ICIS Blogs : credit crunch

Adultery signals for traders

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:51:03 GMT

My fellow-blogger, Barbara, cleverly spotted this week's 'Global Traders Summit' in Singapore. Had this blog been there, it would have mentioned the latest, apparently fool-proof, way to determine stock market turning points, based on bankers'...(read more)

Paul's Credit Crunch Jokes

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:57:35 GMT

My fellow blogger, Paul Hodges, on his Chemicals and the Economy blog , has posted some more credit crunch jokes . (photo Rex) Read More......(read more)

Beat the credit crunch - Private Eye video

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:01:53 GMT

I like Private Eye's spoof on newspapers' tips on how to beat the credit crunch, read by comedians Harry Enfield, John Sessions, Lewis MacLeod and Jan Ravens, and filmed on stage at London's Lyttelton Theatre. "Don't serve expensive...(read more)

Credit crisis losses head for $4 trillion

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:18:24 GMT

To misquote the famous HL Mencken phrase, "nobody ever went broke under-estimating the losses caused by the credit crisis". Initially, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke estimated the losses at just $100bn . Then, a year ago, the IMF said its estimate...(read more)

FT's Gillian Tett named 'Journalist of the Year'

Chemicals & The Economy — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:41:51 GMT

The blog is delighted that the Financial Times' Gillian Tett has been named Journalist of the Year, in the annual UK awards. She was the first journalist to call attention to the dangers developing in financial markets, and has been an invaluable...(read more)

IMF says "demand has collapsed", sees "deflation risk"

Chemicals & The Economy — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:40:49 GMT

A year ago , the International Monetary Fund rightly warned that the world was facing a "serious economic slowdown". This week , it has updated its forecasts, and now "expects the global economy to come to a virtual standstill in 2009"...(read more)

INEOS announce €1bn inventory loss in Q4

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:14:22 GMT

In early October , I forecast that we were about to revisit "the scariest moment of my 30 year chemical career", adding that: "The moment the blog has long feared, and warned about , may be about to arrive. It appears that we may be about...(read more)

Shanghai region slows

Chemicals & The Economy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 06:02:17 GMT

The Yangtze River Delta region (which includes Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang) accounted for 22% of China's GDP in 2007. It is focused on exports to the USA and EU, and is a major centre for chemicals production. But now, like the Pearl River Delta...(read more)

Eurozone under pressure

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:28:12 GMT

Early last year, the blog flagged up a warning from Gillian Tett in the Financial Times that Iceland could go bankrupt , as its banks were "too big to rescue". Yet at the time, the United Nations had listed it as having "the highest standard...(read more)

IMF warns on recession's "social consequences"

Chemicals & The Economy — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:14:46 GMT

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has a surprisingly hard-hitting interview today in Bloomberg. Casting aside normal central bank reticence he warns: • Their current $1.4 trillion forecast of global financial losses...(read more)

Obama's new Plan reveals "uncertainty"

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:36:24 GMT

The new ACC weekly report rightly notes that "any economic recovery will likely begin with a turnaround in the residential housing situation". This is also the critical issue for the chemical industry, still reeling from last week's Lyondell...(read more)

US job losses worst since 1945

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:52:30 GMT

The US suffered 2.589 million job losses in 2008, making it the worst year since 1945 . December's 524k losses caused the jobless rate to rise to 7.2%, the highest since 1994. Equally, the average work week fell to a record low of 33.3 hours. Stock...(read more)

Bank shares drop on LyondellBasell exposure

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:07:59 GMT

The fallout from the Lyondell bankruptcy continues to grow. One analyst has suggested Swiss bank UBS has exposure of $500m - $1.5bn . Other banks, including the UK's RBS, also have large exposures. Writing-off these debts will in turn reduce the banks'...(read more)

The Credit Crunch Anthem

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:01:23 GMT

This comedy credit crunch song "Caution to the Wind" to the tune of "Candle in the Wind" is a cheerful little tune you can hum along to while reading all the gloomy news about bankruptcy on ICIS news. Starring Gordon Brown and George...(read more)

US auto sales at 1992 levels

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:20:20 GMT

December was another bad month for US auto sales, with volumes down 36% versus 2007. Total 2008 sales of 13.2 million were the lowest since 1992, when the economy bottomed in the 1990-4 recession. As the chart shows, sales volumes dropped continuously...(read more)