This week has seen more downbeat news on US auto and housing sales. Ford said their total August vehicle sales were down 14% versus August 2006, and that their car sales were down by an amazing 34%. Toyota, who have been growing market share, said they were down 2.8% in total, and that their car […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Every mania is based on an illusion
I first wrote about the subprime crisis two months ago, as it began to be noticed in the press. Housing represents an important source of chemicals demand, and so it seemed to have potentially major implications for the chemical industry. Since then, it has become clear that the crisis could have far-reaching implications, if not […]
OPEC and the IEA
The war of words between OPEC (the oil producers’ club) and the International Energy Agency (the rich countries energy watchdog), has intensified this week, ahead of the next OPEC Ministerial meeting scheduled for 11 September. Claude Mandil, director general of the IEA, told Arab Oil and Gas ‘the market has become aware’ that OPEC ‘has […]
China’s Finance Minister resigns
You may remember that the Chairman of Sinopec, Chen Tonghai, suddenly resigned last June. This prompted plenty of discussion about whether there had been a disagreement with the government over the level of subsidies paid to keep domestic oil product prices low. Now, this morning, China’s Finance Minister, Jin Renqing, has also quit. There are […]
The end of the prologue
The report in today’s ‘Financial Times’ that Barclays Bank has lost ‘several hundred million dollars’, means that the UK has now joined every other global financial centre in suffering from the US subprime mortgage crisis. The news followed Friday’s 5% drop in the value of Bank of China’s shares, after it revealed it held $9.7bn […]
Comments off until Tuesday 28 August
We will be undergoing routine maintenance this week end and you will be unable to post comments to this blog until Tuesday 28 August. Sorry for any inconvenience this will cause.
A tale of two worlds
It used to be said that ‘if the US sneezes, the rest of the world will catch a cold’. Well, the US is certainly sneezing as a result of its subprime financial crisis, but the rest of the world doesn’t seem to be taking too much notice, as least so far. As Bloomberg comments overnight, […]
£80k Maserati going cheap
Would you like to buy a nearly-new, limited edition £80k ($160k, €120k) blue Maserati Cambiocorsa? It may not be too late, as it was going cheaply this week in London, and about to be crushed. Apply to the Transport for London (TfL) parking pound, near Knightsbridge, and spend your savings at Harrods round the corner. […]
Interesting quotes (3)
Some of these quotes just seemed too good to ignore… `I don’t see any impact as yet on the real economy or on the inflation rate. Obviously, there could be an impact, but we have to rely on some real evidence.’ There is ‘a sort of credit crunch’, in place affecting housing and some types […]
Leverage and bad debts
Some 20 years ago, after a couple of senior management jobs, I was sent off to study for a month at the IMD business school in Switzerland. There I spent time with Prof Jim Ellert, a noted financial analyst, who showed us how to understand a P&L and a balance sheet. He also passed on […]