Piracy a real threat to global trade
August 14, 2011
Study finds Somali piracy could cost global economy $12 billion | www.businessdailyafrica.com
Piracy off the coast of Somalia is causing serious issues to ship owners, cargo owners and governments alike. The new study estimates it can cost about $12billion to global and regional trade. Damage from piracy is across the industry segments ranging from fisheries to containers and bulk goods to oil tankers. The burden of legally stabilizing and containing the problem is weighing heavily on Kenya and Seychelles due to gaps in global legal options.
Arctic shipping routes - good or bad?
July 7, 2011
Arctic shipping routes unlikely to be Suez of the north | euobserver.com
New shipping routes in arctic are being considered as an alternative channel to cut transit times from northern europe to far east destinations. Norway, Russia and others are attempting to improve the markets for natural resources in Asia.However, certain operational challenges and environmental concerns will remain unaddressed for the foreseeable future.
Oracle to Red Hat: It’s Not Your Father’s Linux Market Anymore
October 19, 2010
Oracle is having a new go at Red Hat. But this time, instead of a RHEL clone, it’s offering an improved version of Linux designed to optimize the performance of its own hardware and software. Although it won’t deal a knockout blow to Red Hat, Oracle’s Linux will certainly take share in the large Oracle database, middleware and application installed bases (and may further marginalize Suse). Like Google’s Android, it suggests that Linux is beginning to fragment in the same way that Unix did.
Spot Freights stagnant. I suggest "FREIGHT BANKERS"
September 28, 2010
Dry Bulk: Freight Rates Continue to Fall on Low Activity | www.hellenicshippingnews.com
Fortunes in dry bulk sector remain stagnant due to lack luster Chartering activity in spot markets. Holidays in many asian countries contributed to this negative trend. Chinese government restrictions on electricity usage, shut down of steel mills, existing stock piles of ore, leveled off demand for ore and coal are some of the reasons attributed to near term threat to dry bulk freight rates.
Ore wars and collateral damage
April 18, 2010
Steelmakers grappling with iron ore dilemma | joongangdaily.joins.com
Steel makers from Korea and Japan are teaming up against iron ore giants opposing the price increases. They complain that rising raw material prices will hurt the steel demand from autos, shipbuilding industry and consumers. After reporting increasing sales and profit figures steel makers feel cornered about the situation with their raw material suppliers.
December 27, 2009
What Is a Ship Worth? | finance.yahoo.com
In this article "What is Ship Worth?" I commend the efforts of Mr. Demetris Nenes of OceanFreight (OCNF) to answer such an elementary but relatively complex question. He points out the importance of attaching certain "extra premium over NPV of future cash flows" and also counts in the mean volatility experienced over past decades. He opines higher volatility will command higher premium because of an investor's expectation of eventual higher return. Let us review it from a different perspective.
FFA disputes and capital losses
November 15, 2009
Futures fray | www.tradewinds.no
FFA dispute between Marine Trade, Luxembourg, Pioneer Futures, China and Armada of Singapore ended up in London court for US Dollar settlement under the terms of FFABA master agreement. It is unclear in the article if the trade went through Oslo's Imarex and NOS clearing. Due to precipitous drop in baltic indices during 4Q08, 1Q09 such cases became common. FFAs a channel that was promoted as risk management tool for freight contracts has failed to achieve its very fundamental purpose for users.
Nvidia leaps into supercomputers
October 5, 2009
Nvidia and "Starting the Next Age of Personal Computing" | www.tgdaily.com
Nvidia is in the test of its life with big stakes, big investments, and big risks – Fermi is a hail Mary pass if ever there was one. It’s not as reactionary or impulsive as some have suggested and a plan I think has been in the process for the past three years. Nvidia has been putting the pieces in place for the Fermi product through acquisition, industry initiatives and setting up the platform. One of Jen Hsun Hung’s strengths is his long range vision and I think you can see it at work here.
Do bribery or spying really exist in international trade?
August 12, 2009
Rio Tinto staff formally charged with spying, bribery | www.marketwatch.com
Rio employees were arrested by Chinese government officials on charges of corporate espionage and bribery. This is a surprising twist in Chinese attitude towards their key iron ore suppliers. In post Beijing olympics world, is China taking a closer look at her important purchasing decisions or is it more than that? Is this really special to China and iron ore trade or is it more prevalent in other commodity trades also. Corporate espionage and bribery are not foreign concepts to foreign trade.
July 30, 2009
Digitimes Insight: Intel Pine Trail launch to delay | www.digitimes.com
In a meeting yesterday with Intel excutives I learned that Pineview, Intel's Atom CPU intgrated with a graphics processor and memory manger, is not delayed as has been reported elsewhere.
February 7, 2012
SOPA and the wisdom of Yogi Berra
January 19, 2012
Larger wafers present a growth opportunity for LEDs
January 6, 2012
Smartphones threaten digital camera industry
December 1, 2011
Google music launches: The end of the end for the music industry
November 22, 2011