The blog is delighted to announce the title of its new eBook, jointly authored with fellow blogger, John Richardson. It explains how Western BabyBoomers are changing chemical demand patterns, again. We believe it will become vital reading for all those working in the global chemical industry. The first chapter of the book will be published […]
Chemicals and the Economy
New Normal seminar and e-book to be launched
The blog has an incredibly loyal following around the world. 24% of its readers visit twice a week, or more. They also recommend it to colleagues. Visitor numbers jumped 50% last month.The issue is the rising uncertainty over the outlook for the world economy. This has clear potential to cause problems for the chemical industry.The […]
Another view on rising oil prices
Crude oil prices are now up 18% since the US Fed announced its QE2 Lifeboat policy at the end of August. This clearly justifies the blog’s faith in the ‘triangle pattern’ in September. The rise is mainly due to financial players, with the Large Speculators dominating the buy-side on the futures markets. But in turn, […]
Budgeting for Uncertainty
When elephants fight, those around them need to be cautious. And this is the prospect for 2011-13, as the Western countries try to force the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) to export less and import more, the so-called ‘rebalancing’ strategy. Thus Budgeting for Uncertainty seems the right title for the blog’s annual Outlook for […]
“Impatience can ruin a whole life”
Anyone running a chemical company knows that the benefits of certain key decisions can take years to develop. Many companies had to support their nascent pharma businesses for 20 years, before steady profits began to flow. Whilst major complexes can easily take 10 years from inception to completion. Yet in recent years, investors have become […]
Questions to the chemical market genie
With the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve saying the outlook is “unusually uncertain“, its time to summon the chemical market genie. Of course, rubbing the lamp is not always successful. And if the genie does arrive, one can only ask 3 questions. So rather than risk wasting them, the blog has learnt to spend […]
The “real bottom line” in the Financial Times
The blog has had a letter published in the FT this morning, which readers might like to see. It focuses on the problem of using EBITDA measures when analysing a company’s performance. It suggests that analysts should move away from their current reliance on this measure, which ignores the impact of important areas such as […]
Baby-Boomers cut spending, start saving
Consumer spending is 70% of US GDP. And because US GDP is so large, this means the US consumer is 17% of global GDP. This is the same as the combined GDP of China and Japan, who rank 2 and 3 after the USA. So a change in US consumer spending matters. And it particularly […]
Markets approach the “drawn-out fundamental downtrend” phase
Sell in May and Go Away” is the oldest rule in stock market investment. This week has certainly provided further support for it: • The major Western stock markets are down c8% • The major emerging markets are down between 4% – 13% • Crude oil prices are down 13% This May panic may well […]
Financial investors hike oil prices
“Crude oil is (now) more than just a physical product“, according to NPRA Chairman William Klesse. As he noted, “Today there is ample crude in the world, and crude is not at $80/bbl because of physical markets“. This was a strong statement from the head of the US National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, at the […]
Jump to page: