Perspective

FT – Nothing like this has happened in 323 years – Martin Wolf 8/15

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• “Prior to January 2009, the Bank (of England) had never lowered its lending rate below 2%. But it was then lowered to 1.5%, on its way to 0.5% in March 2009 and 0.25% in August 2016. This ultra-easy policy was further buttressed by a huge expansion of the Bank’s balance sheet, which now contains £435bn in UK government ‘gilt-edged’ securities and £10bn in corporate bonds.”
• “Throughout this prolonged recent period of ultra-easy monetary policy, the concern has never been one of runaway inflation, but rather of the opposite. This time really has been different. What does it mean for the future? Nobody knows.”

WSJ – Household Debt Hits Record as Auto Loans and Credit Cards Climb – Josh Zumbrun 8/15

Worthy Insights / Opinion Pieces / Advice

Bloomberg Businessweek – The Peculiar Parable of the Lyft (parking) Lot – Joshua Brustein and Dorothy Gambrell 8/9

• Free parking obscures the true costs of driving to work… charge for parking and smarter behaviors prevail…

Economist – The Philippine president’s zany ideas have not hurt the economy 8/16

• “When it comes to jobs and investment, Rodrigo Duterte is more reformer than wrecker.”

Markets / Economy

WSJ – Consumers Keep Spending, but Not in Stores – Justin Lahart 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: SPDR S&P Retail ETF – S&P 500 Relative Performance 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: Coach Stock Performance 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: Dick’s Sporting Goods Stock Performance 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: Bed Bath & Beyond Stock Performance 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: Bloomberg REIT Regional Mall Index 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: SPDR Technology Select ETF – S&P 500 Relative Performance 8/15

WSJ – Daily Shot: Nasdaq 100 Equal Weight Cap-Weight Ratio 8/16

• Thank goodness for the FAANG stocks

Energy

Bloomberg Businessweek – As Venezuela Spirals, U.S. Oil Confronts a $10 Billion Threat – Alex Nussbaum and Sheela Tobben 8/3

• “While companies have been trimming Venezuelan imports for months, the nation is still a key supplier for some of America’s biggest refineries. Last month, the country accounted for a more than a quarter of capacity at Valero’s Port Arthur complex in Texas, according to U.S. Customs data compiled by Bloomberg. It was 43% at Chevron’s facility in Pascagoula…”
• The conspiracy theorist in me wonders (although it is highly unlikely) if OPEC members are issuing shadow loans to the Maduro regime to keep this chaos going. The intent being to limit production efficiencies from Venezuela (the country with largest known oil reserves) – which of course, helps ease the production cut burdens on the more stable OPEC members and Russia.

Shipping

Bloomberg Quint – Global Shipping Industry Bounces Back From Its Lehman Moment – Kyunghee Park 8/15

• “A massive consolidation is underway in the $500 billion global industry and the survivors now enjoy big economies of scale and increased demand, one year after excess capacity caused the sector’s worst-ever crisis — the bankruptcy of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co.”
• “The five biggest container lines control about 60% of the global market, according to data provider Alphaliner. Shipping rates are climbing, and an index tracking cargo rates on major routes from Asia is about 22% higher than it was a year earlier.”
• “’Container shipping is now a game only for big boys with deep pockets,’ said Corrine Png, chief executive officer at Crucial Perspective, a Singapore-based transportation research firm. The rising market concentration will ‘give the liners greater pricing and bargaining power,’ she predicts.”
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• “Hanjin’s collapse, in August last year, upended the industry in much the same way that the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers roiled the financial sector during the 2008 crisis. One of the world’s largest shipping firms at the time, Hanjin faced a cash crunch as supply outstripped demand in the industry, weakening pricing power and profits for carriers.”
• “’Since the demise of Hanjin Shipping, flight to quality has become more noticeable in the container shipping business,’ said Um Kyung-a, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities Co. in Seoul. ‘That’s why the market is becoming more and more dominated by top players with big ships and those that don’t have could become more and more obsolete.’”
• “The growing use of mammoth ships is key to the turnaround. Companies who own them are able to deploy fewer vessels and move more cargo on a single journey to benefit from higher rates, said Um.”
• “By her estimates, there are now about 58 of these huge carriers worldwide that can transport more than 18,000 containers, and the number is expected to double in two years. About half the new vessels will be added by the biggest firms.”
• “The excess supply that derailed growth last year hasn’t completely disappeared as new entrants expand and as older vessels still remain. Capacity in the container shipping industry is expected to grow 3.4% this year and 3.6% in 2018, according to Crucial Perspective.”
• “Still, recovery in demand seems to be on track. After posting losses in 2016, companies are seeing signs of business picking up.”
• “Earlier this year, Maersk, South Korea’s Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. and other shipping lines reached agreements with their customers to raise annual rates from May for cargo headed from Asia to U.S. stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Retailers in the U.S. usually increase inventory during the third quarter, ahead of the year-end holidays, and Lee said freight rates are expected to rise further as the peak season for the container shipping industry kicks off.”
• “For retailers, ‘if container costs go higher, obviously it’s a headwind,’ said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones. ‘Retailers have three choices: They can pass that through to the customer or find efficiencies to offset that within the organization, or they come out and say gross margins will be pressured due to higher freight costs.’
• “BIG SHIPPING DEALS:”
  • “In 2015, Cosco Group and China Shipping Group announced a merger to create Asia’s biggest container line, Cosco Shipping Holdings Co.”
  • “In 2016, CMA CGM SA bought Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.; Maersk agreed to buy Hamburg Süd and Japan’s three shipping companies agreed to consolidate their container shipping businesses.”
  • “In 2017, Hapag-Lloyd AG completed its acquisition of United Arab Shipping Co. and Cosco Shipping offered to buy Orient Overseas International of Hong Kong.”