It only took 2 days for a shocking example to confirm my concern on Monday about the volatility being created by central bank stimulus: As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) chart shows, a major oil price move took place early in Wednesday’s trading US WTI oil had been trading below $44/bbl, when suddenly prices jumped from […]
Chemicals and the Economy
China’s auto slowdown to push spare capacity into export markets
Where would the world’s auto industry, and its suppliers, have been without China in recent years? And how will they manage now China’s demand for new cars is slowing fast? These are the question troubling companies and investors as Q3 sales are analysed. The chart above shows the recent history of sales in the Top […]
Budgeting for the Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus
There have been 35 “flash crashes” in US oil markets so far this year, when prices swung up or down by 200 basis points (2%) – before reversing the move by > 0.75%. That’s 35 occasions when the markets were out of control. It is tempting to blame this on misfiring algorithms at the […]
1bn people joining New Old 55+ mean pension promises turn sour
How long is it before you expect to receive a pension? How much do you hope it is going to be? These are key questions for all of us. And, of course, they are key for companies as well. They can only sell to people who need – and can afford – their products and […]
Oil price rally disappears along with hopes of more stimulus
Many people in financial markets were hoping a new QE4 stimulus programme would be announced at the recent IMF meeting in Peru. Unsurprisingly, markets rallied in anticipation: Brent oil was at $44/bbl on 24 August, and rallied to $56/bbl within a week The US S&P 500 Index rallied from 1823 to 1979 over the same period […]
Deflation returns to the major economies as stimulus fails, again
Next week, I will publish my annual Budget Outlook, covering the 2016-2018 period. The aim, as always, is to challenge conventional wisdom when this seems to be heading in the wrong direction: The 2007 Outlook ‘Budgeting for a Downturn‘, and 2008’s ‘Budgeting for Survival’ meant I was one of the few to forecast the 2008 Crisis 2009′s ‘Budgeting […]
Cash poor, time rich US consumers cause retail sales to plateau
US retail sales have failed to see the rise that most economists, and the US Federal Reserve, confidently forecast at the beginning of the year. The theory was that lower oil prices would stimulate discretionary spending, and ensure that the long-promised economic recovery finally arrived. But September sales were up just 0.1% versus August, and […]
The “China Chill” slows global economy and petrochemicals
There were record numbers at last week’s European Petrochemical Association annual meeting in Berlin. But most of the 2900 attendees were in subdued mood. Once again, it seems, the industry has chosen to sanction vast new investment at the top of the cycle, and will now suffer the consequences as it all comes online at […]
5 Critical Questions every Company and Investor Need to Answer
Today’s uncertain economic and oil price environment has created chaos in petrochemical feedstock and product markets. This creates major risks for producers, consumers and investors. ICIS and International eChem have therefore decided to combine our resources to launch a new Study, that will analyse the potential impact of these developments on the olefins, aromatics and […]
China focuses on mobile internet for domestic growth
China’s President Xi went to Seattle at the start of his recent US visit, to meet the leading US internet companies. It was the clearest possible signal of his priorities for the future of China’s economy under his New Normal policies. He spent half a day on the Microsoft campus, and had a private dinner […]