it’s exploring strategic alternatives — just three months after emerging from bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports.

At the end of February, Moody’s concluded rating reviews on six U.S. offshore drilling companies. Moody’s downgraded two companies’ ratings three notches, three companies’ ratings four notches and one company’s rating (Ensco plc) five notches to B1 from Baa2. The sharp downgrade reflects Moody’s view that Ensco’s leverage will increase to very high levels as more of its rigs roll off contracts in an extremely challenging offshore contract drilling market.

Multiple notch rating moves are rare for the rating agencies and are usually reserved for industries or companies under considerable financial strain.

Rig Contractors
Rig contractors have suffered the double blow of declining customer demand due to tumbling oil prices and a glut of vessels that continue to be built to meet orders made before the rout, Rigzone reports. Transocean Ltd. (RIG) leads the industry in reducing its fleet, with 24 rigs scrapped since the downturn began and it could retire another eight to ten over the next year to 18 months. In the meantime, Schlumberger (another oil industry service provider) said it’s not expecting a meaningful recovery in its own activity until next year.

Bank Loan Exposure
Debt has fuelled the shale boom, but as prices fell, companies that borrowed too much have started to find themselves under strain. This is also putting pressure on the banks that lent to these companies to fund the expansion. IMF economists warned in February that commodity price shocks could weaken banks in developing economies. It is not just regional banks in the US that are feeling the pain—big international banks have exposure to the oil sector too.

As an example, bankrupt Paragon Offshore mentioned earlier, has debt that includes $708 million due under a revolving credit agreement and $642 million due under a secured term loan, both organized by JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bloomberg reports. As a result, several major banks are reducing their exposure to the energy sector by attempting to sell off souring loans, declining to renew them or clamping down on the ability of oil and gas companies to tap credit lines for cash, the Wall Street Journal reports.
It is not just production companies that are hurting from the drop in oil prices. Everyone from businesses that sell ancillary services such as transportation to the banks that finance the industry is feeling the effects of low prices. If oil prices stay at depressed levels for an extended period, then the number of companies filing for bankruptcy is likely to rise and will extend beyond just the upstream producers.

The 3 Most Shorted Sectors in the S&P 500

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Anthony Jerdine

The 3 Most Shorted Sectors in the S&P 500
By Anthony Jerdine| March 22, 2016

With the stock market sputtering to start 2016, short sellers have emerged from the woodwork. Unlike traditional investors who fret over portfolio losses when the bears take over the market, short sellers welcome turmoil as an opportunity to log profits. This unique breed of financial players attempts to buy low and sell high, just like all stock investors, only they reverse the order of operations. Instead of buying first and selling later, hopefully after the price has increased, they sell first and then buy later, expecting the price to decrease in the interim.

Selling stock before buying it is made possible by borrowing shares from a broker. Those shares must be paid back at some point, which is why short selling is so much riskier than traditional stock investing. When you buy a stock, the most money you can lose is the amount you paid, since the stock can only fall to zero. When you sell borrowed stock on the promise to buy it back later, the price can theoretically rise to infinity, meaning there is no limit on the money you can lose.

Having said that, certain sectors in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index have attracted heavy short-selling activity amid the current stock market turbulence.

Energy
Since 2015, no market sector has engendered more bearish sentiment than energy. The pessimism, of course, springs from the oil price collapse that began during the second half of 2014. From 2011 until 2014, the per-barrel oil price mostly hovered around $100. By early 2016, it had fallen below $30 per barrel for the first time since the 1990s and, as of March 2, 2016, stands at $34.40.

Drilling companies in particular have been decimated by the oil collapse, with their stock prices falling to reflect their financial malaise. Particularly hard hit have been shallow-water drillers, which use machinery that affixes to the ocean floor to extract oil from the ground. These companies tend to rely on short-term contracts. When the price of oil falls, they struggle to find new work to replace expiring contracts.

As of Feb. 25, 2016, 7.7% of outstanding energy company shares are in a short position. This leads the S&P. Analysts do not expect this to change until oil prices recover substantially.

Consumer Discretionary
The consumer discretionary sector is a highly cyclical one that outperforms the market during good times and almost invariably suffers worse-than-average losses during hard times. This sector encompasses most nonessential goods that consumers purchase using discretionary income, meaning the money left over after paying for essentials. New cars, steak dinners, movie tickets, vacations – these fall under the umbrella of consumer discretionary goods and services.

Short-selling activity in the consumer discretionary sector has picked up in 2016. As of Feb. 25, the short interest on outstanding shares in the sector is 6.3%. With certain economic indicators such as a commodities rut, economic weakness overseas and political uncertainty surrounding the presidential election pointing to a potential recession later in 2016, short sellers are naturally gravitating toward the most highly cyclical sectors.

Telecommunications Services
Once regarded as a defensive sector, meaning one that is largely insulated from the market’s ups and downs, telecommunications services has become more cyclical as technology advances. Additional headwinds threatening the sector in 2016 include accounting changes by wireless providers, which boosted revenue in 2015 but should not have the same effect in 2016, as the changes have mostly been made.

The sector’s increasingly cyclical nature, combined with potentially overconfident forecasts spurred by the 2015 accounting changes, have attracted short sellers to telecommunications services. As of Feb. 25, 2016, 5.6% of the sector’s outstanding shares are in a short position.