ICIS connect - chemical blogs

Global financial crisis jokes

As the crisis deepens and chemical markets tumble, the jokes are circulating on yahoo messenger to get the industry through a Friday afternoon. 1 Japanese joke You think things are bad in the USA, but have you heard about the crisis in Japan? Apparently...

Published 10 Oct 2008 18:26 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: trivia, economy, corporate life, jokes, humour, financial crisis

FT’s subprime jokes page

Those who liked my earlier posting about Margin calling, might like to look at the new online Financial Times page devoted to subprime jokes. It mentions the prospect of a new breakfast cereal being launched, ‘Credit Crunch’. One hopes this won’t be served...

Published 26 Mar 2008 9:04 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Currencies, Financial Events, credit crunch, Futures trading, M & A, Leverage

Drying of the West

You might not want to build an ethanol plant west of the Mississippi after you've read this article in National Geographic Magazine about the Drying of the West . It looks like the Western states of the US have been enjoying something of a bath for...

Published 28 Jan 2008 9:29 by The Big Biofuels Blog

Filed under: America, USA, US, Water, Environment, Geographic, rain, National, rainfall

Green blog burn out

The Green blogger is under deadline for the rest of the week and will not be able to post (and answer blog-related emails) until Monday. Sorry folks, gotta earn my keep! I'll be back on Monday with a wrap-up of [some of] last week's American Oil...

Published 8 May 2009 17:51 by Green Chemicals

Filed under: General

Interesting analysis of credit crunch causes

I thought the following Executive Summary of the causes of the credit crisis was hard to beat: 'Investment banks leapt into commercial banking without the deposit base, while commercial banks went into investment banking without knowing risk management...

Published 28 Apr 2008 10:25 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, M & A, Leverage, Wall Street, global downturn, Pension funds

AOCS wrap-up Day 2

[Photo of AOCS annual meeting 1945. Photo Credit: AOCS] The second day at the American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) centennial meeting was particularly interesting as in their Hot Topics Symposia for the morning session, I have to choose between Historical...

Published 13 May 2009 23:55 by Green Chemicals

Filed under: General, R&D, palm oil, sustainability, surfactant, unilever, Kimberly-Clark, AOCS

Deutsche Bank ends porn channel expenses

Spare a thought for the plight of the world’s investment bankers. According to the Financial Times, some minor cutbacks are finally taking place in the extravagant lifestyle to which they have come accustomed: • UBS, having lost $11bn in Q1 , has now...

Published 9 May 2008 11:38 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, M & A, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, investment bankers, Deutsche Bank, UBS

Gory anti-freeze murder case

A US court convicted a man of murdering his wife by poisoning with ethylene glycol ( MEG ) anti-freeze, according to this gruesome article which my colleague Nel found today on CNN.com/crime. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The case...

Published 3 Jul 2008 14:30 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: chemicals, MEG, murder, glycol, anti-freeze

New chemicals brokers: Blue Ocean Brokerage

The Blog has received a nice calling card in this morning's emails from Kevin, Marcelo and Gerry in New York who are announcing the set-up of their new outfit, Blue Ocean Brokerage. The three ex-Starsupply brokers will be based in their offices on...

Published 2 Jun 2008 10:10 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: chemicals, trading, gossip, corporate life, Blue Ocean Brokerage, Starsupply

MV Fedra grounding at Gibraltar

A fertilizer contact has sent in these spectacular pictures of the MV Fedra running aground at Gibraltar in October. The background music doesn't seem entirely appropriate, and the slide show is a bit slow. Read More...

Published 13 Nov 2008 13:50 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: shipping, Gibraltar, dry bulk cargo, MV Fedra

Enron - London theatre to stage new play

A new play entitled "Enron" will be coming to the London stage in September, and the Blog can't wait to see it. Starring Tim Pigott-Smith as Ken Lay and Samuel West as Jeffrey Skilling, the play at the Royal Court theatre in Sloane Square...

Published 22 Jun 2009 14:55 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: trading, traders, media life, theatre, plays, swaps, Royal Court, Enron

EPCA Berlin 2009 Opening Party at Mercedes World

With perfect timing, EPCA has announced today that the 2009 conference will showcase the abiding links between the chemical business and the automotive industry . " EPCA EXHIBITON AT MERCEDES WORLD - BERLIN - 4 TO 7 OCTOBER 2008 EPCA will organize...

Published 23 Dec 2008 14:03 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: conferences, parties, BASF, hi-tech, automotive, cars, Berlin, Mercedes, EPCA 2009, CEFIC

Shipping news: Titan Uranus

I saw this on BBC2's "Have I got a bit more news for you" on Saturday. Surely it is a fake, because the well-known Titan Petrochemicals fleet of very large crude carriers and coastal tankers lists only the Titan Mercury, Titan Aries, Titan...

Published 24 Nov 2008 9:07 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: trivia, shipping, crude, Titan, coastal tankers, Titan Uranus

The nudist beach on Wall Street

When you're the richest man in the world, you can generally say what you think. Thus Warren Buffett reflected reality back in March , when he commented that 'by any commonsense definition, the US is in recession'. Yesterday, he probably ruffled...

Published 23 Aug 2008 11:49 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, M & A, Leverage, Warren Buffett, subprime crisis

New Car BOGOF

It's hard to believe but with no-one buying new cars, one car manufacturer is offering a Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF). If you're interested in a brand new Dodge Avenger SXT 2.4i saloon, you can buy one for £20,000 ($32,000) and get another one...

Published 5 Nov 2008 12:35 by ICIS Chemicals Confidential

Filed under: trivia, automotive, BOGOF cars, car offers, free cars, Dodge, Avenger