ICIS Blogs : leverage

World Bank sees deeper recession

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:57:51 GMT

The chemical industry is always a leading indicator of the global economy. One of the blog's oldest friends used to be a central banker, and he made no secret of the fact that our discussions about demand levels were often an important factor in his...(read more)

After destocking, chemical volumes remain down 15-20%

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:06:24 GMT

The great wave of destocking is finally coming to an end. And it is clear that underlying global demand is well below previous "normal" levels. The evidence for this can be seen in the above chart, based on American Chemistry Council data, which...(read more)

Ineos appoint Morgan Stanley for Grangemouth

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:19:52 GMT

The blog's close eye on Scotland's media has again been rewarded this morning, as 'The Scotsman' reveals that Ineos have appointed Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, to advise on the sale of Grangemouth. It suggests that a company such...(read more)

Ineos talks of PetroChina deal for Grangemouth

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:51:34 GMT

The 'Falkirk Herald', based close to Ineos's Grangemouth facility in Scotland, is not normally the place that the blog would look for news of the potential sale of a major part of the world's 4th largest chemical company. However, that...(read more)

Industrial output decline follows Depression trend

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:34:22 GMT

Sweden is an influential adviser on credit crunch issues. This is because of the lessons it learned during its own major banking collapse in the early 1990's, which has close parallels with today's global crisis. Its central bank argues that the...(read more)

Soccer star Ronaldo sold for £80m (€94m, $130m)

Chemicals & The Economy — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:33:02 GMT

The European soccer transfer market is a good example of a market where sentiment often outweighs fundamentals. Research by London's Cass Business School shows that transfer fees have only a 16% correlation with success on the pitch. They found that...(read more)

V-shaped sellers meet L-shaped buyers

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:48:35 GMT

Picture: www.businessoffashion.com A senior figure in the investment community told the blog recently that companies' views on the outlook for the economy seemed to vary according to their own financial position, "the stronger the balance sheet...(read more)

Germany attacks central bank policy

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:47:37 GMT

During the growth years, it became fashionable for politicians to claim that central banks were "independent". But as the current crisis has grown, this has been increasingly exposed as a myth. As the blog noted back in September 2007 , Alan...(read more)

Difficult decisions loom on future US auto demand

Chemicals & The Economy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:54:25 GMT

By the end of May last year, 6.2m autos had been sold in the US market, each containing $2700 of chemicals (according to the ACC). The total sales value to the chemical industry was $16.8bn. So far this year, just 3.9m autos have been sold, with a value...(read more)

Markets in Wonderland

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:41:19 GMT

"Sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast" said the Queen in Lewis Carroll's famous book, 'Alice in Wonderland' Today would have been a good day for her to practise this ability, as she read...(read more)

May's top posts

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:38:56 GMT

The 3 most popular posts in May were: Dow, Ineos focus on debt issues Rotterdam oil storage running out of space Green shoots likely to be yellow weeds The blog will be celebrating its 2nd birthday at the end of the month. I would welcome your comments...(read more)

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)

Saudi confirms $75/bbl oil price target

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:10:43 GMT

Back in December , the blog analysed statements by King Abdullah, and concluded that Saudi Arabia had a 'target range' for oil prices of $75 - 100/bbl. Yesterday , this analysis was confirmed by Saudi Oil Minister, Ali Naimi, who said the world...(read more)

China and US house prices

Chemicals & The Economy — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:39:03 GMT

The Financial Times highlights the overwhelming importance of falling US house prices to the outlook for the global economy. It notes that prices are now falling by 2.2%/month, causing a $380bn wealth loss in March alone. It adds that if prices continue...(read more)

US house prices, building permits, see record declines

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:27:24 GMT

US house prices are still seeing "record declines" according to today's Case-Shiller home price index . The national price was down 19.1% from March 2008, and 32% from the Q2 2006 peak. As before, the over-built Sunbelt led the way, with...(read more)