ICISConnect

Browse by Tags

A sombre outlook

Housing is a vital market for chemical companies. It boomed in the US and other Western countries as credit standards were relaxed between 2003-7. Now it is at the centre of the credit crunch. Martin Feldstein, Harvard economics professor, and the man who chairs the Board that determines the duration...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-27-2008
The 'slow motion train wreck' continues

A year ago, the noted investment analyst, Jeremy Grantham, described the credit crisis as a 'slow motion train wreck'. The Financial Times has now updated the metaphor to describe what has happened since. It notes that train crashes happen more quickly than economic ones, and that there are pauses...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-19-2008
BASF reduce 2008 global GDP forecast

BASF have now reduced their 2008 GDP forecast from 2.8% to 2.4%. This may sound a small amount, but it means it is now in line with the Global Downturn Scenario set out in our Feedstocks for Profit Study. Previously, it had been just below our Base Case Scenario. CEO Jurgen Hambrecht still sounds confident...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-19-2008
Bank of England warns on inflation

Andrew Sentance of the Bank of England has issued a very clear analysis of current oil and commodity price movements. It rejects the view that these have been caused by speculators. Instead it points to increasing demand, and lack of supply, as the principal causes of today's higher prices. The slide...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-17-2008
The 'difficult task of damage control'

The central bankers' bank (the Bank for International Settlements) is not very impressed with its members' efforts over the past year. Readers may remember that its Report last year explicitly warned of the problems that were about to occur in world financial markets. This year's Report expresses...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-08-2008
The blog's first birthday

Its now a year since the blog started. Since then, 213 postings have appeared. It is now read in 72 countries and 620 cities (shown above). Most encouragingly, readership continues to steadily increase. Since January, it has risen a further 301%. The blog's aim is to identify 'the influences...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-05-2008
Interesting quotes (5)

Every now and then , a few interesting quotes come along, which seem to recent summarise developments, and set the tone for the next few months. The last few days is a good example of this process at work: 'The era of cheap energy is over, as oil production isn't rising fast enough to meet demand...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 06-09-2008
High inflation, or global downturn?

Central bankers had it easy over the past decade. Now they are going to have to earn their money. Inflation is rising rapidly, and growth rates are falling. But unfortunately, as I first noted back in March , they still seem to have differing ideas about what policies will best counter these twin challenges...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 06-08-2008
Dow raises prices by up to 20%

Dow today announced that it is raising prices for 'all of its products by up to 20 percent - depending on their exposure to rising energy, feedstock and transportation costs - and will review all terms to all customers'. Dow CEO, Andrew Liveris, said that Dow's 'first quarter feedstock...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 05-28-2008
Interest rates to rise by the end of May

Headline interest rates are set by central banks. But the ones that we actually pay, as consumers or companies, are set by the banks themselves. And most of these are based on LIBOR - the London Inter-Bank Offer Rate - which is the main benchmark for $62 trillion of borrowing around the world. Now it...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 05-14-2008

Page 1 of 4 (33 items) 1 2 3 4 Next >