Any excuse to make a reference to the late, great and wonderful Ian Dury. I sent the following email to my friend in response to the stock market rallies and the green shoots of optimism seemingly turning into beautiful May flowers: “I take it nothing can has fundamentally changed? The confidence couldn’t possibly be so […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Is it better to be right for not quite……
……all the right reasons than to be wrong altogether? Sounds a dumb question, perhaps – unless you take particular pride in being one of those know-it-alls. The point I am trying to make (and assuming that chemicals pricing doesn’t collapse beforehand on a broader retreat in crude and equites on maybe panic over swine flu […]
It’s getting darker and darker out there
China’s economy, Canton Trade Fair, China unemployment, deflation threat, high inventories, China Daily
China’s economy: A case of wishful thinking?
Could the chemicals industry be in danger of wanting to believe something so much that ignores overwhelming evidence to the contrary? The widespread perception is that China’s economy has reached a turning point. “The worst of the crisis is over and the world is entering the time when things will gradually get better,” wrote former […]
Asian petchems: A H2 Outlook
Bear Stearns, Dalian Commodity Exchange, bear-market rally, China speculation, ethane versus naphtha prices, International eChem
If manufacturers started buying up their suppliers….
This excellent article from The Economist about vertical integration got me thinking that if, say, auto makers start buying up parts suppliers in developed markets (in developing markets the plastics processing industry is too fragmented) we could end up facing a whole new set of industry dynamics. Buying up your supplier, or at least offering […]
Go to the bottom of the class and stay there
financial rescue package, financial meltdown, idiotic financiers, corporate greed
How to make money in a downturn Part 1
John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, antidumping petitions, trade protection, living in cloud cuckoo land
Chem engineers back with avengeance
chemical engineers, financial meltdown, Nigel Davis, inventory management, H2 2009 recovery
The demise of private equity
private equity, Charles R Morris, Paul Krugman, the New York Times, Conscience Of A Liberal