Daily Reading – January 27,2011
BoingBoing: Dubai’s artificial islands “sinking”
Dubai’s “The World,” a collection of artificial islands designed to resemble a map of planet Earth, is reportedly sinking back into the water.
The Slope Of Hope: A Moment of Silence
It’s enough to make one want to give up. Nothing – – – not riots, not joblessness, not foreclosures – – – seems able to fight the Treasury’s commitment to asset inflation. As we pause here to consider the S&P has doubled in value since twenty-two long months ago and, for the first time since September 2, 2008, has penetrated the 1300 line, we wipe away a tear and think of what might have been.
The Big Picture: Has the Dow Entered a New Trading Range?
Courtesy of Chris Kimble, check out the potential breakout — or is it fakeout? — of the Dow Industrials, below…
FT Alphaville: A record WTI-Brent spread, a new paradigm
Here it is, the all time record spread between CME WTI front-month future crude and ICE Brent front-month future crude…
FT Alphaville: The global inflation loop, a quick guide
From Morgan Stanley’s ever-inflationary Joachim Fels and co…
FT Alphaville: Japan downgrade: The (umpteenth) denouement
Thursday’s move by S&P to downgrade Japan’s sovereign credit rating was about as surprising as the inevitably tragic outcome of a much-loved kabuki play. Equally predictable, the rating agency cited the government’s lack of a clear strategy in reducing Japan’s large debt burden, currently around 200 per cent of GDP.
FT BeyondBRICs: Egypt: bye-bye to the carry trade?
Egypt has been a locus of that enduring emerging market passion, the carry trade, and that’s why the unfolding political crisis matters to so many foreign investors.
Macro Man: BDIY Underwater
Moving onto something less “tabloid” there has been a continued slow boil of news headlines about Bulk Dry and how it’s almost back to the 08-09 lows. People often look at BDIY and assume that its some kind of proxy for commodities demand and that as a result it should move somewhat in line with commodity prices and particularly Chinese imports. As usual when one looks only at demand you’ve got half the story. The other half is below. White is the total in thousands of Deadweight Tons in service for bulk carriers and orange is the % of the total fleet on order and green is the level of BDIY.