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Recovery Watch: Global Trade Tumbles Most In 5 Years
Do not look at this chart if you remain of the opinion that everything is fine in the world. For the 3rd time in the last 4 months, world trade volumes dropped. The 0.5% fall in March - it must have been weathery all over the world? - continues the biggest plunge in global trade since May 2009. As WSJ reports, exports from developing economies in Asia recorded the largest decline, a drop of 4.5%. Central and Eastern Europe was the only region to record a rise in exports as the decline in trade flows is consistent with other evidence that suggests the global economy got off to a weak start this year. So, $12 trillion of global money printing and world trade is unable to sustain growth...
The last 4 month shave seen the biggest tumble in world trade since the financial crisis...
As World Trade has decoupled from the money-printing mania of the central banks as transmission mechanisms everywhere are saturated and broken...
Must mean that the central planners just need to print more?
Charts: Bloomberg
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Recall the scene where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid jump off the cliff, into the river?
"Awww, shiiiit!"
M O A R!
How could world trade be up at all if the Baltic dry is in the toilet and has been for years?
Stats from the "full faith and credit" crowd.
A very fascinating and detailed study by WTO with latest data. Trade is expected to grow in 2014 and 2015, according to them, but many countries have lower exports such as Africa in 2013 while US and Canada had zero growth in imports in 2013. http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres14_e/pr721_e.htm
Meanwhile, just in the last few months, EU has banned poultry import from West Bank. http://rt.com/news/161204-eu-ban-israel-poultry/
Russia has banned dairy products from 6 countries. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/07/russia-imports-idUSL6N0MZ1BI20...
Indonesia has banned its mineral ore export. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4e9444aa-e0db-11e3-875f-00144feabdc0.html...
USA has banned drug imports from 3 major Indian generic drug producrs. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-02/apotex-drug-plant-latest-in-ind...
Last year, Singapore tightened expat labour rules. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/expat-money/9420753/S...
This year, Canada has cancelled immigration plans for thousands of foreigners. http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2014/03/05/chinese-millionaires-angry-over-cance...
No wonder airlines keep shutting down around the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_airlines
Additionally tourism is down in Egypt, Cyprus, Ukraine, Thailand, Venezuela etc. but is probably directed towards Dubai, London, Spain, Greece etc.
Some countries such as Pakistan are having low exports even in the best products by volume due to domestic supply side constraints. http://www.nation.com.pk/business/25-May-2014/textile-exports-declining-...
Trade (Import/Export) is a sum total of demand by one country of another country's products which is partially supported by large immigrant populations leading to more trade.
With immigration and expat population in slow down mode and trade slowing while tourism is down as well (due to unemployment and as confirmed by closing down of dozens of airlines), global trade has nowhere to go but down.
It is interesting to note on a global scale, in trade of ALL products that the items used for basic use such as Iron and Steel, Plastics and Ores have declined between 2011 and 2012. Most probably further in 2013 and perhaps in 2014. But most other items such as perishables or cereals which may be an expertise of each oucntry have gone higher. Pharma has remained flat.
http://www.trademap.org/tradestat/Product_SelProduct_TS.aspx?nvpm=1%7c%7...
Yes, I do recall that scene.
Yes, they did jump off the cliff.
Yes, "Awww, shiiit!"
But THEY GOT AWAY.
(But also the law eventually caught up to them)
Didn't Pelosi say it was "Bushs' fault"?
She made the same argument about pubic lice
Wait a minute there...
Are you sayin' Bush and Pelosi... you know... fooled around?
Hey, Bush was crazy, but he wasn't stupid enough to mess around with that skank!
Pelosi's crabs (pubic lice) came from Harry Reid!
For the record,they were head lice
So... Harry and Nancy like to 69.
That must have been lost in translation. I think she said something like pubic lice is the result of faulty bush
HP's P/E ratio is around 12 because they make a killing on the ink needed to print money.
For the moment, all is well in our Peruvian bearing import business. Just one piece of anecdotal evidence for consideration. If China and the US fall hard, well, so will Peru.
Global trade is a great indicator of the MACRO. I am always interested in these articles, Tyler(s).
focus more on the specials and not on the common bearings DoChen, Grainger is expanding it's operations in south America and they're got a brandnew warehouse filled with fasteners, bearings, flanges and tools to hit on that market over there. The main bases of operations will be in Brazil, Columbia and Peru.
Beter start now because in 2 years from now they'll be big players with very low margins.
Grainger is BIG here in the USA. Indeed, for the industrial pieces, yes, they might be able to kick our butts in Peru (we do buy directly from the Korean, Japanese and Chinese factories), although we mostly sell "somewhat special" pieces for the Asian fleets.
Hyundai does not want to get "Graingered" either... Special pieces indeed!
Sudden Debt focus more on the specials and not on the common bearings DoChen, Grainger is expanding it's operations in south America and they're got a brandnew warehouse filled with fasteners, bearings, flanges and tools to hit on that market over there. The main bases of operations will be in Brazil, Columbia and Peru.
Beter start now because in 2 years from now they'll be big players with very low margins.
---
Grainger is nothing but a middle man. They can always be cut. And in a world economy that is declining, they face steep issues. I hear their commercials all the time. Basically, I get the picture they want to be a one stop big box store for industry. These places come and go over time, not a long lasting business.
Always curious about "import" business.
How many businesses label themselves by their incoming material? Is McDonald's a styrofoam company? Is Coke a corn sugar company?
Who do you sell to Chen, and do you sell the bearings with no value added other than commission? Maybe a less intrusive question is what do you sell?
I believe McDonald's would be labeled a chicken butt company
I sell studbolts.
I buy them, and ship them the same day to my customers with a 400 to 500% margin.
added value?
Well, when your machine breaks down and you need a studbolt to secure it, you'll pay whatever I want if I can supply it as fast as possible because your production is down.
Friday I sold 60 bolts for 29.000 euro's and I bought them for 3400 euro's.
The customer was amazed at the speed and suddenly I'm his go to guy.
So what's the added value? having the parts they need.
And not just the parts, knowing what he needs because there's thousands of variants of the same product but who won't do the job.
And bearings? You would be very surprised to see the margins on those ;)
And can everybody just start to sell them? No. it takes enormous technical skills and you have to be a master in planning.
If you want to make money these days, don't sell the sexy products but sell the niche products. Sell the products where everybody else says "what? why? that?"
Imagine, you have a productionplant that produces goods worth 2 million a day. and the machine breaks down because of 1 connection'
All your suppliers say your machine will be down a week.
But I can give you that part right now.
How much is that part worth to you?
answer: 2 million a day
so if the part is worth 5 bucks, you'll gladly pay 5000 for it if you get it pronto.
That business for ya man ;)
And my overhead? a phone and a computer.
and boring? well, every big building or big construction you see, all the engineering depends on how everything is fixed.
"Imagine, you have a production plant that produces goods worth 2 million a day. and the machine breaks down because of 1 connection'
All your suppliers say your machine will be down a week.
But I can give you that part right now.
How much is that part worth to you?
answer: 2 million a day
so if the part is worth 5 bucks, you'll gladly pay 5000 for it if you get it pronto."
Plus one my man, its a bargain ;-)
A big mine in Peru might lose $500,000 per day if one of their vital bearings goes and they do not have a replacement nearby. So, yes, nmewn, there can tremendous value added by stocking a piece costing us $2000 and selling it, at the right time, for $10,000.
This is just an example. We do not sell to the mines. But what you and SD are saying is true. It's all about the value added.
Correct DCRB and SD i work in an underground longwalling met coal mine and yes at over 1000+ tonnes/shear of coal downtime is big bucks
You sound very replaceable, and more so now thst you've bragged about it. All I need is a phone, an office, and a half dozen studbolts? Yeah, pretty sure I can put that together.
You also need the technical nous and contacts as well smartarse.
Technical- "All about studbolts, by John Smith" check
Contacts- 20 years in sales behind me. Check
Undercutting you. Easy by the sounds of it. Check
Already have some entrepreneurial friends looking into it. Who wouldnt want to make 10-15k in a day doing next to nothing?
CrashisOptimistic
We sell KBC (Korea), Iljin (Korea), MBS (small company from Japan) and Delfu (China) brands of bearings and "bearing & hub assemblies", the vast majority of our sales are to the automotive parts replacment sector there in Peru.
Our Korean bearings are less expensive than Japan's pieces, yet of almost equal quality. Price counts in Peru. Our Chinese pieces are for the "Precio Nada Mas" group.
We also "sell information". As "Sudden Debt" suggested above, special bearings are pieces that are not well known in Peru. OEMs LOVE special pieces because very few manufacturers make them, they are not well know, hence expensive. We allow our customers to get the right piece for less...
We offer a better value than most of our competitors, especially, say, the Hyundai dealers. You can see this yourself if you go to a US Caterpillar dealer to buy a replacement bearing for $100 that would cost you (the same Timken USA piece) some $35 at a bearing distributor. The difference is even more extreme with replacements bearings for Mercedes owners (albeit few in Peru), but Mercedes knows that their US customers will pay $400 for a hub & bearing assembly that we sell for $80...
Peruvians value very much saving money, as they do not have all that much...
***
More information on us can be found via Google: "Ameru Trading del Peru" or "dochenrollingbearing blog" or just follow the links I put up from time-to-time, especially when I write a new piece (and look for Ameru & bearing articles).
CrashisOptimistic Always curious about "import" business.
How many businesses label themselves by their incoming material? Is McDonald's a styrofoam company? Is Coke a corn sugar company?
---
Aside from the bad food jokes, why would you consider McDonald's a styrofoam company? That is not what they advertise and sell for profit. Same goes for Coke.
What a company labels itself by is by what they profit from in most cases. Those imports are material issues to support their product. Styrofoam supports McDonald"s burger selling. Corn syrup supports Coke's soda product.
How does it track with the BDI in the long term?
OK, let me give your question a try. I cannot answer that directly, but you can go to http://stockcharts.com/ and enter "$bdi" into their "Enter Symbol" box. Then you have the BDI chart for the last several months (you can get the weekly chart for the past three years or so, just look around that page). You could chart by hand those numbers with the above graphs in this article.
Seems like a lot of work though, which I will not do.
(But, if you can find me a similar index of LTC ocean freight, wow......)
:)
$12 trillion isn't going to the 'world' just to a tiny handful of VERY RICH Bastards
A big chunk of their ill gotten gains will evaporate. What's left will be plundered by angry mobs. I will whip up a blender drink with a little paper umbrella, put on my sunglasses and watch it from a safe distance. See you in Ecuador.
Ecuador is in the process of being bled by the Chinese. The Chinese fund theEcuadoran govt operations with loans and the loans are repaid direct via oil exports from Ecuador's reserves.
When the reserves are gone (and it won't be long), they may still owe money. A lot. And they'll have no nukes to deter collection.
Ah, you're on to me: there's no way I'm going to tell the hordes of crazed TLA goons that monitor this forum where I'm actually going. Let them look in Ecuador... Bwahahahaaaaaaa! ;-D
Everywhere has a downside.
If you're over 50, you have lots of options. A lot of places have "retirement visas" that let you stay indefinitely.
If younger, most places boot you in 30-90 days. Centra America has a great arrangement (though you gotta speak spanish). You go to one of the 4 countries (El Salvador, Guat, Honduras or Costa Rica) and you're good for 90 days, crossing borders with no new visa needed. At the end of 89 days, pop across the border from Guat to Mexico. Mex grants 180 days. Then go back to Guat. Amazingly cheap hotel complexes near the border for this stuff.
The drug war in Mex is up near the US border. Down in the poor areas near Guat, not too bad. But . . . the law is the law, you can't own any land that borders the sea or a river. Farmland interior is okay.
Central Amercia is certainly a candidate, but not my first choice. I am well over 50 and also certified to teach English as a Second Language. Don't think I will have any problem getting into any Spanish speaking country...
[edit OFF TOPIC: Those of you that are using the SWYPE keyboard app on your smart devices are getting exploited. It is in constant communication with outside servers. God only knows what it is sending out about your activities. I killed it and went back to the basic standard keyboard. BE WARNED!!!!!!]
English will not help you. Chinese is the new English -
I don't think so. English is the de facto universal language of Earth and I don't see that changing because English is one of the youngest languages in existence. One of the reasons Greece finds itself in the abysmal condition it is in is it's reluctance to dispense with it's ancient language and alphabet. They are all running around saying katalavez, katalavez (do you understand) I could present a whole topic on the failures of contract law in the EU just because they have not adopted a single language for legal proceedings. It is on a small scale, the tower of babel.
If you want to fly a plane, you have to speak English, if you want to sail a ship, you have to speak English. The same for global science, politics, and business. Besides, it's much easier to hit on a cute Thai girl in Bangkok when she can understand you. Thanks for the reply... ;-D
Thanks, I just checked mine, it is not activated.
Notice too some apps are appearing which now want 24/7 access to your camera! I think I have lke 2 apps on my phone. I need to go back into the little drive on it again.
there's some damn good fertile farmland down on the border btw Guat & Mex. as long as you have the patience to hack back the jungle to cultivate it :)
coffee & tea shrubs, lime trees, banana groves & passion fruit vines could be the ticket though.
Don't know today but earlier last year there was USD1.4 T parked with the Fed by the parasitic banks as Excess Reserves. You know that cash that was supposed to be loaned out to small businesses & troubled homeowners. Greedy cunts.
"You know that cash that was supposed to be loaned out to small businesses & troubled homeowners. Greedy cunts."
Those loans were made to those "classifed by the Fed as small businesses and troubled homeowners" also known as the Elites of America.
"$12 trillion isn't going to the 'world' just to a tiny handful of VERY RICH Bastards"
The reason why we are privileged to be wage and debt slaves. Alternative is being reclassified as cannon fodder.
Not impressed. Let me know when the slope of the line is similar to late 2008.
looks more like the first big contractions in the beginning of 2008.
But there's more!!!!
MARGINS ARE LOWER ON ALL GOODS SO VOLUME IN DOLLARS MAY BE DOWN BIG BUT TONNAGE IS DOWN EVEN MORE!
This is probably driven in some part West/East sanctions. Apparently the politicians missed the economic history class that explained that the reductions in trade barriers and tariffs accounted for a significant portion of economic growth over the last six, or seven decades.
Either way, it's too late now. Once you start a war, be it physical, economic, or otherwise you're committed. In the short-run there is nowhere to go but down from here.
It will pick up quickly once China and Russia get Buffet's rail lines in and the US is put on lock down (forced into revolution).
I see that this article was published in the WSJ at 430 am on Friday. Really was a drag on the markets, huh? LOL
A few things I have learned over 40+ years of trading. Everything goes up, even the Hindenburg, one simply needs to be on the right side of "up" :)
Australian thermal coal prices for last 5 years... Prices have fallen from $140/ton in 2011 to $80/ton today.
http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/vale-fires-500-coal-min...
Heavy carnage in the industry is the result...
http://www.mining.com/vale-fires-500-coal-miners-in-australia-shuts-down...
500 jobs lost in Vale Australia thermal coal shutdown in May this year...
Also...
In March, mining and commodity trader giant Glencore Xstrata (LON:GLEN) said it will close its Ravensworth underground coal mine, also in Australia’s Hunter Valley, in September this year, citing falling prices and stock surplus as main reasons.
BHP Billiton, which through its partnership with Mitsubishi Corp. is the world's largest coking-coal exporter, has also closed several mines recently, including its Norwich Park and Gregory operations in eastern Australia because of weak prices.
Is the Land Down Under going Under?... stay tuned...
Looked at it, but do you know what is going on, Zero? Why the runup in prices starting back in 2009 (when SHTF in most places) to high levels only to have them fall again. Was the price runup manipulated? Is China/world demand now falling off? Did China use the stuff as collateral and their shadow banking unwinding is causing all kinds of surplus?
You know the runup was an execrcise in manipulation and therefore unsustainable... copper inventory was only ONE case in point.
Anyway Australian iron ore is following the same tack... here's the outlook from May 20th...
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/23676080/iron-ore-price-slips-below-us100-a-...
Factoids. Fuck prices.
China produces (digs out of the ground) more coal than anyone else. The US is #2. China produces about FOUR TIMES more than the US.
And despite this . . . China has to import coal.
China has about 3 to 4 times US population. They are 1.2 billion people who don't want to ride bikes anymore. They are buying cars by the 10s of millions each year. India's consumption growth is not much slower.
China domestic coal resources are huge. 12,000 coal mines mostly smaller and labor intensive relative to other countries.
http://www.mining-technology.com/features/featurecoal-giants-the-worlds-...
When/If economic conditions slow down in China... where are they most likely to source their thermal/coking coal requirements from? Answer: China
Bye-bye Australia...
Lack of need for coal=lack of need for Watts=lack of need for power to run factoryz=less trade=lack of need for coal, etc.
I work for one of the big three in Oz and staff have recently been laid off.Its only the start.
This ends badly.
If there are no jobs, that means no jobs can be offshored to China. Bullish!
(Bath House)
"Today I can announce we have reached Full Soviet, Comrades! I have destroyed All Jobs! Now there is only Duty to The State. Get out to those salt mines and do your Duty!"
The US Industrial Base (Twitter, Linked In, Groupon, Facebook, Apple, Google, Netflix) operates independent of and without requirement for either commodity inputs or trade with foreign nations and as such America is now in the enviable position of having transcended mundane considerations such as world trade (other than, of course, the exchange of debt for products from lesser countries).
If you were a venture capital firm with a choice to fund a startup that employs 3 guys instead of 1000 who will get sick and sue now and then, to sell 1s and 0s for billions of dollars
vs
fund a company that makes new plows for farms and sells a few hundred per year with 100 employees, who are you going to fund?
The latter, obviously, given how the plows are likely to be valued in a few years vis-a-vis social networking software.
Tough explanation to sell your supervisor when year 1 is 2% margin, year 3 is 3% margin, year 4 is 2%, and then when the world is smashed you get 20%, but no one has any food to eat other than on the farm and the farmers will laugh at the VC company shareholders when they show up.
Sell anything with a potential to kill via govy contracts. That has highest profitability and sustainability in our fascist planet
fuck plows.
build chinampas.
much cheaper and more productive.
All of the corps you mention are advertising machines - that's all (except apple (manufacturing of electronic gadgets)).
And their clients are often commodity based (often, not always).
The only thing that has transcended is advertising content from paper and TV to computers.
Declining GDP's.
Krugman says that's not allowed.
Close your eyes and BTFATH!!!!
A nice posterchild of marginal productivity of debt.
"So, $12 trillion of global money printing and world trade is unable to sustain growth..."
The money printing is counterfeit; it does not represent money, or productive work.
Growth of what? The thieves are growing wealthier by the year.
Growth of product can't happen when the counterfeit keeps pouring in. It necessarily can only steal from production.
It appears the economic efficiency of credit is beginning to collapse and at the same time a big shift is occurring in what consumers are buying. Recently we are witnessing a shift from general consumer goods to more purchases of autos and healthcare. The first quarter GDP just came out with a near flat increase of just .1% yet these two sectors have been outperforming the economy.
If indeed online and auto sales are roaring up double digits at the same time healthcare spending has increased 4.2% it is only fair to assume small business and someone else is getting their ass kicked. Interestingly, this is all occurring as the government continues to pour out billions of dollars each month in student loans, many of these loans will never be repaid. This can be viewed as more proof we are on the wrong path, more on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/05/consumption-of-autos-healthcare-a...
Print more money!
If the chart was in units of products traded, great.
If its in dollars or currency value of goods traded..... who cares, the chart is meaningless because you can't cut through the chart fog of war that the crazy inflation has created.
For all we know one tic-tac sold for 2 trillion dollars abroad at this point.
We need to start charting in units of goods how much "stuff" was traded, the dollar figure is obscuring whats really going on at this point.