Source of picture: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23512037/ CHINA is making export gains at the expense of other higher-cost competitors that might not be sustainable because of reasons including rising trade protectionism and economic rebalancing. Chemical companies need to factor in this risk – and take into account how overall demand might merely be shifting location […]
Asian Chemical Connections
How ridiculous does ridiculous have to get?
“YES, I HEAR YOU – I’M LISTENING….” Source of picture: New York Daily News How ridiculous does crude-oil pricing have to become before regulatory reforms occur that limit the role of financial speculation in a helpful way? This was the question being asked by a refining industry source today after he had read this […]
The Iranian investment struggle
Source of picture: www.textually.org The political sensitivity surrounding Iran is so great that US-based companies are not even allowed to attend presentations by Iranian officials at conferences, a source said. “I witnessed a recent walk-out during a presentation by the National Iranian Oil & Distribution Company (NIODC),” he said. But a European office […]
Wearing blinkers is a job requirement
“Take it from me, peripheral vision isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially if you want to get a decent annual bonus….” Source of picture: www.whipnspurs.co.nz Here’s a rant for Tuesday – with thanks to Paul Hodges for informing some of the thinking (I’d like to lay credit to certain parts of this…) Purchasing […]
Beware of the usual smoke and mirrors
Flying the flag for Q3… Source of picture: etftrends.com Yes, Q3 earnings season is almost upon us with the usual headline-grabbing improvements in carefully selected reported numbers. What this season might tell us about the overall direction of everything is, to start the week on yet another pessimistic note, hardly uplifting. John Authers is once […]
Chemical execs go long on realism
Offsetting the risk of being over-optimistic? Source of picture: thetradingpit.net MAYBE there should futures contracts in realism versus recklessness. That way any senior company executive who wants to take a punt on next year being better than 2009 can offset the risk by going “realistic” on the futures markets – and, of course, vice […]
China’s Renewed Deflation Threat
“THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I WAS SITTING AROUND UNSOLD FOR MONTHS AND THEN WAS FORCED TO JOIN A SANTA FLEET-HIRE SCHEME. HOW HUMILIATING” Source of picture: www.diytrade.com BEWARE the prophets of recovery in exports of Chinese manufactured goods during the current Christmas buying season. Labour markets in the key export-processing provinces, such as Guangdong, are reported […]
A Generational Shift In Attitudes To Debt?
Britain’s last generational shift: The 1980s Miners Strike: Source of picture: www.wsws.org My late parents hated even the concept of debt – let alone the insanely irresponsible error of actually borrowing money. This is not surprising as my father could remember, when he was a boy, queuing for free food handouts during the Great Depression. My […]
Is the risk of staying long worth it?
Source of picture: Time.com Yesterday I talked about lack of willingness by western banks to lend money because their focus was on rebuilding reserves. But Steven Major, Global Head of HSBC’s Fixed Income Strategy Team, puts a different spin on the problem. In the Fragile Recovery video from the Financial Times’ View […]
“It’s the level, stupid – it’s not the growth rates….”
…..said Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England Source of picture: northbriton45blogspot.com ANY excitement over US house-price figures for July – which showed the biggest monthly gain for years when they were released yesterday – has to be put into the kind of context that undermines a lot of recent positive economic numbers. The […]
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