thrive » economy

Oh To Be An Oil Company

Andy — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:12:30 +0000

Have do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a big earning businessman? You’re not the only one, that’s for sure. It makes me ponder my own significance when companies such as Shell and BP announce $14.3 billion in combined profit for the first 3 months of 2008. I wonder: do these companies have a policy of giving back a portion of what they earn?

Chinese Stocks See 50% Decline In Value

Andy — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:09:41 +0000

It seems like every time you watch the news, local, national or international, there’s a story related to China in there somewhere. Most likely it’ll be about exponential growth, acquiring resources, pushing up food and fuel prices or some such. However, the WSJ reports that stock in China have actually dropped 50% inside six months! That’s a) bad news for the millions of day traders throwing their money into the stock markets, and b) indicative of how fragile our world economy is. However, I doubt this signals an end to China’s growth, far from it. We are still addicted to cheap import crack.

The Dow Jones : Gold Ratio Static Since 1928

Andy — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:52:50 +0000

Not so long ago there was a massive buzz online around Ron Paul and his libertarian financial policies, one of which was his aim to move away from the current Fiat system back towards gold. It’s a good idea, if not a little ambitious. It would mean that my pension would actually be worth something! I wonder why Mr. Paul would think of this chart showing the ratio in value of the Dow Jones : Gold is the same today as it was in 1928.

Worldwide food crisis: Let’s stop paying farmers to not grow crops!

Andy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:03:17 +0000

We’ve talked previously about the food shortages the world now faces, which in my opinion is incredible considering we actually produce more food than we need. Last night I heard one good suggestion on how to address the situation: stop offering Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) offers in the stores. I personally know that much of the food I purchase is thrown out because, for whatever reason, we didn’t get round to eating it. What a waste! But one other sound proposal would be to stop paying farmers to not grow crops. It’s a ludicrous situation really that should be sorted out for all our benefit.

US banks increasing overdraft fees

Andy — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:57:34 +0000

I got quite angry when I read this today. Firstly I was annoyed because banks played with fire and have been burnt, but seem content to make us pay for their mistakes. Secondly, it’s actually cheaper than the accidental overdraft fee I incurred yesterday from a large bank here the UK - £35 / $70! Unreal.

Bank losses adding up

Andy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:17:45 +0000

So it’s Monday morning and the markets are opening to the news that Citigroup are taking a further $10bn hit and Merrill Lynch are losing another $5bn! How much longer can these banks sustain such massive hits?

Another bad sign: trade deficit widens

Andy — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:35:23 +0000

The trade deficit unexpectedly rose in February to $62.3 billion on the back of strong demand for imported cars, even though imported oil dropped. As if we needed to throw any more fuel on the fire.

Iran strong-arming OPEC to drop US Dollar trades

Andy — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:57:13 +0000

Well it has been on the cards for some time now, and Iran seems determined to drop the US Dollar as currency of choice when trading oil. Not only does Iran want to drop the incumbent currency, but they are urging the other OPEC countries to follow suit and start their own bank. Right now there’s not enough support for such a move, but if the greenback continues on the slide downwards there may be more than purely subversive political motivation driving the move forward, it’ll just be business and the free market.

Banks: give them an inch, they’ll take a mile

Andy — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:41:03 +0000

I don’t think there’s much doubt left about the state of the flailing world economy. Driven to the brink of recession on the back of repackaged sub-prime mortgages, Wall St. is in chaos and , according to the Guardian, banks on the street borrowed an average $38.4bn every day of last week. In other words they’re hooked on the cheap credit crack pimped out by the Fed. I bet Bernanke is having trouble sleeping, or at least I hope he is!

Is war good for the economy?

Andy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:03:58 +0000

I found this to be particularly tongue-in-cheek enough to post. Enjoy.