Shipping stuff...smooth sailing?

10 years is a long time in shipping.

Ok im going to sound like my grandfather here and tell you stories about how i used to walk 10 mile school every day and then do chores for 3 hours before being fed a bowl of murky chicken broth.

The shipping markets are about as confused and high risk as I could ever imagine.....

Think about this

China has held up the shipping industry (and in fact created a huge bubble) for over ten years now....and it seems that the current news from China is less than encouraging. Manufacturing is down, stockpiling is up and whether we like it or not they are hurting from the bad news emanating from Europe and the USA.

Europe is in disarray...the Greeks are heading back to the land, the Spanish only have their football teams to keep them sane, the British despite having the current leader of the grand tour (France) and a soon to commence Olympic bash, still cannot produce a Wimbledon Champion and the Germans are suffering from an attack of the Vettels......although the brightest prospect cannot seem to shrug off team dynamics! Even Russia is under water.....(our thoughts are with all of the above especially the British re Wimbledon)

Then theres the USA......people living in cars and the cost of a spleen operation now 100k.....

And its hot....damn hot.....too hot.....friggin hot.....so hot bears need help....

I wont eat you - just gimme your cola Slurpee, or some ice....how about a fan of some description?!

Then there's shipping

And now we have Shipowners around the world filing for bankruptcy left right and centre some with a mere 2 billion in debt .....thats small change surely....why are people panicking?

Imagine how many cities I could buy in the USA (since the housing crash) with 2 Billion dollars (say it like Dr Evil)...

Then we have shipping companies making news because they are expanding yet they have a senior management team that had previously driven similar companies to bankruptcy by taking too much risk with others peoples money....that just happened to be some of my money....

Does this all sound crazy? Yes...unusual? No....

If i had control of a shipping company right now (or a chartering company) my advice would be - no long term deals.....contracts dont seem to be worth much at the moment.

Having said that the current risky environment rewards gamblers......and shipping is full of gamblers.

Always has been....nothing new here.

I dont know about you - but i intend to keep making money....now and in the future...

I will also keep saving money for a rainy day....but i am old fashioned like that....Did i tell you about how as a young boy I was made to walk 10 mile to school?

Cheers
The Virtual Shipbroker