Tanker Weekly – February 14, 2011
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index rose 5.7%; Baltic Clean Tanker Index fell 3.5%.
Some supply/demand tightens into the end of February, but my guess is that supply will emerge and rates will remain range bound.
Archive for February, 2011
Chinese Trade Balance Surplus Unexpectedly Declined In January
China trade balance was reported at USD 6.5 billion vs. USD 13.1 billion in December and USD 11.3 billion consensus. Export and import growth were running at 37.7 and 51.6 percent vs. 17.9% and 25.6% in December.
Trade balance shrunk on increased imports before holidays and on rising pressure from commodity prices.
Book Reviews: This Time is Different By Carmen M. Reinhart And Kenneth Rogoff
This is the ultimate reference book for history of financial crises. Authors constructed a unique database covering data series from every single major financial crisis in the span of last 800 years, conducted a thorough research and wrote their findings in this book.
This is exactly why I find “This Time is Different” so fascinating – it is completely based on facts.
This book is an absolute must read for everyone interested in economics and financial markets.
U.S. Freight Carloads Weekly – February 12, 2011
U.S. railroads originated 267,682 carloads, down 0.1% compared with the same week in 2010 and down 6.3% compared with 5-year average. Week over week change was -8.1%.
Large weekly drop as a result of bad weather.
Hosni Mubarak Resigns
Bloomberg: Hosni Mubarak Resignation (Text of Statement)
Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt and handed power to the military, bowing to the demands of protesters who have occupied central Cairo for the past three weeks demanding an end to his 30-year rule.
February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Preliminary Reading At 75.1
February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment preliminary reading was reported at 75.1 vs. 75.0 consensus and 74.2 January reading.
U.S. Trade Deficit At $-40.6 Billion In December
U.S. trade balance for December was reported at $-40.6 billion vs. consensus of $-40.5 billion and November reading of $-38.3 billion.
Morning Reading – Friday, February 11, 2011
*** Pragmatic Capitalism: The bond vigilantes await Portugal with open arms ***
*** The Big Picture: Once More Unto the Breach . . . ***
*** FT Alphaville: Man strolls back into burning platform ***
*** FT Alphaville: Monthly foreclosures start climbing again ***
*** FT Alphaville: Prepare for a major market over-reaction ***
*** China Financial Markets: Chinese stock markets and European politics ***
*** FTBeyondBRICs: Vietnam’s dong: what next? ***
U.S. Natural Gas Weekly – February 11, 2011
Working gas in storage fell 209 Bcf from previous week. The consensus was at 197 Bcf.
Storage level is 71 Bcf lower than same time year ago.
Morning Reading – Thursday, February 10, 2011
*** The Big Picture: The Battle of Bull vs Bear ***
*** The Big Picture: Risk Management: Watch the Hang Seng ***
*** FT Alphaville: Conspiracies and a lack of contango in silver ***
*** FT Alphaville: SEC probes ‘ETF-stripping’ by insider traders — FT ***
*** FT Alphaville: Portugal, unmoored ***
*** FT Alphaville: Return of the ECB bond purchases… ***
*** Macro Man: How to Catch Knives and Weekend at Abdullah’s ***
*** JESSE’S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN: Showdown in the Metals Markets: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble ***
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims At 383.000; Down 36.000
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 383.000 vs. 410.000 consensus; last week revised (up 4.000) reading was at 419.000.
Lot of noise in data; Big weekly decline.
U.S. Petroleum Weekly – February 10, 2011
Crude oil stocks rising, markets well supplied, demand weak. The price of oil mostly unchanged.
MBA Mortgage Applications Fell 5.5%
MBA mortgage applications fell 5.5%; Prior reading was an increase of 11.3%; On year level MBA Basic Index is down 24.2%.
Morning Reading – Wednesday, February 9, 2011
*** The Big Picture: 90/10 Day Was 7 Days Ago, and That Means . . . ***
*** The Big Picture: Are Companies Now Gaming Revenue Estimates? ***
*** FT Alphaville: ‘Nokia, our platform is burning.’ ***
*** FT BeyondBRICs: Chart of the week: the “Arab moment” ***
*** Calculated Risk: A Dab of Color: Transportation ***
*** Calculated Risk: CoreLogic: House Prices declined 1.8% in December ***
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index For January At 94.1
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for January was reported at 94.1 vs. consensus of 94.0 and prior reading of 92.6.
Highest post-recession reading.