South Seas Turkey

I hope and wish that everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Stuffed as we all are, this post is going to be light.

In a previous post 6 weeks ago I compared the historic South Seas Bubble (1720) to goings on today and provided a chart that showed the year-to-date relative performance of the South Seas Company stock in 1720 with the stock of a cargo shipping company listed in the US today. I took a bit of heat because I did not reveal the name of the cargo company, but I thought it was not appropriate to single out just one company amongst many. I still won't, but I can add that it is involved in dry bulk cargo. Anyone that wants to do further research can easily do so through the myriad financial sites available.

Here is an update of the chart - the last 6 weeks are shown in red.

The dry cargo business has exploded on the upside with spot charter rates going ballistic. Interestingly, rates for oil tankers are flat to down in the same period (not shown in this chart). The main reasons are China's voracious appetite for iron ore for steel manufacture and the global demand for coal - apparently even the US is starting to export some now.

Spot charter rates for various size bulk carriers

The update on the day after Thanksgiving is to serve as a reminder that the fatter a turkey gets the more likely it is to end up as dinner.

Enjoy the Holiday!