China declared its “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea
and held naval drills in the waters, pushing back against a U.S. role
in resolving disputes in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

“China has indisputable sovereignty of the South Sea and China has
sufficient historical and legal backing” to underpin its claims, Geng
Yansheng, a Ministry of Defense spokesman, told reporters at a
military compound outside Beijing today. It opposes efforts to
“internationalize” the issue and will resolve differences through
“friendly negotiation,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called the
sovereignty issue “a leading diplomatic priority.” Chinese Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi subsequently called her comments “virtually an
attack on China” and said U.S. involvement “can only make matters
worse and more difficult to solve.”

The Chinese government considers the entire South China Sea as its
own, dismissing claims from Southeast Asian countries to islands such
as the Spratlys, and is building an ocean-going fleet to project power
beyond its borders. China told Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc to halt
exploration in areas that Vietnam considers part of its territory,
according to U.S. government agencies.China’s military recently held a
large-scale naval exercise in the sea using “real weaponry,” Geng
said. The exercise, involving warships from three naval fleets,
included missile launches at long-range targets and practicing against
jet fighters, the state-run China Daily reported today.

The exercises coincided with joint U.S.-South Korea naval drills
earlier this week in the Sea of Japan designed to deter North Korea.
Further drills are planned in the Yellow Sea, off China’s eastern
coast, and South Korea plans to hold an anti- submarine drill there
next week, Yonhap reported today, citing army spokesman Lee Bung-woo.

“The danger always was that if China became more aggressive in the
South China Sea, this would push regional countries closer to the
United States,” said Ian Storey, a fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore. “That’s exactly what’s
happening.”

The South China Sea covers 3.5 million square kilometers (1.4 million
square miles) stretching from Singapore to the Straits of Taiwan. Its
waters carry about half the world’s merchant fleet by tonnage each
year, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration.Estimates of oil and gas reserves in the waters vary,
with some Chinese studies suggesting they contain more oil than Iran
and more natural gas than Saudi Arabia, according to the U.S. agency.

China’s Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, was “a bit emotional” when
discussing the sea, South Korean counterpart Yu Myung Hwan said in a
July 24 interview. “Suddenly the atmosphere became sullen.”

China has resisted committing to a code of conduct in the sea to build
on a 2002 accord that called for disputes to be resolved peacefully.

“The United States is attempting to coerce Southeast Asian nations
into blowing out of proportion the South China Sea issue,” the
state-run China Daily said in a July 27 editorial. “This is a
dangerous move. It will jeopardize the status quo in the region, one
that is built upon peaceful coexistence.”

China’s behavior over the sea has caused “a lot of consternation in
the region,” said Bonnie Glaser, a senior fellow who studies China at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “The
best term would be intimidation. One could also say coercion.”

Conclusions

The c21st Theatres are the Oceans, in many ways.

I  was woken up this morning by rays of sunlight, which had bathed my
room in such brilliance that it felt completely new. I began to notice
things around me in great details. It was as if the room had been
given a facelift. I looked out of the window and, behold a cloudless
sky. The trees danced lazily enjoying the early morning breeze. I
looked far into the horizon and the beauty of what I saw around me
stirred my soul. It was as if I was standing atop Mount Kenya
surveying the landscape. I said to myself "Oh, what a beautiful
country!"

"The extra troops they said are planning to send here will not be
different from those they deployed before. By the will of Allah,
Mogadishu will be their graveyard, while their families will cry back
home," Ali Mahamud Rage, the group's spokesman, said on Thursday.

"(Somalia transitional) government initially failed to convince its
infidel masters to boost their military presence in Somalia, and now
that they are claiming to be sending more troops to Mogadishu, it will
only intensify the holy war against them," he said.

Conclusions

Its a Delicate Situation and very Asymettric. I still remain of the
View that a decisive Military Intervention can be decisive but so far
that has yet to be tried.

Euro 1.3071
Pound 1.5624
Dollar Index 81.59
Rand 7.3578
Aussie 0.8992
South Korean Won 1183.50
Canada 1.0350

The euro rose above $1.31 to the highest point in 11 weeks yesterday.
The euro touched $1.3106 on an intraday basis, eclipsing the high of
$1.3094 on May 10, the first business day after the European Union and
the International Monetary Fund announced a nearly $1 trillion loan
program designed to keep the debt crisis from spreading beyond Greece
to other vulnerable countries.

Conclusions

US Economic Weakness overwhelmed the Euro Issue. It does look horribly
extended now.

The U.S. financial system remains fragile and banks subjected to
additional economic stress might need as much as $76 billion in
capital, according to the results of International Monetary Fund
stress tests.

The IMF said about $1.4 trillion of commercial real estate loans will
mature from 2010 to 2014, almost half of which are already “seriously
delinquent,” with payments 90 days or more past due, or “underwater,”
with loan values exceeding property values. Home prices are another
concern, as are the spillover effects if problems intensify as they
spread among institutions.

Conclusions

Could be worse.

In the nascent days of advertising, in the first half of the 20th
century, no one was more successful—or more influential—than Albert
Lasker. Under his energetic leadership, the Lord & Thomas agency
promoted new habits as well as new products and became for a period
the country's largest agency. He devised a way to help women overcome
their shyness in buying sanitary napkins (Kotex), helped break the
prejudice against women smoking (Lucky Strikes) and made orange juice
a part of the American diet (Sunkist).

Lasker is the subject of "The Man Who Sold America" by Jeffrey
Cruikshank and Arthur Schultz, a former chief executive officer of
Foote, Cone & Belding, the successor agency to Lord & Thomas. As the
authors note, Lasker's influence extended well beyond the confines of
the advertising world. "He is the super-salesman of the generation,"
said Will Hays, who managed the 1920 presidential campaign that, with
the super-salesman's help, put Warren Harding in the White House.

Conclusions

Magic, Magicians and Fairy Dust.

'I am only good for two things in this world,” Valentino once told me,
“designing dresses and the decoration of houses. I am not capable to
do anything else.”

Valentino in front of Richard Prince’s Untitled, After Dark, Bombay
(2007–8), with a triptych by Jean-Michel Basquiat in the den behind
him.

Richard Prince’s The Red Joke (2003) hangs above an Italian
lapis-lazuli-and-white-marble fireplace; on the mantel, a Louis
XVI-style pedestal clock of ormolu, marble, and glass is flanked by a
pair of brass Art Deco lamps.

“Beyond: Visions of Our Solar System,” the exhibition at the National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, features a photograph of Jupiter’s
moon Io, with an 86-mile-high volcanic plume exploding above its
horizon.

Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire, is extending his reach in New
York with the purchase of a century-old Beaux Arts townhouse on Fifth
Avenue, paying $44 million. It was one of the most expensive
residential sales in the city.Last month, Mr. Slim paid $140 million
for an 11-story office building at 417 Fifth Ave. in Midtown. Mr. Slim
also is a major investor in New York Times Co.

CHARTS showing the warming of the Earth normally look like spaghetti
thrown across the page. This chart, adapted from a compendious “State
of the climate” report published by America’s National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration this week, simplifies things by offering
only decadal averages, and making clear the uncertainties by showing
the 95% confidence ranges on those averages.

Conclusions

Buy Calls on Breakfast Commodities 5 Year. I am constructing a Basket
if you are interested.

Cocoa +0.73%
Coffee +3.26%
Sugar +3.18%

Last Price    173.50
Contract High    175
Contract Low    131.4
First Delivery    2011-03-31
Contract High Date    2010-07-29
Contract Low Date    2009-07-08
Expiration    2011-03-21
Close Time    12:30

Conclusions

Looks very Muscular.

Crude for September delivery added $1.37, or 1.8%, to $78.36 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices started out in the red,
but rebounded as stocks opened higher and held even as equities
reversed lower. It was oil's first positive finish in a week.September
natural gas added 11 cents, or 2.3%, to $4.83 per million British
thermal units. A government report on storage levels showed a
smaller-than-anticipated increase for natural gas supplies.

Value60,737.28    
Change332.950     
% Change0.551

Conclusions

Another 15% of Upside from here is not unreasonable.

Anglo American Plc, the owner of stakes in the world’s biggest
platinum and diamond producers, said it’s resuming dividend payments
after first-half earnings more than doubled on higher metals prices.

Underlying earnings climbed to $1.84 a share from $0.91 a year
earlier, the London-based company said in a statement today. The
result compares with the $1.79 median of seven analyst forecasts
compiled by Bloomberg.

Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer of the
metal, agreed to pay $1.35 billion for a stake in Rio Tinto Group’s
Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, making its first investment in
the commodity.

Chalco, as the Beijing-based company is known, will acquire a 44.65
percent stake by funding development over the next two to three years,
the companies said in a joint statement. Today’s agreement follows an
initial accord on the project in March with Chinalco, Chalco’s
state-owned parent.

Rio is working to repair relations with China, its biggest customer,
after scrapping a $19.5 billion investment from Chinalco last year.
Chalco, facing a 12 percent drop in aluminum prices, will benefit from
tapping what London-based Rio has said is the world’s top undeveloped
iron ore deposit. The project could be worth about $9.5 billion,
according to UBS AG.

Value28,550.07    
Change182.810     
% Change0.644

Value6,316.52    
Change90.340     
% Change1.451

Conclusions

I believe it was pressured lower on concerns about the Health of
President Mubarak and concerns about the Transition.

Value5,080.69    
Change39.740     
% Change0.788

Conclusions

Record All Time Highs and the best Performing Stock Index on a 3 Year View.

Angola's economy should grow by 8.5 percent this year, boosted by
higher oil production and a pick-up in agriculture and diamond mining,
a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.The poll saw the budget deficit
narrowing to 3.5 percent of GDP this year, from an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate of 9.1 percent of GDP in 2009, when low
oil prices blew a hole in the country's finances.

"The fiscal and external accounts are expected to record surpluses in
2010 and 2011 due to higher oil production and oil prices," Standard
Chartered's Lopez said.

Conclusions

When They Launch their Stock Exchange, Things will be well worth a look.

IN A suburb of Lagos, Nigeria’s business capital, Yemisi Shyllon lives
in a house full of bronze statues of African tribal rulers and
brightly coloured beadwork landscapes. He may be Nigeria’s biggest art
collector, with some 6,000 pieces by his count. “I don’t go out much,”
he says, “I have enough to look at here.”

More recently, these collectors have realised that they have also been
canny investors. Their hobby has started to attract foreign
attention—and cash. At an auction of African art in New York in March,
the five most expensive lots were Nigerian. A painting by the late Ben
Enwonwu went for $91,000.

Conclusions

I think African Art [properly chosen] is practically a Sure thing.

SOWETO, South Africa – Sitting in his cramped, cluttered studio,
Richard Hlungwani, also known as Nozinja, also known as Dog, is
pushing the beat faster and faster.

"If it's too slow, they won't dance," Mr. Hlungwani says. "They will
tell you straight: 'It's too slow, can't it be faster?'"

Mr. Hlungwani, 40, is the producer and driving force behind a new,
ultra-fast take on traditional Shangaan music, which derives from the
ethnic group of the same name and originated in Mozambique and
northern South Africa.

Shangaan Electro, as it has been dubbed by U.S. and U.K.-based
promoters, is garnering attention both within South Africa and abroad.
The London record label Honest Jon's recently put out an album
("Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music from South Africa") of 12
tracks by various Shangaan artists that Mr. Hlungwani produced.

For comparison: Lady Gaga's hit song "Alejandro" is 99 beats per
minute. Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" is 130 beats per minute.
Even Outkast's "Bombs over Bagdad" is a mere 155 beats per minute.

In his studio, Mr. Hlungwani cues up a new, unreleased track that is
187 beats per minute.

"Before, Shangaan music was much slower, and the voices weren't
modified," Mr. Hlungwani says. "But who's gonna buy it? That one's for
old people."

The referendum on a comprehensive new constitution, to be held on
August 4th, is being hailed as a big step towards overhauling Kenya’s
creaking political system and giving people a better chance of
peaceful reform. But nerves are jangling in the run-up. The last time
the country went to the polls, in a general election at the end of
2007, the ensuing violence left 1,500 people dead and 300,000-plus
homeless.

The proposed constitution provides for an overhaul of the executive,
legislature and judiciary, together with a measure of devolution to
the regions. The country will still be ruled by an executive
president, but he (there is no prospect yet of a she) will be
constrained by checks and balances, and parliament will vet key
appointments that had previously been made by presidential fiat.
President and parliament will have fixed terms, with elections every
five years.

The constitution should also produce a total revamp of the judiciary
and the resignation of all incumbent judges. A new
judicial-appointments panel and a new supreme court will be created.

Conclusions

Aly-Khan Satchu wrote:
Jul 30th 2010 4:18 GMT

Constitution Making is a fiendishly complicated Affair but You cannot
accept that a Constitution designed for a Colonial Enterprise and Rule
by Imperial Diktat is something finely calibrated for a c21st Kenya.
Clearly, the Old Constitution gave the Keys to the Candy Store to
whomsoever won the Presidency and this was a situation that placed
intolerable Political Risk on the Country.

I feel you cannot underestimate the Sense of Closure, Political Risk
being squared off and a 'FeelGood' Factor that will take place if and
when the new Constitution is passed. It will be Cathartic at home and
will resonate abroad at exactly the time when Many can see that Kenya
is Route to a market of a 160m+ Souls.

The Passing of the New Constitution might well Tip Things.

An interesting aside is the degree that the US Administration is now
invested in this and the curious outcome [of many] where President
Obama is ranged on one side against a Muscular Christian Evangelical
Axis both here and in the US. I was sure some of the Racier Media
would have tried to make a meal of the fact that a US President was
supporting Kadhis Courts in a secular Country.

Aly-Khan Satchu
www.rich.co.ke

The Nairobi Stock Exchange's benchmark 20 Share Index closed trading
up 1.38 percent at 4398.32 points, with 15 gainers, three stocks
unchanged and two down.

"It's a breakout," said independent analyst Aly Khan Satchu, who
forecasts a 30 percent increase in the market's value by the year's
end.

"The market is pre-empting...the (constitutional) referendum is going
to be 'Yes' and buyers are stepping in ahead (of the result)."

Navigate from Here and click on the Share to see charts Fundamentals
etc www.rich.co.ke
http://j.mp/2Cxjco

Value76.63    
Change0.640     
% Change0.842

Kenya Airways Ltd. said cargo traffic rose 14 percent in the three
months ended June.

Passenger traffic to Europe rose 16 percent while traffic to Africa
and the Midldle East rose 13 percent, the Nairobi- based company said
in an e-mailed statement today. Traffic within Kenya fell 6 percent.

Par Value:                  5/-
Closing Price:          45.75
Total Shares Issued:          461,615,488
Market Capitalization:        21,119M
EPS:            4.40
PE:                10.398

The Shilling is firmer at 80.15

The NSE20 closed a further 40.26 points higher at 4438.58.This is a
new closing High for the Year.
The NASI rose 0.8 points to close at 97.74.
Market Cap was higher at 1.142581 Trillion versus 1.13320 Trillion.
Equity Turnover was higher at 383.283m versus 306.94m last time as
Buyers became a whole lot more pushy.

Sasini Tea closed 2.16% better at 14.20 and closed at 14.50 +4.32%
trading with 49,200 shares traded.
Kakuzi traded 600 shares at 82.00 +4.46%.
Rea Vipingo traded 700 shares at 17.25 -1.15%

Safaricom

shares volume 9.094m shares
avg price     5.88 Closing Price 5.85 +0.86%
high price     5.95
low price     5.80
last price     5.90

Conclusions

Safaricom is set to test the top of the range at 6.10 over the next
few sessions.

Safaricom share price data from www.rich.co.ke
http://j.mp/4cdZRM

Par Value:                  0.05/-
Closing Price:          5.80
Total Shares Issued:          40,000,000,000
Market Capitalization:        232,000M
EPS:            0.38
PE:                15.263

Kenya Airways rallied 2.18% to close at 46.75 and was trading at 50.00
+9.29% session highs into the close. kenya Airways traded 113,100
shares worth 5.3m and Sellers look scarce  up to 50.00 post the
Quarter Data released this Morning which improved on every Metric
[Cargo and Passengers] except for local Kenya Traffic.

Access Kenya rallied 3.11% to close at 19.90 and was trading session
highs of 20.00 +3.63% into the close. Access Kenya traded 346,900
shares worth 6.916m.

CMC Holdings firmed 2.48% to close 12.40 and traded a session high of
12.80 +5.79% into the Finish. CMC Holdings traded 76,900 shares.
CarGen traded 800 shares at an unchanged 48.50.

Nation traded 8,400 shares and closed at 142.00 a shilling lower.
Standard closed at 37.75.

TPS Serena traded 49,100 shares and closed at 58.00,.

ScanGroup was unchanged at 36.25 and traded 15,800 shares.

KCB was the most actively traded Counter at the Bourse and firmed a
further 1.06% to close at 19.00 and traded 4.169m shares worth
79.223m. KCB trades at a steep and unjustified discount to its Peers
[about 40% after factoring the Dilution and 1st Half earnings rebound]
and has effectively jumped to a Position which is ahead of the Curve
with its Rights Issue Infusion of just under $200m.

KCB share price data www.rich.co.ke
http://j.mp/bshUrU

Par Value:                  1/-
Closing Price:          18.80
Total Shares Issued:          2,217,777,664
Market Capitalization:        41,694M
EPS:            2.05
PE:                9.171

Stanchart firmed 1.2% to close at 254.00 and traded a 253.00-257.00
range and 6,700 shares. 257.00 is its all time Closing High which was
matched this week.
Equity Bank was the 2nd most actively Counter and closed unchanged at
23.75 and traded a 23.75-24.00 range and 2.357m shares worth 56.579m.
COOP Bank traded 4th at the Bourse and closed at 15.00 +0.67%. COOP
Bank is 3.22% off its all time closing High of 15.50. COOP Bank traded
2.439m shares worth 36.591m.
Barclays Bank was unchanged at 66.00 and traded a 66.00-68.00 range
and 166,700 shares worth 11.005m

Centum surged 6.2% to close at 22.00 and traded a 20.75-22.50 range
and good volume of 399,300 shares worth 8.830m.

Jubilee rallied 4.82% to close at 174.00 and traded a 169.00-175.00
range and 57,200 shares.
Kenya Re rallied a further 2.9% to close at 12.40 and traded an
11.60-12.85 range and 388,700 shares.
PanAfric traded a 1,000 shares at 68.00 +6.25%.

NBK rose 1.3% to close at 39.00 and traded 99,300 shares.
HFCK firmed 2.15% to close at 23.75 and traded 80,000 shares.
CFC StanBic firmed 2.4266% to close at 84.50 and traded 8,000 shares.
DTB traded 200 shares at 96.00 +2.13%.
NIC eased 1.25% to close at 39.50 and traded 30,600 shares.

Olympia Capital closed at 7.15 and traded 22,400 shares.

BAT was the 5th most actively traded Counter and rallied 2.05% to
close at 249.00. BAT traded a 242.00-250.00 range and 87,200 shares
worth 21.772m. BAT is set to test is all time high of 257.00 printed
on 15 Jan 2007. This Closing Level is therefore a 3 and a half Year
closing high [versus a Bourse that is at 23 month Highs].

BAT share price data www.rich.co.ke
http://j.mp/aJsT6n

Par Value:                  10/-
Closing Price:          244.00
Total Shares Issued:          100,000,000
Market Capitalization:        24,400M
EPS:            14.78
PE:                16.509

Athi River Mining rallied 2.65% to close at 155.00 a new all time
Closing High in what has been a Succession of them. ARM traded a
150.00-160.00 range and 76,900 shares worth 11.927m.

Athi River Mining share price data www.rich.co.ke
http://j.mp/4slEGv

Par Value:                  5/-
Closing Price:          151.00
Total Shares Issued:          99,055,000
Market Capitalization:        14,957M
EPS:            6.52
PE:                23.160

Bamburi Cement was unchanged at 200.00 and traded 4,500 shares.
Portland did not trade.

KenGen improved 1.15% to close at 17.45 and was in fact trading 17.95
+4.06% session highs into the close. KenGen traded 263,200 shares
worth 4.603m.
KPLC closed 2.08% stronger to close at 196.00 and traded a
195.00-198.00 range and 19,500 shares.
Cables rose 1.32% to close at 19.25 and traded 72,800 shares.

EABL firmed 1.10% to close at 183.00 which is a 23 Month Closing High.
EABL traded 44,400 shares and announced its Serengeti Purchase had
received the Regulatory Nod.

Mumias Sugar rose 0.37% to close at 13.65. Mumias Sugar has rebounded
some 10% this week. Mumias Sugar traded a 13.00-13.85 range and 698,20
shares worth 9.532m.

Total bounced 2.52% to close at 30.50 and traded 18,300 shares.
KenolKobil eased 0.49% to close at 10.10 and traded a 10.05-10.40
range and 1.207m shares worth 12.21m.

Crown Berger spiked 4.41% to close at 35.50 and traded 17,700 shares.

BOC Kenya traded 500 shares at 138.00 -1.43%.
Carbacid eased 0.64% to close at 156.00 and traded 300 shares.
Eveready was unchanged at 3.85 and traded 246,000 shares.
Sameer closed 5 cents easier at 8.65 and traded 102,800 shares.
Unga closed at 12.45 and traded 15,500 shares.