Tags
Capesize, falling stock markets, iron ore trading, price fluctuation, shipping industry, slowdown in China, worldwide economic markets
For traders playing in the short-term price fluctuation game, where the goal is to reap fast profits, the current world situation is actually more of a plus than of concern
The best one can say at this time is that worldwide economic markets are volatile, with no certain way to predict what will be the immediate and long-term fallout from civil unrest in Ukraine, Russian grab of Crimea, economic slowdown in China and falling stock markets. With the potential for more unrest in the world as the US and Russia sanction each other, the best advice seems to be to hold steady and wait for the various disturbances in trading and prices to settle down. For traders playing in the short-term price fluctuation game, where the goal is to reap fast profits, the current world situation is actually more of a plus than of concern.
Mid-March indices were already showing the impact of the various political and economic instabilities, with the FISE down by 4%, Eurofirst down 4.2%, Shanghai down 2.8%, Nikkei down 3.2% and the S&P down 1.9%. The commodities picture was also interesting, with iron ore trading off by 10.3% and cooper by 9.2%. Brent crude oil was trading down by 3.6% but gold was trading up by 3.1%–with many more worried about China’s slowdown than what will happen between Russia and Ukraine, at least from an economic perspective.
A continuing slowdown in China will have a greater impact on global economic markets because it has set the tone for the supply and demand of a wide range of commodities and international investing. And it is true that there are not only a few forecasters anxious that China’s GDP for 2014 will fail to meet its target of 7.5% annual growth.
On the other hand, the shipping industry is not affected so much by short-term volatility in political and financial markets. Capesize spot rates are averaging $21,000 per day, with a 3-year charter paying over $25,000 per day. A 5-year old capesize is valued at $45.8M, an increase of 12.3% from the beginning of this year. Shippers look forward to improved earnings and stabilizing markets, despite the large stockpiles of iron ore and a government-imposed restructuring of China’s steelmaking and mining industries to comply with new environmental and output quota regulations.
Angela Chao Blog 
Yes indeed I have money to put in some good investment but wait to put things on the exchanges.
These riots and warriors making the economy too unstable for new investments of my money
Now is certainly not the time to be hasty about investing. I for one will wait until the economy is more stable before I do any major investing.
Honestly, there were plenty of people who anticipated these kind of things happening in that region toward the time when Russia was setting up for the Olympics. Regionalism is important but you really have to be careful in unstable regions where they are new to our capitalist type of economy.
Investing can be a tricky game with the current market. It’s best to do your research. There are good spots to invest in, just have to find them.
Currently the world is just not stable for investing. The best thing is to wait until there is a bit of stabilization (especially where I live) unless where you live is rather stable..
I think investing requires a combination of optimism and patience. The investments I made years ago suffered some short-term losses in the 2008 recession, but they’ve been regaining lost ground. All and all I feel like I made solid decisions.
wow very informative article. China seems to be slowing down economically? Well the United states needs some help that’s for sure. keep up the good articles.
The Russian situation is concerning. Do they stop with the grab of Crimea and how will it end up affecting the EuroZone?
I think the world has faced enough challenges to know that every adversity is an opportunity. The economic challenges of today will teach us to get ready for the obstacles of tomorrow.
All five –Brazil, Russia, India and China are at increased risk due to growing political violence.
I agree that investors should wait for the unrest to settle before investing. It seems that every time you turn on this news, there is some new region of the world that has become unstable.