The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris has just released their Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) for the major economies. Despite the dry economic analysis, one can read some very interesting predictions. I should start here by defining CLI as a qualitative rather than quantitative measure of the trends in an economy. A […]

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As shipping company shares drop dramatically across the world’s stock markets, could the Baltic Exchange be pointing the way for the Global Trade market during the year ahead? Several days of sharp falls in London on the Baltic Exchange’s Dry Index caused major shipping corporation stocks to fall sharply this week, led by COSCO, China […]

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While many of you were undoubtedly enjoying your weekend — those of us in Chicago were trying to stay warm in 5 degree weather — I stumbled across an interesting article from the New York Times on how overseas investors are scooping up US companies often at fire sale prices. This should not come as […]

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While the rise in iron-ore prices will hurt steelmakers without their own iron resources, steelmakers with their own iron-ore are possibly about to hit payday – along with company investors. OneSteel of Australia, for example, was recently featured in an Andrew Harrison article in the Wall Street Journal as one of the few steelmaking companies […]

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For any consumer of Cobalt metal or components with any significant Cobalt content the price pressures must have been nigh on unbearable this past year. Driven by consumer demand and an element of speculative buying in the face of tight supplies, Cobalt has increased from $13/lb at the beginning of 2006 to $27/lb at the […]

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In the face of a slowing US economy, a mixed position for the European economies and a still strong Asian market, it is a particularly tough call this year to judge where prices will go. Our call is the US will teeter on recession. Europe though restricted by high ECB interest rates will still enjoy […]

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Could aluminum prices rise in the face of a recession?
Citing opinions from some 25 metal market analysts, Harbor Intelligence is predicting a better than 50% chance that the aluminum price will rise in 2008, hitting a peak of over $2600/mt in 2008 and over $2700/mt in 2009. At the same time that Morgan Stanley is […]

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