This is off topic, but bears a mention nonetheless.
The Three Gorges Dam is located on the Yangtze river in Hubei province China
more details on the Three Gorges Dam (For anyone who didn't know about it yet, this is one MEGA hydro electricity + flood control project in China)
Torrential rain, flooding and rising water levels resulted in the authorities needing to release water and monitor water levels closely.
Just goes to remind us of the humongous power of nature and her ability to test and sometimes defeat mankinds' ever improving technological and construction engineering skills.
So far, the Dam has survived its massive stress test.
Let's hope the raging waters subside & everything ends peacefully and that loss of life stays at a minimum.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
BALTIC DRY INDEX
Well this chart is not as positive about the outlook of the world economy, as the guys on Wall Street are!
David Rosenberg refers to the slide in shipping rates since May 2010 as a ''deflationary stand - alone event''
Some may choose not to admit it, but the ''recovery'' is slowing. Lingering debt worries (both sovereign and private), continue to remind us that all is not well, and that it's time to cut back and take some chips off the table.
Friday, July 16, 2010
SHANGHAI COMPOSITE IND. vs. DJIA
The Shanghai Composite is clearly not mirroring the move in the DJIA. Chinese stock markets are testing new lows for the year as concerns of a stumbling recovery in the developed markets continue.
Will we see a revaluation in the Chinese Yuan? Currency markets have been all over the place. The Euro has rebounded of recent panic lows even as sovereign debt troubles in the 'PIIGS' nations remain unresolved
.
The USD has given back some of its recent gains, mainly due to an improving risk appetite and the subsequent rebound in global equities.
But as David Rosenberg recently said, are the Chinese Equity markets and the Baltic Dry Index warning investors that we could be in for a difficult second half in FY10?
Perhaps it's now time to be cutting back on risky assets and looking at minimizing portfolio volatility.
Will we see a revaluation in the Chinese Yuan? Currency markets have been all over the place. The Euro has rebounded of recent panic lows even as sovereign debt troubles in the 'PIIGS' nations remain unresolved
.The USD has given back some of its recent gains, mainly due to an improving risk appetite and the subsequent rebound in global equities.
But as David Rosenberg recently said, are the Chinese Equity markets and the Baltic Dry Index warning investors that we could be in for a difficult second half in FY10?
Perhaps it's now time to be cutting back on risky assets and looking at minimizing portfolio volatility.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
DAVID ROSENBERG ON VOLATILITY
Here are some charts from David Rosenberg.
It's been one hell of a roller coaster and frankly, many investors are now sea sick!!
David Rosenberg has also been alerting our attention to the slumping Chinese equity markets and the Baltic Dry Index, which have had hardly any coverage in the financial news.
These are no ordinary times....
Friday, July 9, 2010
S&P 500 : Where to next??
Global Equity markets are as volatile as ever.
Should you double up on stocks or expect a double dip around the corner instead?
The news flow is almost manic.
Confusing and contradicting data and news flow have made the last few months a rally testing time for investors.
Some pundits are calling for the resumption of a bull market, while others like David Rosenberg and Robert Prechter are expecting the markets to head back down again.
Data from the US Housing market and US unemployment numbers continue to be weak.
Sovereign debt worries have not yet been resolved.
Graham Summers over at ''Gains Pains & Capital'' put up some interesting charts.
(http://www.gainspainscapital.com/)
Perhaps now is not the best time to be doubling up on risk.
Meanwhile as Mr Summers rightly points out, the Bond market is continuing on its upward trend. David Rosenberg is another ''bond'' fan who seeks 'safety and income' at a reasonable price in these volatile markets.
Should you double up on stocks or expect a double dip around the corner instead?
The news flow is almost manic.
Confusing and contradicting data and news flow have made the last few months a rally testing time for investors.
Some pundits are calling for the resumption of a bull market, while others like David Rosenberg and Robert Prechter are expecting the markets to head back down again.
Data from the US Housing market and US unemployment numbers continue to be weak.
Sovereign debt worries have not yet been resolved.
Graham Summers over at ''Gains Pains & Capital'' put up some interesting charts.
(http://www.gainspainscapital.com/)
Perhaps now is not the best time to be doubling up on risk.
Meanwhile as Mr Summers rightly points out, the Bond market is continuing on its upward trend. David Rosenberg is another ''bond'' fan who seeks 'safety and income' at a reasonable price in these volatile markets.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
JON STEWART : An Energy Independent Future!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| An Energy-Independent Future | ||||
| ||||
Just remember, it's not just the U.S.A!!!!!
For the forseeable future, Crude Oil will remain the main fuel source driving the world's ''oil hungry'' economies.
As car sales zoom in China & India, consumption of refined petrochemical products will rise.
This means that the world's oil companies will have to continue to drill for crude oil in deep offshore blocks. Increasing fuel efficiency and enforcing ''clean fuel '' norms can only take us so far. It's time to prepare disaster managment plans for deep off shore drilling.
Accidents may occur, but it will be a whole lot better if the drillers and regulators have disaster management plans and solutions in place before such unfortunate accidents occur again, instead of continuing a never ending blame game!
Friday, June 18, 2010
GOLD : The Bull Market continues
Gold has continued to ''shine'' as a store of value and an excellent portfolio hedge in a volatile and uncertain global economy.
Sovereign debt worries and an ever increasing supply of paper currencies continue to provide fuel for the ongoing gold bull market.
At this stage it's worth pointing out, that gold could correct substantially (yes even to $1000) without breaching any crucial long term support (green line in chart).
In the second half of 2010, I expect a correction in the equity markets.
Markets have been far too optimistic of earnings estimates and are thus likely to be disappointed with earnings numbers when they come out.
As David Rosenberg says, the aftermath of a credit bubble collapse is '' no garden variety recession.''
At that point in time, gold may correct along with the markets, thus providing an excellent buying opportunity.
It's so surprising how experts and brokers continue to push stocks, while totally ignoring Gold - the best performing asset class of the last decade.
Sovereign debt worries and an ever increasing supply of paper currencies continue to provide fuel for the ongoing gold bull market.
At this stage it's worth pointing out, that gold could correct substantially (yes even to $1000) without breaching any crucial long term support (green line in chart).
In the second half of 2010, I expect a correction in the equity markets.
Markets have been far too optimistic of earnings estimates and are thus likely to be disappointed with earnings numbers when they come out.
As David Rosenberg says, the aftermath of a credit bubble collapse is '' no garden variety recession.''
At that point in time, gold may correct along with the markets, thus providing an excellent buying opportunity.
It's so surprising how experts and brokers continue to push stocks, while totally ignoring Gold - the best performing asset class of the last decade.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
VOLATILIE EQUITY MARKETS
Equity markets have been crazily volatile recently. Volatile intraday swings have been a daily occurance!
Here's David Rosenberg on market volatility
Friday, June 4, 2010
U.S. Federal Government Debt - Total Public Debt
Take a look at the graph below.
Up until the year 2000, the total public debt was less than $6Trillion (yes that's TRILLION!!!).
Look at the rate at which it accelerates from the year 2000. The year 2005 onwards and subsequently post the Lehman crisis, the graph just spiked upwards.
In 10 years time, the total public debt has doubled to just over $12 Trillion.
As the world rushes into the safety of the USD, and everyone is busy criticizing the 'PIIGS' nations and the EURO as a flawed currency, it's time that we take a closer look at the debt situation in the US.
With interest rates at record lows, the U.S. continues to add onto its debt burden.
The GSEs are still bleeding, and the FED continues to add more MBS to its Balance Sheet.
Accumulating and refinancing debt may not be an issue in the short run, but over the longer run debt servicing issues are going to resurface and the market will demand a higher rate of interest on US Government debt.
Watch this space!
Up until the year 2000, the total public debt was less than $6Trillion (yes that's TRILLION!!!).
Look at the rate at which it accelerates from the year 2000. The year 2005 onwards and subsequently post the Lehman crisis, the graph just spiked upwards.
In 10 years time, the total public debt has doubled to just over $12 Trillion.
As the world rushes into the safety of the USD, and everyone is busy criticizing the 'PIIGS' nations and the EURO as a flawed currency, it's time that we take a closer look at the debt situation in the US.
With interest rates at record lows, the U.S. continues to add onto its debt burden.
The GSEs are still bleeding, and the FED continues to add more MBS to its Balance Sheet.
Accumulating and refinancing debt may not be an issue in the short run, but over the longer run debt servicing issues are going to resurface and the market will demand a higher rate of interest on US Government debt.
Watch this space!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
China leads global equity market downward - AGAIN !!!
Once again, the Chinese Equity market seems to be leading the ongoing correction in global equity markets.
The Chinese Equity market topped out in July 2009.
The S&P 500 hit its 'bear market' rally / recovery highs in April 2010 !
Markets have been as volatile as ever, and fundamentals have shown no significant improvement.
We are moving from an individual & corporate debt crisis to a sovereign debt crisis.
The so called '' sub prime '' sovereign debt of countries like the PIIGS is already starting to stress out global bond markets.
How will the already weakened PIIG nations cope with the austerity measures, and still continue to support the global economic recovery?
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been tightening liquidity as it tries to cool down a bubbling real estate market in urban China.This could mean tougher business conditions in the industrial metals and ores sector if the Chinese economy starts to slow down.
The rally is clearly getting rather long in the tooth, and may be running out of fuel!!!!
The Chinese Equity market topped out in July 2009.
The S&P 500 hit its 'bear market' rally / recovery highs in April 2010 !
Markets have been as volatile as ever, and fundamentals have shown no significant improvement.
We are moving from an individual & corporate debt crisis to a sovereign debt crisis.
The so called '' sub prime '' sovereign debt of countries like the PIIGS is already starting to stress out global bond markets.
How will the already weakened PIIG nations cope with the austerity measures, and still continue to support the global economic recovery?
Meanwhile, the Chinese government has been tightening liquidity as it tries to cool down a bubbling real estate market in urban China.This could mean tougher business conditions in the industrial metals and ores sector if the Chinese economy starts to slow down.
The rally is clearly getting rather long in the tooth, and may be running out of fuel!!!!
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